RIM debuts GPS & WiFi enabled BlackBerry 8820

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 18 July 2007 14:33

Business IT - Technology

Research In Motion has announced the BlackBerry 8820 a quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE-enabled smartphone and its first to support WiFi.

At 14mm thick, it is also RIM's thinnest smartphone and features a full QWERTY keyboard, trackball navigation system and a microSD / microSDHC expandable memory slot. It also offers bluetooth connectivity.

The 8820 supports the 802.11 a/b/g WiFi standards enabling access over WiFi connections in the enterprise, as well as through public hotspots and wireless home networks. All the normal BlackBerry functions such as push email are available over WiFi with either the BlackBerry Enterprise Server or BlackBerry Internet Service and the user is able to switch seamlessly switch between cellular networks and a Wi-Fi network.

Both the WEP (Wireless Equivalency Protocol), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2 security protocols are supported as well as Cisco Compatible Extensions for secure connectivity with Cisco wireless access points. For enterprises that require Wi-Fi users to access the corporate network through a VPN, the BlackBerry 8820 includes IPSec-based software claimed to support the most commonly deployed VPN gateways from vendors including Cisco, Check Point and others.

The BlackBerry 8820 also supports UMA, enabling wireless carriers to offer a fixed-mobile convergence service. With a UMA solution in place, the BlackBerry 8820 can seamlessly switch voice calls between a wireless carrier's cellular network and a WiFi network.

The BlackBerry 8820 also incorporates a "new and powerful desktop media manager" – the Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry, developed in conjunction with Sonic and based on the Roxio Easy Media Creator 9. It is claimed to "introduce a new level of simplicity by allowing users to easily search for media files on their computer, view and organise them, create MP3 music files from CDs, add audio tags, create playlists and automatically copy or convert pictures, music and videos for optimal playback on the smartphone."

The product has its own website. It will be "available from select wireless carriers around the world in the coming weeks." AT&T is scheduled to launch the BlackBerry 8820 in the US later this summer. According to the website it will also be on offer from Orange in France and the UK. Pricing has not yet been announced.