The Blackberry Pearl 3G was spied earlier today but now it’s official and there’s big news. Blackberry lovers look on and ponder: the Blackberry Pearl 3G is the first Blackberry to swap a QWERTY keyboard for a 14-key standard alphanumeric keypad. Are we about to see a lot of angry emails?

There’s two version of the Blackberry Pearl 3G. The Blackberry Pearl 9100 which will be available in the US and use the same condensed QWERTY keyboard as previous Blackberry Pearl. In the UK, we’re getting the Blackberry Pearl 9105 with a 14-key phone keypad. Both feature the optical trackpad.

Losing the QWERTY keyboard is likely to be a bummer for Blackberry-toting business folk but Blackberry Messenger obsessed teenagers are more likely to be the audience for the Blackberry Pearl 9105 incarnation of the Blackberry Pearl 3G.

The Blackberry Pearl 3G also crams a 3.2MP camera with zoom into its candybar frame, build-in GPS for Blackberry Maps or Google Maps and photo geotagging and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. It’s the first time RIM has included n-standard Wi-Fi. There’s also support for microSD and SDHD cards up to 32GB.

There’s also support for BlackBerry Media Sync so you can sync you photos and iTunes/Windows Media Player music onto your Blackberry Pearl 3G.

What do you think of the Blackberry Pearl 3G? Are you happy to do without your beloved QWERTY keyboard or would you find yourself mashing the keys in misspelled frustration?

If you’ve got a Blackberry or you’re about to buy one, check out our Top 10 best free Blackberry apps.

Due May | £TBC | RIM

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  • Tim

    Ive been waiting years for this. Love BB they are a good 10 years ahead of the competion, and they just work – Bullet proof! But I hate Qwerty keyboards – how ppl say they make typing faster I will never know. Qwerty requires two hands, ABC keys are much eaiser and quicker as can be used one handed.

    One thing thou – earlier picks of the 3G had a qwerty (2 letters -1 key) So are there 2 ? Do consumers get a choice maybe??

    • http://www.electricpig.co.uk Ben Sillis

      In America they do – they get both the 14 and 20 key versions, but Europe and the UK only gets the 14 key option, which is a crying shame I think. I challenge you to a race though – my Bold 9700 will demolish your T9 phone in a typing race!

  • Tim

    I beg to differ,

    The bold is a very very nice handset thou.

  • QKP

    this T9 keypad is a breath of fresh air for people who are on the go and like to be able to operate a phone with just one hand… it’s a real selling point for many I think, particularly if you only need a few emails a day. I was about to get a Bold 9700 but think I’ll wait for reviews of this.

  • Bob

    Not the first to ditch the qwerty, the pearl 8100 was similar, perhaps you mean the first with 3G?

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