Blackberry 8820, the latest phone announced by Research In Motion, is the first dual mode handset produced by the company combining EDGE/GPRS/GSM cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity for data access and voice support.

The new phone combines a full QWERTY keyboard with a large and bright display (320 x 240) and offers a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System).

"The BlackBerry 8820 is an extraordinary business phone for people who really care about mobile communications and productivity. It features all the renowned power and usability of the BlackBerry platform with executive class styling and unprecedented connectivity features, including cellular, Wi-Fi and built-in GPS," said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at RIM. "The BlackBerry 8820 complements our carrier partners' cellular networks with the added ability to stay connected via Wi-Fi at home, through hotspots and corporate campuses."

It can operate with the BlackBerry Internet Service, allowing a user to manage up to 10 personal and corporate e-mail accounts, or with BlackBerry Enterprise Server installed inside a user's business, which provides IT administration ability for Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell Groupwise systems.

Although it was presented as a business phone it has a media player and microSD / microSDHC (microSD High Capacity) expandable memory slot that can support current and future generations of microSD memory cards up to 32GB. Blackberry 8820 allows the videos to be played in full screen mode and it comes with a new and powerful desktop media manager - the Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry.

The desktop media manager software introduces a new level of simplicity by allowing users to easily search for media files on their computer, view and organize 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.

RIM said that the phone will be launched by AT&T in the United States later this summer.