Canadian Blackberry maker Research In Motion Ltd. has announced at CTIA, in San Francisco, its first ever flip smartphone, the BlackBerry Pearl 8220. Apparently, Research In Motion has finally understood that, for some awkward reason, the clamshell is the most popular format in the United States. Even though I think (and apparently RIM, too) that flip phones are not very good engineering, people love them here in the U.S. and that's not going to change soon. Heck, even Apple will have to build a clamshell some time!

The flip BlackBerry Pearl 8220 will become available this fall only through Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA at an unknown price. Even though it doesn't support the newest 3G network, the BlackBerry 8220 makes up for this shortcoming by featuring other connectivity options such as the integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth version 2.0 and EDGE connections for Internet browsing, e-mailing, and streaming video from YouTube's mobile site.

BlackBerry Pearl 8220 measures about 3.9 by 1.9 by .7 inches, weighs 3.6 ounces, and features up to 16 GB of storage via the microSD slot; support for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus, Novell GroupWise and Web-based e-mails; the BlackBerry Media Sync application which allows users to sync their iTunes music; a 2-megapixel camera with flash and zoom, with video recording; up to 16 GB of storage via the microSD slot; the SureType QWERTY keyboard; twin displays: 128-by-160 light-sensing external display and internal screen with 240 by 320 resolution; and much more.

Furthermore, a leaked internal AT&T press release which appeared on several places on the Internet claims that RIM will also release the BlackBerry Bold, a high-end smartphone featuring built-in GPS and Wi-Fi, a new 624 MHz mobile processor, 1GB of memory and a much clearer 480 by 320-pixel color display. The BlackBerry Bold will allegedly include 3G support and will retail for around $299.99 from AT&T's retail stores, from the carrier's website and select national retailers.