I was super excited to get to WES here in Orlando in hopes of getting some news on the Bold 9650. I've been dying to head back to Verizon (for the service) and will definitely get my hands on one as soon as I can. What I didn't expect however was to become such a fan of the new Pearl series (the 9105 in particular). The device feels amazing, and although the keyboard may be a bit of an adjustment for some, I think that most will get the hang of it in no time. Its action-packed (although its has no OpenGL support) and I would honestly consider passing up on the 9650 for a chance to rock the 9105 (yes ... seriously). We had a walkthrough of the Pearl earlier, and Kevin has been swayed as well and is all about the "pocketability". Check out the video above for a quick look at the two devices and what they have to offer.

While most of the BlackBerry device buzz seems to be over when the Bold 9650 will be released, there is still some muttering about this whole Pearl situation. We've heard bits and pieces and seen various images over the last few months, but we're still not 100% sure just how many new Pearl devices will show up. Our best guess at this point is that the candybar Pearl will be offered in two keyboard configurations -- SureType and T9 -- with it looking like the roadmap may also have a Pearl Flip offering a compressed full qwerty in a clamshell. With WES just a week away we have high hopes that RIM will finally shed some light on the Pearl situation for us.

These latest snaps snow off the T9 keyboard close up, as well as some of the options that go along with it. There are options for compound words, context learning and auto word learning. Nothing major to work with but it seems like everytime we get some new images we get one step closer to the release. My fingers are still crossed for a 9650 in the coming weeks, but maybe this little guy will pop up soon and surprise us all.

Source: id-BlackBerry-archive
Via: BerryReview

 

Disclaimer: Image is a **mockup** of how the 9105 might look.

There have been so many rumblings lately on the BlackBerry Pearl 9100 front that I wish it would just get announced already. WES is just a month away, so maybe they'll do it up then. We've seen loads of photos, mixed bits of info and even a possible release date. Now BBnews.pl has some new info and it appears as if the BlackBerry Pearl 9105 may be part of the series and sporting a classic T9-style keyboard. We know the 9100 will carry the Pearl SureType keyboard, and we've seen what could be a full QWERTY keypad coming to a new Pearl as well (though possibly that will be a new Pearl flip), but this 12-button layout looks to be a natural fit on the 91xx candy bar form factor. Suffice to say that with a device like this RIM is making it clear that they're really pumping out the designs and form factor options in trying to make sure there is a BlackBerry device that appeals to everyone as more of the mainstream consumer feature phone market makes the upgrade into smartphones. Drop a comment and let us know what you think!

Source: BBnews.pl