Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled its newest BlackBerry handheld communications device Monday, adding consumer features to the business tool that is to launch in Canada in March.

The BlackBerry 8800 replaces the company's signature side-mounted scrollwheel with a tiny trackball on the device's front face, similar to the company's Pearl consumer-oriented phone launched in 2006.

The BlackBerry 8800 replaces the company's signature side-mounted scrollwheel with a tiny trackball.
(Courtesy of Research In Motion)

The new, top-end BlackBerry is to debut in Canada in March on Rogers Wireless Inc.'s network, the companies said in a statement, but did not offer a specific date.

"We have not yet announced the exact shipping date nor the price for the new device," Odette Coleman, manager of corporate communications for Rogers Wireless told CBC News Online in an e-mail, explaining that she had not been advised of a specific launch date. "We will know within the next few weeks."

The device will debut in the U.S. on the AT&T network on Feb. 21.

Pricing for the new device has not been disclosed.

In addition to the BlackBerry's traditional full keyboard, the latest version includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) function that works with the company's BlackBerry Maps software to help users navigate or send a map by e-mail.

It also incorporates instant messaging and multimedia features such as the ability to play digital music and video and polyphonic ringtones in popular formats such as MP3, AAC and MPEG4, and a microSD slot for the tiny removable memory cards.

No camera

Despite the move to introduce consumer features into the company's top-end device, the BlackBerry 8800 still lacks a camera — unlike the Treo line from chief rival Palm Inc., Motorola Inc.'s slim Q and other competitors.

Many corporate customers simply didn't want a camera for security and other reasons, RIM says.

"It's not that hard to put one in," co-CEO Jim Balsillie told the Associated Press. "But it was unambiguous for a dramatic proportion of the mobile professional segment: No camera."

Response to trackball positive

Replacing the side-mounted scrollwheel with the front-mounted trackball was not a difficult decision, Balsillie said.

"The response to the trackball has been universally positive," Balsillie said, explaining that about 80 per cent of non-phone activities on the Pearl related to multimedia uses rather than e-mail, for which the BlackBerry is best known.

"If it's just messaging, it's just up-down, left-right. But if you're going to do multimedia, the navigation aspects become more prominent."

The wheel had been a part of every BlackBerry model except the Pearl — which sports a more traditional cellphone keypad rather than the conventional QWERTY keyboard BlackBerrys are known for — since the line of devices debuted in the 1990s.

The BlackBerry 8800 operates on all four frequencies of the GSM cellular phone standard used in some 180 countries, as well as the GPRS and EDGE data networking standards.