BlackBerry’s New Flip Phone Debuts at CTIA

For months now, we’ve followed the Internet rumors of a new BlackBerry in the works - RIM’s first flip phone. And, for months, those rumors referred to the device as the “Kickstart”. The online buzz reached a fever pitch, all centered around the name “Kickstart”. There was only one problem…

Today, at the Fall CTIA show, RIM unveiled the highly anticipated new BlackBerry, and confirmed what our behind the scenes sources hinted at earlier this month: turns out the “Kickstart” will debut under a different name, the “Pearl Flip 8220″. We’re glad we avoided the premature speculation.

Naming controversies aside, the Pearl Flip really is an exciting new addition to the BlackBerry line. RIM’s market share has doubled in the last calendar year, largely due to the hugely successful consumer-oriented Pearl and Curve models. BlackBerries, however, have always been associated with the tablet-like PDA form factor. The Pearl Flip represents RIM’s intent to expand its user base even more, with an appeal to the flip-phone loving general public.

Flip-style phones have always been popular - it’s our best-selling category - and the Pearl Flip brings a BlackBerry sensibility to the form factor. It’s a compact cell phone with two high-res displays and an improved Web browser that displays pages horizontally or vertically. And, like previous Pearls, this version uses the SureType keyboard to essentially squeeze a full QWERTY layout into a traditional cell phone keypad.

The Pearl Flip also features WiFi connectivity, making it possible to place UMA calls over a WiFi connection. That’s a nice bonus that helps cut down on minutes used, since UMA calls don’t count towards your monthly limit.

Like any BlackBerry phone, the Pearl Flip has a long list of productivity and entertainment features. We expect to have the Pearl Flip in stock sometime soon, and will have full features and specs listed on our catalog page any day now.

So, if you’ve been following news of the “Kickstart,” it’s time to refocus on the “Pearl Flip”. It’s coming soon, and we’ll have it at Wirefly.