Mobile phone manufacturers have been releasing their popular models in different coloured casings for some time now, this improves revenue and gives the customer an extra way of personalising their handset. As biggest mobile PDA manufacturer, RIM Blackberry have now seized the opportunity to try this same theory with their latest release, the Blackberry 8120 Pearl.

usually, new mobile phones are first released in a fairly standard colour format of either black, grey or white, however Blackberry have taken the bold step of releasing their latest models in both Red and Titanium to test the market reaction.

These new models are the direct upgrade to the Blackberry 8100 models that were available in both black and white, the 8100 was the smallest PDA available form the manufacturer and they have set about improving the features and specification with the addition of WiFi and an upgraded camera.

The new 8120 still features the trademark ‘half Qwerty’ keypad that takes some time to master after using a conventional keypad set-up, this sometimes works to the manufacturers advantage as once users become accustomed to the different key layout they rarely switch back to the conventional instead deciding to wait for the next Blackberry model to be released.

Equipped with a new 2.0 mega pixel camera with 5x digital zoom and built-in flash and video capture with a choice of two resolutions, the Red Blackberry Pearl 8120 successfully combines business communication functions with multimedia features, providing a complete solution.

A Quad Band GSM device with GPRS and EDGE Technology, the Blackberry Pearl 8120 Red Smartphone includes Advanced Phone features such as Speaker Independent Voice Recognition and Voice Activated Dialing plus Bluetooth Wireless v2.0 with A2DP Stereo support.

Boasting a Qwerty keyboard with SureType software that is similar to T9 as found in conventional mobile handsets, Organiser, Media Player for music and video, Document Viewer, Blackberry Email Client, Web Browser, USB Connectivity and 64MB of expandable memory, its surprising just how much RIM have managed to fit into this compact smartphone, weighing just 91 grams.

RIM have even managed to squeeze in an enhanced audio feature which filters out background noise interruptions to improve the phones audio quality when making calls, allowing users to give their undivided attention to the person on the other end.

Other important features include built-in speakerphone, vibrate alert, and Bluetooth technology for wireless transfer of files to compatible devices as well as connections to Bluetooth enabled car kits for safe hands free driving.

Time will tell as to whether this is a sensible move for the PDA giant, the colour variants have without doubt worked for the majority of the mobile phone manufacturers but will this same scheme work for a company that attracts a more business orientated cliental?

Busy professionals may well be happy with this turn of events that gives them an opportunity to express themselves by the colour of their Blackberry PDA handset rather than having to settle for the standard greys and blacks currently on offer, who says business should be boring?