RIM and Cingular announce BlackBerry 8800

RIM BlackBerry 8800

(Credit: Research in Motion)

Warm up those thumbs, kids: Research in Motion finally has announced the RIM BlackBerry 8800 that we've been hearing about as of late. Available through Cingular/AT&T, the BlackBerry 8800 is a full QWERTY device, and taking a page from its slimmer sibling the BlackBerry Pearl, it sports a new, sleek black casing, a trackball navigator, and a built-in media player for music and videos. The BlackBerry 8800 also has built-in GPS, so you can use it in conjunction with the carrier's TeleNav GPS Navigator service to get 3D maps and turn-by-turn driving directions right on your device. Other goodies include Bluetooth 2.0, a microSD card slot, voice-activated dialing, a speakerphone, a large 320x240-pixel resolution display, and of course, the same robust e-mail capabilities that makes it so cracktastic. The quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE) BlackBerry 8800 will be available starting on Wednesday, February 21, and pricing starts at $299.99 with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate. Check out News.com for more information, and stay tuned for our full review.