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NEW YORK -- Three new flavors of the popular BlackBerry combo phone/handheld for wireless voice and data services are being previewed at PC Expo/TechXNY here this week. Research in Motion (RIM) is tailoring each to a separate wireless carrier, and all are scheduled to become available this year, priced between $500 and $550.

All three new devices are variations of the Java-based BlackBerry 5810, which with its release in March became the first wireless data communicator to integrate a cell phone for North American GSM/GPRS networks. All bundle a speaker/microphone for use in voice calls in addition to the hands-free earpiece marketed with the BlackBerry 5810, says Mark Guibert, RIM's vice president for brand management.

Each model has a different set of features and slightly different styling from the 5810's, due in large part to requirements and variances in services offered by the carrier for which it was designed. Guibert notes.

Mobile Options

The most intriguing of the trio of prototypes is the as-yet-unnumbered BlackBerry model being designed for Integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network (IDen), a digital cellular network designed for business and corporate users, and supported by Nextel Networks. In addition to the usual array of digital cellular, text, and numeric paging services, this BlackBerry model supports Nextel's unique Direct Connect two-way conversation service.

Direct Connect subscribers can contact each other through one-touch dialing and talk without incurring voice plan charges, similar to the operations of a walkie-talkie. The service has a range of about three miles depending on terrain. This BlackBerry requires a durable, wireless external antenna.

Also shown is the BlackBerry 6710, a truly mobile device that can be used in North America, Europe, and Asia.

It is designed for dual-band GSM/GPRS networks, or so-called WorldPhone networks, such as those offered by VoiceStream, Cingular, and AT&T Wireless. They use the Global System for Mobile communication/General Packet Radio System network standard.

The BlackBerry 6710 can communicate over both the 1900-MHz GSM band in North America and the 900-MHz GSM band in Europe and Asia. A traveler can keep the same phone number and simply swap SIM access cards to make the device compatible with the local GSM network, Guibert says. An expensive overseas calling plan also is required, in which calls could cost between $1.50 and $5 per minute.

The 6710 also includes an HTML-based browser for surfing more Web sites than the 5810, which is limited to the WAP-compatible Web.

Broader E-Mail Access

The third new BlackBerry is compatible with CDMA/1XRTT networks such as those offered by Sprint PCS and Verizon, according to RIM. The yet-to-be-named 2.5G phone, which could transfer data at up to 1.44 kilobits per second, is scheduled to ship by the end of the year.

GPRS and 1XRTT provide similar data speeds. 1XRTT is part of the evolution to 3G for Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks.

RIM says all of the BlackBerry phones should provide about four hours of talk time and five days of data-only operations, very similar to the BlackBerry 5810.

In addition, all will support the new BlackBerry Web Client, due to ship in the fall. The addition of that software will let wireless data carriers provide POP3 e-mail service to users of e-mail editors such as Outlook Express, in addition to the current support for enterprise-scale e-mail servers Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Domino, Guibert says. Users need to have MAPI-compliant e-mail servers in order to forward messages from a company e-mail service to the BlackBerry.

Also Upcoming

All three of the new BlackBerry models--and probably future ones as well--will have a new battery option, says RIM's Guibert. Users will be able to buy separately a replaceable lithium ion battery, so they can carry extra power sources and even swap out batteries to keep the device running between conventional charging periods.

RIM is also expected to continue to develop and promote its increasingly popular thumb-typing technique. The BlackBerry was the first always-connected handheld with a full standard QWERTY keyboard that could be used to enter data by typing with one's thumbs. Even competitor Handspring recently acknowledged the success of the technique over traditional Palm OS handwriting recognition.

RIM representatives hint the technique may show up in other devices, including wireless phones. The company currently claims 14,000 organizations already use BlackBerry handhelds, which RIM says is the only complete 2.5G wireless product currently available.

For other PC Expo/TechXNY product announcements and news, see PCWorld.com's ongoing coverage.

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