Airtel and RIM Launch the New BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Smartphone in India

Company Brief

New Delhi, November 06, 2007

Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the new BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8120 smartphone in India. The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone is priced at Rs 24,990/- and is now available at Airtel Relationship Centres and retail outlets.

Packed with new features in a small and stylish design, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 comes with a 2 megapixel digital camera that supports video capture, Wi-Fi® connectivity support and an externally accessible memory slot. These new features, along with an enhanced visual interface, add to the renowned BlackBerry smartphone experience for email, phone, messaging (SMS, IM, MMS), web browsing, multimedia, organizer and other mobile applications.

Sanjay Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel said, “We are delighted to introduce the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 to the Indian consumer. The Pearl 8120 excels in both functionality & design and it will help Airtel users make the most of their time in both personal and professional settings. They will get an opportunity to experience a world class product which is elegant, stylish and equipped to deliver a power packed performance. This exceptional device reinforces our commitment to innovation and to bring the latest and best communication experience for Airtel’s BlackBerry users."

“BlackBerry smartphones are well received in India and we are pleased to be working be Airtel to introduce another RIM innovation to the Indian market,' said Norm Lo, Vice President of Asia Pacific at RIM. “The new BlackBerry Pearl 8120, with its elegant design, advanced multimedia features and Wi-Fi capabilities, make it perfect for both personal and professional use.'

Ultra-Sleek and Stylish

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone is available in a stylish titanium finish and adds many new enhancements while maintaining the ultra-sleek form that has already garnered international recognition and accolades, measuring only 107mm x 55mm x 14mm and weighing approximately 91g.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 provides an exceptional user experience through its trackball navigation system and RIM's popular SureType® keyboard system that makes text typing and phone dialing fast and easy. SureType has been enhanced to provide word completion, easier editing of misspelled words and a built-in spell checker.

Multimedia to Go

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 comes with a 2 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom and enhanced flash. The new camera also supports video capture in two resolutions: 240x180 or 176x144 for sharing via MMS.

The media player now allows users to create and edit playlists right on the handset. Alternatively, users can manage their media files from their PC with the Roxio® Media Manager for BlackBerry®, which is included with the BlackBerry® Desktop Manager software.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 supports the Bluetooth® stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP), and comes with a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack so users can plug in their preferred headphones or speakers. The smartphone also provides the convenience of an externally accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot for additional storage of music, videos and pictures.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 also supports high-speed USB for transferring files between the handset and a PC at data throughput rates of up to 10MB/sec.

Enhanced Visual Interface

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 features an updated visual interface and integrates a new font rendering technology. The new technology is evident throughout the visual interface, complementing the new look of the BlackBerry® email client, calendar, address book, task list, memo pad and web browser, while also enhancing other applications. The BlackBerry® Browser is further improved with a new "Page View" option that displays a full web page on the screen along with a magnifying glass that allows the user to quickly and accurately point and zoom in on a specific area of the web page.

Wi-Fi and Quad-Band Connectivity

In addition to quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, Airtel customers can also enjoy the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 with faster web browsing and expanded wireless data coverage via Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) networks. To meet various security requirements for users accessing a Wi-Fi connection, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is compliant with Wi-Fi security protocols including WEP (Wireless Equivalency Protocol), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2.

Advanced Phone Features

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 offers many convenient phone features including Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), Bluetooth 2.0 support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals, a low-distortion speakerphone and support for polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ring tones. The smartphone also includes new features that enhance phone audio quality including enhanced background noise, wind and echo cancellation for better performance in loud environments like airports, restaurants or busy downtown streets. An 'enhance call audio' feature also allows the user to boost the phone audio's bass or treble while on a call.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is supported on BlackBerry® Internet Service, giving users access to up to 10 supported work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts), as well as BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, enabling advanced security and IT administration within IBM® Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft® Exchange and Novell® GroupWise® environments.