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Wednesday 2nd November 2005

BlackBerry gets speed Edge 10:59AM, Wednesday 2nd November 2005

RIM and Cingular have announced a new BlackBerry handheld that is the first to take advantage of Cingular's Edge network, the 'largest and fastest' national wireless data network in the US.

The BlackBerry 8700c is built on the Intel XScale architecture with a PXA901 cellular processor and is the first RIM device compatible with Edge networks.

Edge, or Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution, provides faster data throughput than standard mobile networks, although not as quick as 3G services. Combined with the Intel platform, RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie said that users will notice the difference.

'It really is a quantum leap forward in



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the performance for the user both in voice and in data,' he said.

Cingular will have exclusive rights to the $299 device for several months but it will eventually be launched worldwide.

'We're not going into details,' Balsillie said. 'And you can expect to see other launches around the world in the not too distant future.'

It has a 320x240 landscape QVGA display supporting 65,000 colour, with active matrix transmissive technology for 'vivid' graphics. The display also has intelligent light sensing technology designed to adjust both the LCD and keyboard lighting for outdoor, indoor and dark environments.

The 8700c provides quad-band GPRS/GSM and EDGE network support with call management features including smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing and call forwarding. It is also equipped with Bluetooth to provide compatibility with hands-free accessories and car kits.

For more information go to www.blackberry.com.

Simon Aughton

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