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Mobility

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

By matthewmiller November 2, 2008, 2:00 AM PST

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bbflip1.jpg
bbflip1.jpg
Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

BB Curve and BB Flip

BB Curve and BB Flip

Flip form factor mobile phones are very popular in the U.S. and until now these users were unable to pick up a BlackBerry in this form factor. The RIM BB Flip brings the power and functionality of the BlackBerry to this form factor, complete with a SureType QWERTY keyboard. The BB Flip from T-Mobile also supports WiFi and UMA for unlimited calling over WiFi.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Curve and Flip in open position

Curve and Flip in open position

Here you can see what makes the Flip unique in the BlackBerry world.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Flip and T-Mobile Shadow

Flip and T-Mobile Shadow

Both of these devices have SureType keyboards, but as you can see the BB Flip one is actually quite roomy.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Closed BB Flip

Closed BB Flip

The Flip has an attractive outer face with a small integrated display that shows you status, caller ID, and other basic information.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

BB Flip camera

BB Flip camera

The camera and flash are located on the top of the front face and when flipped open it appears on the back so you can take photos of your subject.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Back of the Flip

Back of the Flip

The battery/SIM cover is located on the back. The back actually has a bit of a contour to it and feels great in your hand.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Left side of the Flip

Left side of the Flip

The Flip is fairly slim and as you can see has a bit of curvature up towards the top.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Left side ports

Left side ports

There is a mute button, 3.5mm headset jack, and microUSB port on the upper left.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Bottom of the Flip

Bottom of the Flip

There is nothing along the bottom of the device.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Right side of the Flip

Right side of the Flip

The volume controls and another application button are located on the right side.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Opening up the Flip

Opening up the Flip

When you open the Flip the top display rotates back over the device to reduce the overall length when opened. It is a cool design that reminds me of my MacBook Pro.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Flip on the Curve

Flip on the Curve

Here you can see the BB Flip on top of a BB Curve for size comparisons.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Flip buttons

Flip buttons

There are four hardware buttons around the now common Pearl trackball.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

SureType keyboard

SureType keyboard

The keyboard is quite roomy and has good feedback. The SureType software is also very accurate.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Another view of the keyboard

Another view of the keyboard

As you can see the keys are quite flush, but they do have a contour to them that fits your thumbs easily.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Backlighting of the keyboard

Backlighting of the keyboard

The keyboard and hardware buttons are well lit on the Flip.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

BB Flip in hand

BB Flip in hand

The Flip feels good in my hand and I like the clamshell form factor.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Closed BB Flip in hand

Closed BB Flip in hand

The closed Flip easily fits in your pocket and hand.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

BB Flip outside display

BB Flip outside display

The outside mono display shows you some basic information. You will also see caller ID and music player info when running.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

New BlackBerry standby screen

New BlackBerry standby screen

The BB Flip runs BB OS 4.6 as you can see in this new standby screen.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

BB application screen

BB application screen

Pressing the application button takes you to the new and cool BB 4.6 display.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Updated web browser

Updated web browser

Here is a view of my blog site mobile format in the web browser.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

ZDNet blog page

ZDNet blog page

The web browser works well, but the ZDNet pages show up in mobile format by default. You can change how web pages appear in the settings though.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

RIM page in the browser

RIM page in the browser

Here you can see the full RIM website zoomed out in the browser.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Zooming in to RIM

Zooming in to RIM

You can easily zoom into pages in the browser.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Playing the sample song

Playing the sample song

Music player on the BB Flip.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Instant Messaging clients

Instant Messaging clients

There are several IM clients included on the Flip, including Windows Live, Yahoo! IM, Google Talk, etc.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Windows Live sign in

Windows Live sign in

Windows Live Messenger works well and is quite functional.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Included applications

Included applications

You will find several preloaded applications in the Applications folder, including Tasks, video camera, Documents To Go suite, and more.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Video camera

Video camera

As you can see the new BlackBerry OS supports video capture capability.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Settings utility

Settings utility

The Settings utility is found on the device and gives you access to the extensive BlackBerry settings display.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Included games

Included games

There are 6 games included on the Flip.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Camera settings

Camera settings

There are several settings for the camera.

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Curve and Flip side by side

Curve and Flip side by side

Image gallery thumbnail 1

Image Gallery: RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

BB OS 4.6 main display

BB OS 4.6 main display

Image gallery thumbnail 2

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