RIM Unveils Long-Awaited New BlackBerry Smartphones

Research in Motion's Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) doesn't officially start till Tuesday, but the company kick-started things by introducing two new devices on Monday: the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G. Carriers and pricing are sparse at this time, but the news finally gives us a look at two devices that have been a long time coming.

The BlackBerry Bold 9650 is a handset that's been promised since last summer and while now under the Bold name, this is essentially the BlackBerry Tour with the addition of Wi-Fi and an optical trackpad. The rest of the smartphone's features remain largely the same as the Tour's, including dual-mode functionality for world roaming, support for international 3G bands, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. It also features a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 2.44-inch HVGA screen, 512MB Flash memory, and ships with a 2GB microSD card.

So far only Sprint has officially announced that it will offer the BlackBerry Bold 9650 starting May 23 for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. While we have yet to hear from Verizon, we'd be pretty surprised if the carrier didn't pick up the Bold 9650 sooner or later.

Meanwhile, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G finally gives us a refresh of the popular Pearl series. Like previous models, the Pearl 3G keeps a compact design, measuring 4.25 inches tall by 1.96 inches wide by 0.52 inch thick, and features a SureType keyboard but there will actually be two configurations. The 9100 model will have a 20-key SureType keyboard, while the 9105 will have a 14-key SureType keyboard. Like the latest BlackBerrys, the optical trackpad replaces the trackball navigator and also has dedicated media controls on top of the device.

The smartphone also runs BlackBerry OS 5.0 and includes Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth, and GPS. The BlackBerry Pearl 3G supports both AT&T's and T-Mobile's 3G networks. For a next-gen model, however, we're disappointed that RIM didn't upgrade the 3.2-megapixel camera.

While not the most mind-blowing news, RIM may also show off BlackBerry OS 6.0 at WES, which we're definitely excited to hear more about and we'll be sure to report back any news from the show. WES is taking place in Orlando, Fla. from April 27 to April 29. This article was written by CNET's Bonny Cha.