BlackBerry Pearl 3G: hands on

Research in Motion has unveiled the latest addition to its small but beautiful family, the Pearl 3G (or 9100 if you prefer production codes). CNET Australia was on hand to spoil the shiny new toy with a few greasy fingerprints.

For more on the Pearl 3G, see our preview here.

This is the latest BlackBerry in glossy black for boys. But as you'll see later in the gallery, there are enough colours of the Pearl 3G to appease just about everyone.

We're guessing RIM must have received a bit of flack for its dual-QWERTY keypad design, so the Pearl 3G will now come with two keypad options. This is the standard T9 numeric option.

This is the keypad you'll have seen on previous Pearls, the 20-key dual-QWERTY style. Regardless of the keypad style you choose, RIM was quick to point out that all Pearls come with the SureType predictive text software built in.

The Pearl 3G runs on the BlackBerry OS version 5, so there is no surprises in the software for anyone who is familiar with the Bold or the Storm.

Actually, no. This is the built-in browser in action, checking our favourite mobile website.

Umm, again, no. While browsing through the video files pre-installed on this test handset we found the Family Guy parody of The Empire Strikes Back.

The Pearl 3G doesn't have a very large screen, but its 360x400-pixel resolution is really gorgeous to look at, with sharp images and rich colours.

Where the Bold and Storm customers will find boring, old standby buttons, the Pearl 3G now has media controls.

It's probably no surprise to find a 3.5mm headphone socket on a BlackBerry, but it is still comforting to see. The Pearl 3G also has a microSDHC slot to support memory cards up to 32GB.

RIM laid out a large collection of the different coloured handsets and covers that will help make the Pearl unique from the sleek, black Bold.

It's not everyday a smartphone manufacturer embraces its pink side, but we love it, especially the funky white racing strip that runs around the cover.