RIM announces new BlackBerry handsets; voice-over-Wi-Fi service

blackberry-rimAt its annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) in Orlando, Research in Motion (RIM) Monday announced new BlackBerry handsets – a BlackBerry Pearl 3G pair, and the BlackBerry Bold 9650. In addition, RIM also announced BlackBerry Mobile Voice System 5 (MVS 5), a voice-over-Wi-Fi service aimed chiefly at business users.

The less-than-two-inch wide Pearl 3G models – 9100 and 9150 – will be available on multiple carriers in May. These handsets run BlackBerry OS 5.0, and boast features like a high-resolution 360 x 400 pixel display; and a 624 Mhz processor with 256 MB Flash memory; 3G; BlackBerry Messenger; Wi-Fi; GPS; 3.2-megapixel camera with a flash; and up to 32GB of expandable memory.

About the small Pearl 3G handsets, Mike Lazaridis, the RIM president and co-CEO, said that the handsets allow users “to upgrade their traditional mobile phone to a full-featured, easy-to-use and fashionable 3G BlackBerry smartphone.”

The other newly-announced, sleek and sturdily designed, BlackBerry 9650 features a 2.4-inch display; a 3.5-mm headphone jack; an optical trackpad; and supports up to 32 GB of expandable (microSDHC) memory; and will be available on Sprint on May 23.

Meanwhile, the BlackBerry MVS 5, which has been scheduled for a later this year release, will include incoming call filtering; Wi-Fi network access controls; and network preference settings to allow the switch between Wi-Fi or cellular for making calls.