The BlackBerry® 8820 smartphone is the stylish way to get things done. With powerful capabilities, yet incredibly compact and slim, it combines a stylish design with a premium finish. Elegant and performance-driven, this is a smartphone you’ll always want to show off.The BlackBerry 8820 is packed with powerful features*, including phone, email, built-in GPS, Wi-Fi support, maps, browser, instant messaging, organizer, media player and more – all in one stylish smartphone.

A lot of people have been waiting for this, and the day has finally arrived. Today, AT&T and Research In Motion officially released the RIM BlackBerry 8820, the first BlackBerry to offer integrated Wi-Fi. The 8820 supports 802.11a/b/g standards and is compliant with Wi-Fi security protocols, giving users another avenue to connect to the Web–a good thing since the device shows no love for 3G just yet. It also continues to offer Bluetooth and GPS support like its older sibling, the RIM BlackBerry 8800, as well as push e-mail and multimedia. It’s a device built with the business user in mind and definitely won’t have the mass appeal of a BlackBerry Pearl or BlackBerry Curve. There’s not even a camera option. That said, for the intended audience the 8820 will certainly deliver the goods and performance. The RIM BlackBerry 8820 will be available starting on September 20 for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates.

The exterior of the new BlackBerry 8820 may look familiar. After all, the device has the same sleek black design as the BlackBerry 8800, which was launched earlier this year. The new phone has one important upgrade under the hood, however: Wi-Fi.This is the first BlackBerry with Wi-Fi support, and the addition is a welcome one, as it means the phone can provide wireless voice and data access over both cellular and Wi-Fi wireless networks.Like the 8800 and the more consumer-oriented BlackBerry Curve, the 8820 will be available from AT&T. Starting tomorrow, you can get the 8820 for $300 with a two-year service contract. In addition to Wi-Fi, the quad-band GSM phone includes support for the carrier’s EDGE network–but not its true 3G HSDPA service.

Obviously, the biggest news here is the integrated Wi-Fi, as the RIM BlackBerry 8820 is the first BlackBerry to offer this option. It supports 802.11a/b/g, whether you’re using your home or corporate network or hopping onto a Wi-Fi hot spot. There are enterprise security features, including WEP, WPA, and VPN settings. Our review unit was able to detect our test access point immediately, and we had no problem connecting to it or the Web.Other wireless options include Bluetooth 2.0 with support for wireless headsets, hands-free kits, dial-up networking, and A2DP for stereo Bluetooth headsets. Disappointingly, the BlackBerry 8820 doesn’t work on AT&T’s 3G network, so you’ll have to settle for EDGE speeds. For easy access, there’s a Manage Connections menu option where you can turn on and off all the various radios.

Specifications:

Navigation: QWERTY (Keyboard),  Trackball, Keyboard backlighting
User Interface: Intuitive icons and menus
Memory: 64 MB flash memory, Expandable memory – support for microSD card
Microprocessor: No
Modem: Embedded RIM® wireless modem, Tethered modem capability

Email Integrations:

• Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for Microsoft® Exchange
• Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for IBM® Lotus® Domino®
• Works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for Novell® GroupWise®
• Integrates with an existing enterprise email account
• Integrates with existing personal email account
• Integrates with optional new device account

Device Security:

• Password protection and keyboard lock
• Support for AES or Triple DES encryption when integrated with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server
• FIPS 140-2 Validated (FIPS validation)
• Optional support for S/MIME

Network:

• Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g
• Wi-Fi: 802.11a ²
• North America: 850 MHz GSM/GPRS networks
• North America: 1900MHz GSM®/GPRS networks
• Europe/Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM/GPRS networks
• Europe/Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM/GPRS networks
• EDGE networks

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 5:26 am and is filed under 8800 series. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.