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Verizon Gets a World BlackBerry

by Tom Samiljan on April 26, 2007 at 10:30 AM

BackBerry Pearl 8830Though not exactly the best kept secret on the Internet, the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition Smartphone is finally official. Verizon announced that the world's first dual-mode CDMA/GSM smartphone will be available to business users by May 14 (this means you'll have to order it through your office, unless you have your own small business).

Should you care? If you're a Verizon Wireless customer, the answer is yes, since that carrier's weak spot tends to be in the world-phone arena. This is due to the fact that Verizon Wireless phones run on CDMA networks, which are popular in some countries around the world, but not as popular as the GSM networks that Cingular and T-Mobile use. If you're in the market for a phone that works in most places around the world, you're generally better off getting something from Cingular or T-Mobile.

But the 8830 is a nice addition to the Verizon lineup because it runs on both CDMA and GSM networks. This means it will work both in the U.S. and in more than 60 countries worldwide. So you can get your real-time BlackBerry e-mail (or your office or personal e-mail), not to mention your phone calls, whether you're in Rome, New York or Rome, Italy.

Previous world phones (the Samsung SCH-A790) from Verizon allowed you to get calls around the world, but not data, so the 8830 is a welcome improvement.

This is also good news for Verizon customers who have been begging for a slim and sexy BlackBerry (Cingular and T-Mobile customers have had the similarly-shaped BlackBerry 8800 for a couple of months now). The 8830 also makes use of Verizon's super-fast 3G EVDO network, which gives users near broadband speeds for Web surfing and downloads on your phone.

Unlike the 8800 from T-Mobile and Cingular, Verizon's 8800 doesn't have built-in GPS, but we think the world phone capability is unique and useful enough. And frankly, the silver casing is more distinctive than the typically darker colors used on most BlackBerrys.

From Research In Motion.

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