Telstra and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) have launched the “BlackBerryВ® Pearl” which will be available in stores from tomorrow.

Weighing approximately 89g and measuring just 107mm x 50mm x 14.5mm, the “BlackBerryВ® Pearl” is one of the world’s smallest and lightest smartphones. The “BlackBerryВ® Pearl” is easy-to-use and features support for phone, email, messaging, organiser, web browser and other mobile applications. It also incorporates a digital camera, media player, and expandable memory slot for the first time.

Telstra’s Enterprise and Government Group Managing Director, Mr David Thodey, said Telstra customers would benefit from the national coverage of its EDGE network that was unmatched by its competitors.

“The BlackBerryВ® Pearl” operates on Telstra’s enhanced GPRS network, known as EDGE, which is the largest network of its kind in Australia, reaching more than 96 per cent of the population,” Mr Thodey said. “Telstra’s EDGE network delivers data speeds more than twice as fast as GPRS.

“With the wide adoption and acceptance of BlackBerryВ® as a business communications tool, many of Telstra’s enterprise and government customers are already using BlackBerryВ® for solutions that extend beyond the great email capability of BlackBerryВ®. This helps Telstra’s customers drive even greater productivity and accelerates their return on investment.

“Today many Telstra customers are using BlackBerryВ® to access a variety of applications beyond email, including sales force automation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), remote network management and dispatch. Telstra also provides fully managed mobility solutions through KAZ Group, Telstra’s ICT and IP services subsidiary.

“Telstra is about offering our customers choice, because we understand that they all have different needs.”

Since September, Telstra began switching on its EDGE network, meaning many existing Telstra customers are also experiencing faster data speeds on their EDGE capable BlackBerryВ® 8700g and BlackBerryВ® 7130g handsets.

“Despite being one of the smallest and lightest smartphones available, the “BlackBerryВ® Pearl” offers the full BlackBerryВ® experience that has become so popular around the world. We’re pleased to be working with Telstra to expand its BlackBerryВ® portfolio to include the highly-acclaimed “BlackBerryВ® Pearl”,” said Norm Lo, Vice President, Asia Pacific for Research In Motion.

Group Managing Director for Telstra Business, Ms Deena Shiff said Telstra was offering its customers access to new applications on the BlackBerryВ® Pearl”.

“Only Telstra customers can access our Business Portal which allows them to download applications on any BlackBerryВ® device, like spell checking, an email preview capability, and the ability to print emails and attachments to any fax machine in the country – all billed to your Telstra Mobile account,” Ms Shiff said.

“Telstra’s BlackBerryВ® Individual Solution customers can also access Sensis’ Whereis” location based technology via one click and unlimited internet browsing on BlackBerryВ® devices at no extra charge.”

Telstra is offering small and medium business customers a new plan to encourage the take up of wireless technology. The Small Business Edition (SBE) software has been dropped from $2,500 to $500 allowing customers to adopt up to 15 “BlackBerryВ® Pearl” smartphones at a lower upfront cost.

The “BlackBerryВ® Pearl” is available with BlackBerryВ® Individual Solution from $99.95 ($60 voice plan and $39.95 for BlackBerry data Plan) per month over 24 months for ‘all-you-can-eat’ email and internet browsing.

The “BlackBerryВ® Pearl” is available at $199 upfront for BlackBerryВ® Enterprise Solution customers taking up a 24 month contract for $89.95 per month. This gives you ‘all-you-can-eat’ wireless email, calendar, contacts and internet browsing.

Telstra customers can also purchase the phone outright for $679 in conjunction with either a BlackBerryВ® Individual Solution or BlackBerryВ® Enterprise Solution.

For people who are ready to move up to a full-featured mobile phone that includes everything needed to stay organized, Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) has announced the availability of the Palm(R) Treo(TM) 680 smartphone, a GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad-band world phone, on Rogers Wireless, Canada’s largest integrated wireless voice and data network.

Customers will find the Treo 680 smartphone easy to use, slim and compact, yet packed full of features beyond its stellar phone capability, such as email, web browsing, messaging, multimedia, calendar, contacts and more. Palm believes this product will appeal to price-sensitive feature-phone owners who want a more capable mobile-computing device.

“The Treo 680 is the smartphone for everyone. It’s small, sleek, fast and is available in four fun colors on the Palm Canada online store,” said Michael Moskowitz, vice president, Americas International, Palm, Inc. “It’s a great phone design for messaging and email, and provides users easy and fast access to the Internet and to their favorite music and pictures. The Treo 680 makes it easy for people to balance their business and personal lives while on the go.”

“As Canada’s leading wireless carrier, operating on Canada’s only GSM network, we are proud to offer our customers leading-edge mobile devices like the Palm Treo 680. Email availability on a stylish, thin form factor will make the Treo 680 particularly appealing to small and medium-size businesses by enabling them to save time by having access to outstanding mobile innovation and email connectivity,” said John Boynton, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Rogers Wireless.

With the introduction of the Palm OS(R) based Treo 680 smartphone, Palm is targeting new users in the rapidly growing smartphone and feature-phone markets. Market research firm In-Stat, estimates that 25 per cent of all wireless handsets worldwide will be smartphones by 2011. Research conducted by Palm suggests a substantial population of feature-phone users have not purchased smartphones, fearing they were too expensive and too difficult to use. The Treo 680 will offer an affordable, simple and fun way to get started and stay connected.

For a phone that reflects your style whether you’re at work or at play, picture yourself with the new Sony Ericsson Z310. Announced today, this stand-out phone has a flawless, polished finish. The front icon display is integrated into the design, hidden discretely beneath the surface until a message or call is received. There are even eye-catching coloured light effects that can be assigned to contacts in the phonebook; so you can know at a glance who is calling.

“This stylish clamshell phone is one you won’t want to live without. Not only does it boast good looks and a vibrant colour, it also provides must-have features for this type of everyday phone: VGA camera, MP3 Music Ringtones & Bluetooth® connectivity,” says Steve Walker, Head of Product Marketing at Sony Ericsson. “The fresh look is also complimented by some innovative design features, normally only seen on more advanced phones.”

The seamless, semi-transparent finish on the front of the phone allows the display icons (which signal when a new event takes place on the phone) to be �hidden’ beneath the surface. And a separate external display, also concealed under the surface of the phone, lets you know exactly who is calling.

Adding to the striking design is a series of novel light effects that serve to both personalise the phone & allow the user to �colour code’ their contacts. Simply assign a coloured light to your frequent callers and you will know instantly whether its work trying to reach you, your best friend fixing a date, or your mother calling to invite you to Sunday lunch! It is even possible to set the look and feel of the menu & screen display to match the time of day; a bright theme during the daytime and something more relaxing or subtle at night.

Although straightforward to use, the Z310 is loaded with features to help you organise your life and have fun along the way. The built-in VGA camera allows you to take spontaneous snaps and share them with family and friends instantly via Picture Blogging (uploading pictures directly to a Blog site from the Z310) or Picture Messaging (MMS). Alternatively, just use the phone as a portable photo album to make sure that your memories are always with you.

And there’s no need to worry if you can’t find your phone in your bag or under that pile of papers! Just link the Z310 to a Bluetooth headset, such as the comfortable & compact HBH-PV705 Headset, and you are likely to never miss a call.

You can choose the Z310 in the colour that best fits your lifestyle and your wardrobe. This luscious phone comes in three very individual colours: Jet Set Black, Blush Bronze or Lush Pink.

Z310 is a Triple band/EDGE/GPRS 900/1800/1900 handset and will be available in selected markets from Q1 2007.

Z310 – Features at a glance:

Imaging and messaging

* Main screen
* 128 x 160 pixels
* STN (for low power consumption)
* 65,536 colours
* External screen – combined Monochrome/single colour display (96 x 64 pixels) and Icon Display
* Built-in VGA camera
* Messaging – MMS, SMS and EMS
* Email
* Instant Messaging
* Changeable Wallpapers & Themes
* Picture phonebook

Music

* Polyphonic ringtones
* Music ringtones (MP3)
* Java Midp 2.0
* PlayNowв„ў
* Direct links for easy download

Connectivity

* EDGE
* HTML browsing
* Infrared
* Bluetoothв„ў
* Speakerphone
* WAP 2.0
* AMR speech codec – optimises voice quality & minimises interference
* FOTA
* Talk time: Up to 7 hours
* Standby time: Up to 300 hours

Accessories

* Bluetoothв„ў Headset HBH-PV705 (over-ear style)
* Deskstand CDS-60
* Bluetoothв„ў Car Speakerphone HCB-100