06/04/2008, 8:35am, EDT
Wednesday, June 4thRogers intros BlackBerry Pearl 8120, Wi-Fi calling
Rogers Wireless today kicked off the launch of both its version of the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and a service to match. The candybar smartphone adds Wi-Fi to the original formula and on Rogers is used for the company's newly formalized Home Calling Zone VoIP service. Based on Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) like T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home in the US, the feature lets users make calls from a Wi-Fi access point with the added ability to bridge calls: a phone conversation starting from either the cellular network or a Wi-Fi spot will hop to the other network without disrupting the call.
Calls started from a Wi-Fi area don't count against regular minutes on a cellphone plan even when the user leaves the hotspot and enters the cellular network, Rogers adds.
The 8120's Wi-Fi is also used for short-range Internet access and is part of a design that otherwise keeps close to that of the GPS-based 8110 already in use at Rogers, including the 2-megapixel camera, the externally reachable microSDHC card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Canadian provider bundles its version with a 1GB microSD card and sells the device for $250 when paired with both three-year phone and data plans. Home Calling Zone is optional and costs either $15 per month for unlimited local calling or $20 for unlimited Canadian calls.
Filed under: gadgets
Other story tags: BlackBerry, T-Mobile, Rogers, RIM, Pearl, HotSpot@Home, UMA
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Meh..
Another overpriced rip-off from the States (an other countries). You'd think the Canadian carriers would think of something creative and not attach an inflated price tag on up here in the ever so diminishing Great-White North.