Pearl 9100 sleeker, faster

RIM's long anticipated overhaul of its most affordable BlackBerry is coming soon, a leak shows today. Likely to be called the Pearl 9100 when it's finished, the new model has a sleeker design reminiscent of the Storm2 but with an optical trackpad like newer BlackBerries. The Pearl's familiar SureType keyboard is still present in the CrackBerry shots, but the new model should also add 3G for the first time to those on GSM networks.

Few details have been available without turning it on, but the phone is known to have a new battery that's presumably more efficient than on the earlier 8100 series. Previous Pearl editions have alternately had GPS and Wi-Fi, though with the 9100 the possibility exists that both will be in the same device.

A timetable hasn't been given for the new phone, though the next major phone-related event should be Mobile World Congress in February.

By Electronista Staff