BT Group signaled its return to the mobile market on Wednesday by launching a BlackBerry-style smart-phone as part of its broadband deal for users to surf the Web and make calls when not at home.

“Communications services are converging, and it is clear that customers want consistent access to the things that matter not only at home, but in the palm of their hands wherever they are,” said Consumer managing director John Petter.

BT, a former monopoly and Britain’s dominant fixed-line operator, is among the few large telecom groups in Europe not to own a mobile network after it demerged its mobile operation in 2001.

Consumers will have a choice of two smart phones from Taiwan-based High Tech Computer Corp (HTC) which will connect to the Internet at broadband speeds and provide cheaper calls when in a WiFi hotspot.

The BlackBerry email device was originally popular with business executives but it is increasingly attracting a wider consumer market. Consumers are also moving to mobile networks and away from landlines to make their calls.

source: reuters

Latest blackberry phone is the curve 8330 with rich Multimedia Features, VZ Navigator and Broadband Speeds.

This is the smallest and lightest of all the black berry’s.

Some of the features include

Small and light design that is easy to handle and use; measures 4.2” x 2.4” x 0.6”and weighs only 4 ounces
• Large, vibrant 320 x 240 display, with light sensing technology that automatically adjusts brightness for optimal viewing in outdoor, indoor, and dark environments
• Responsive, highly-tactile full-QWERTY keyboard and RIM’s intuitive trackball navigation system
• Premium phone features including: noise cancellation technology to offset background noise, Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), dedicated “send,” “end,” and “mute” keys, low-distortion speaker phone, and Blue-tooth® 2.0, with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets (Blue-tooth stereo audio profile A2DP/AVRCP), car kits and other Blue-tooth accessories
• 2.0 mega-pixel camera with support for video recording*, self-portrait mirror, enhanced flash and 5X zoom
• Easy access to the popular Face book® for BlackBerry® Smart-phones application
• 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack and dedicated volume controls
• Advanced media player and enhanced desktop media manager software that makes it easy to move media files between a PC and the BlackBerry Curve 8330 – USB Data Cable comes in-box
• Micro SD™/SDHC memory card slot, providing plenty of additional storage (up to 8 GB)
• HTML web browser delivers a fast, rich browsing experience and supports streaming video from sites like m.you-tube.com (3GPP RTSP streaming protocol over EV-DO)
• A removable, rechargeable battery, rated for up to 260 minutes of talk time and up to 11 days of standby time
• In-box accessories include: a stereo headset, travel charger and premium tote sleeve

Source: Blackberry