BlackBerry handset gets shirty with qwerty

Research in Motion has unveiled a BlackBerry mobile-style communicator featuring a new condensed keypad to replace its usual qwerty one-key-per-letter keypad.

The manufacturer said that the new design for the RIM 7100t had been implemented to allow one-handed and two-handed use. The handset's SureType system allows each key to be used for two characters.

The 7100t also boasts Bluetooth capability, polyphonic ring tones and quad-band reception, operating on a wide range of GSM/GPRS wireless networks in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

It has a talk time of around four hours and a $200 price tag, but is currently only available in the US from T-Mobile. Instant messenging applications are also included, such as Yahoo, AOL and ICQ.

"The 7100t is the outcome of many years of research and innovation to develop the look and feel of a traditional mobile phone together with advanced email, messaging and browsing capabilities," said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive at RIM.

The Rim 7100t is an improvement on previous Blackberry models because it incorporates dedicated 'send' and 'end' keys, as well as an HTML browser, the firm added.