BlackBerry 8110: Hands-on with the stylish GPS emailer

There was a time when man had to navigate the land using the stars, and man regularly got lost, especially in cloudy old Britain. But lo, there was progress, and now man has GPS-enabled smart phones. Enter RIM's latest addition to its BlackBerry range, the 8110 -- essentially the BlackBerry Pearl with added GPS goodness, to fortify your sense of direction.

We've been playing around with it for a few days now and while we're definitely not fans of RIM's OS, if you love the BlackBerry Pearl you'll dig the extra features. Lost in the city on the way to a meeting? No problem: just whip out your 8110 with sat-nav software, such as telenav, and you'll be back on track in no time.

Aside from the GPS, RIM really knows how to make an attractive phone and the 8110 is no exception -- a sleek body and nifty detailing make it stand out from the crowd. The addition of an expandable microSD slot and 3.5mm headphone jack make it a viable alternative to your standalone MP3 player, too.

Our only niggle is that it's far too similar to the Pearl -- we think it's time RIM came up with something new. Word on the mobile rumour grapevine is that there might be a touchscreen BlackBerry coming out soon, which would be more like it.

RIM's latest is on offer from T-Mobile for free on a monthly contract. Expect a full review of the 8110 soon. -Andrew Lim

Update: Read our full RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8110 review.