Cingular to Offer RIM BlackBerry Pearl Dec. 1

Cingular Wireless on Friday will begin selling Research in Motion’s (RIM) newest offering in its line of handhelds, the BlackBerry Pearl, and the device will retail for about $200 following rebates and along with a two-year service plan, Reuters reports via WashingtonPost.com.

The BlackBerry Pearl is the thinnest and lightest handheld Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM currently offers, according to Reuters.

BlackBerry Pearl

RIM announced in September that the device would initially be offered via T-Mobile with a comparable price tag.

Both Cingular and RIM are hoping to cash in on the busy holiday season, as the Pearl targets the consumer space with its 1.3-megapixel digital camera, memory port and music player.

BlackBerrys have become an essential tool for corporate users in recent years, due largely to their “push” e-mail functionality, or the ability to receive and show electronic messages the moment they arrive, as well as the fact that they wirelessly connect to work e-mail accounts so changes made via the handheld carry over to PCs. Consumer users have been slower to jump on the BlackBerry bandwagon, as the handhelds have tended to contain fewer bells and whistles and were less “chic” than phones offered by firms like Motorola and Palm.

Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T and BellSouth, said the BlackBerry Pearl will be available in the majority of its retail locations by Dec. 4, according to Reuters.