RIM Announces First Wi-Fi BlackBerry

The BlackBerry 8820 will be the first phone in the line to offer Wi-Fi connectivity to users, plus GPS mapping and memory expandable to 32GB.

BlackBerry addicts will finally be able to tap into the wonderful world of Wi-Fi with Research in Motion’s latest phone: the BlackBerry 8820. The new handset will bring 802.11 a/b/g support, a new slimmer design, and a host of other new features to the BlackBerry line of business-savvy smartphones.

Not straying far from previous BlackBerry designs, the 8820 gets a 320 x 240 pixel LCD display above a full QWERTY keyboard, with a trackball for navigation. The phone’s microSD slot supports both standard microSD cards up to 2GB, and microSDHC (high capacity) cards up to 32GB. GPS and accompanying mapping software are also built in.

RIM claims the 8820’s Wi-Fi support will allow users to seamlessly switch between BlackBerry Internet Service and Wi-Fi hotspots, when they are available. It also supports all the latest wireless security protocols including WEP, WPA WPA2 and Cisco Compatible Extensions.

The BlackBerry media player has been refined with a simple search tool that allows users find music by typing a title, genre, artist or album name, as well as the ability to play videos in full screen mode.

The BlackBerry 8820 will be available on select wireless carriers around the world in the coming weeks, with AT&T adopting it later this summer.