Tags: Airtel, BlackBerry Pearl 8120, India, RIM, Smartphones, Wi-Fi

Airtel and RIM Launch the New BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Smartphone in India

* Small and stylish design with added benefits including Wi-Fi connectivity, an enhanced visual interface and hardware refinements
* The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 advances multimedia capabilities with 2 megapixel camera and video capture
* Supported on BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Service to meet a range of corporate and individual customer needs

6th Nov 2007 — Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the new BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8120 smartphone in India. The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone is priced at Rs 24,990/- and is now available at Airtel Relationship Centres and retail outlets.

Packed with new features in a small and stylish design, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 comes with a 2 megapixel digital camera that supports video capture, Wi-Fi® connectivity support and an externally accessible memory slot. These new features, along with an enhanced visual interface, add to the renowned BlackBerry smartphone experience for email, phone, messaging (SMS, IM, MMS), web browsing, multimedia, organizer and other mobile applications.

Sanjay Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel said, “We are delighted to introduce the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 to the Indian consumer. The Pearl 8120 excels in both functionality & design and it will help Airtel users make the most of their time in both personal and professional settings. They will get an opportunity to experience a world class product which is elegant, stylish and equipped to deliver a power packed performance. This exceptional device reinforces our commitment to innovation and to bring the latest and best communication experience for Airtel’s BlackBerry users.”

“BlackBerry smartphones are well received in India and we are pleased to be working be Airtel to introduce another RIM innovation to the Indian market,” said Norm Lo, Vice President of Asia Pacific at RIM. “The new BlackBerry Pearl 8120, with its elegant design, advanced multimedia features and Wi-Fi capabilities, make it perfect for both personal and professional use.”

Ultra-Sleek and Stylish

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone is available in a stylish titanium finish and adds many new enhancements while maintaining the ultra-sleek form that has already garnered international recognition and accolades, measuring only 107mm x 55mm x 14mm and weighing approximately 91g.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 provides an exceptional user experience through its trackball navigation system and RIM’s popular SureType® keyboard system that makes text typing and phone dialing fast and easy. SureType has been enhanced to provide word completion, easier editing of misspelled words and a built-in spell checker.

Multimedia to Go

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 comes with a 2 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom and enhanced flash. The new camera also supports video capture in two resolutions: 240×180 or 176×144 for sharing via MMS.

The media player now allows users to create and edit playlists right on the handset. Alternatively, users can manage their media files from their PC with the Roxio® Media Manager for BlackBerry®, which is included with the BlackBerry® Desktop Manager software.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 supports the Bluetooth® stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP), and comes with a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack so users can plug in their preferred headphones or speakers. The smartphone also provides the convenience of an externally accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot for additional storage of music, videos and pictures.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 also supports high-speed USB for transferring files between the handset and a PC at data throughput rates of up to 10MB/sec.

Enhanced Visual Interface

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 features an updated visual interface and integrates a new font rendering technology. The new technology is evident throughout the visual interface, complementing the new look of the BlackBerry® email client, calendar, address book, task list, memo pad and web browser, while also enhancing other applications. The BlackBerry® Browser is further improved with a new “Page View” option that displays a full web page on the screen along with a magnifying glass that allows the user to quickly and accurately point and zoom in on a specific area of the web page.

Wi-Fi and Quad-Band Connectivity

In addition to quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, Airtel customers can also enjoy the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 with faster web browsing and expanded wireless data coverage via Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) networks. To meet various security requirements for users accessing a Wi-Fi connection, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is compliant with Wi-Fi security protocols including WEP (Wireless Equivalency Protocol), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2.

Advanced Phone Features

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 offers many convenient phone features including Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), Bluetooth 2.0 support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals, a low-distortion speakerphone and support for polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ring tones. The smartphone also includes new features that enhance phone audio quality including enhanced background noise, wind and echo cancellation for better performance in loud environments like airports, restaurants or busy downtown streets. An ‘enhance call audio’ feature also allows the user to boost the phone audio’s bass or treble while on a call.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is supported on BlackBerry® Internet Service, giving users access to up to 10 supported work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts), as well as BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, enabling advanced security and IT administration within IBM® Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft® Exchange and Novell® GroupWise® environments.

For additional information, please visit: www.blackberrypearl8120.com.

###

About Bharti Airtel Limited:

Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is India’s leading integrated telecom services provider with an aggregate of 50.94 million customers as of end of September 2007, consisting of 48.89 million mobile customers. Bharti Airtel has been rated among the best performing companies in the world in the BusinessWeek IT 100 list 2007.

Bharti Airtel is structured into three strategic business units - Mobile services, Broadband & Telephone (B&T) services and Enterprise services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles. The B&T business provides broadband & telephone services in 94 cities. The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national & international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel’s high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 40,000 kms covering all the major cities in the country. The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe. For more information, visit www.bhartiairtel.in

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld™ product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

Media Contacts:

Ratnadeep Gupta

Digiqom for RIM

+91 9819676906

ratnadeep.g@digiqom.com

Reecha Vip

Digiqom for RIM

+91 9910485027

reecha.v.x@digiqom.com