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The BlackBerry Pearl 8130 is the second version of the popular phone that fits a tailored QWERTY keyboard into a standard candy-bar design. Obtainable for Sprint and Verizon CDMA networks, the 8130 adds built-in GPS, a video camera, and support for high-speed data networks. This cute device surfs the Web rapidly and provides basic multimedia features, but it’s no substitute for a heavy-duty smart phone.

BlackBerry units are known for their e-mail ability, and the 8130 is no exception. You can configure up to ten Web, POP3, and IMAP e-mail accounts and you can download a crudely designed mobile IM client to instant-message via AIM, Yahoo Messenger, or Windows Live Messenger. Our silver Verizon test unit is $250 with a two-year contract, but don’t forget to factor in the extra fees for data. A limitless e-mail and messaging plan with 450 say minutes will cost you $100 per month. That’s not cheap–especially for a phone that doesn’t make e-mail and IM composition mainly easy.

As with the original Pearl, the main draw of the 8130 is the SureType keyboard, which combines letters in the QWERTY layout onto 20 keys that fit onto a slim cell phone. But the keyboard isn’t that simple to use. The predictive text feature is very good at guessing dictionary-defined words, but using the white trackball (rather than a four-way keypad) to select words from a long list of options can be frustrating–often I overshot my choice. When typing in e-mail addresses and passwords that predictive text can’t recognize, you’ll need a careful combination of double-tapping, trackball rolling, and Alt-key pressing (to access numbers) to get the alphanumeric mixture you want. It’s a pain. On the other hand, I loved the fast-moving ball for scrolling through Web pages, which laden really quickly on Verizon’s EvDO network. It makes up for the fact that you’re presentation the Web pages on a moderately small 2.25-inch, 240-by-260-pixel screen, which is otherwise bright, sharp, colorful, and easy to read. Video clips look great.

Call excellence was good. The call receiver and I could hear each other noisily and clearly even when I used the speakerphone. In PC World lab tests, battery life during talk time lasted 5 hours, 42 minutes, average among our current batch of standard-size cell phones but well below average for a smart phone.

The 8130’s 2-megapixel camera with 5X zoom and flash did okay with snapshots and landscapes but had difficulty focusing piercingly on objects at close range. I found pictures a little dark, too. The 8130 also takes video at the 240 by 180 and 176 by 144 resolutions; you’ll need a microSD card (not built-in with our test unit) to shoot and store clips. To take a picture you must go into the camera request and press the trackball, since the device has no dedicated shutter button.

The same goes for music-playback controls–the 8130 is no iPhone. It does, however, support standard 3.5mm headphones and major audio formats. As it has only 32MB of internal memory, you’ll want that microSD card to store a noteworthy amount of music. Fortunately, RIM has moved the microSD card slot toward an easy-access location on the side of the phone. I had to dig into the phone’s improved options to allow the built-in GPS for more than just 911 purposes. To take advantage of it, though, you must pay a monthly $10 fee for Verizon’s VZ Navigator service, which provides turn-by-turn voice directions and locations for 14 million points of interest in the United States.

The 8130 is great for anyone who wants to do some light e-mail communication and Web surfing on a phone that won’t feel large in a pocket. But if you’re a serious keyboard user, you’re better off with a full-size smart phone.

A Dutch company named Polymer Vision has introduced a display that can fold up when not in use to fit into a device no better than most other mobile phones. ‘Readius’ sports a 5-inches display (about the size of two business cards put together) that folds out when the user wants to read news, Blogs, or email, and folds back together into a tool small enough to fit into anyone’s pocket.

The “Readius” wears an ‘electronic paper screen’ displaying Black and White text and imagery that look like they’ve been printed on actual paper. Nearly two years back, Polymer Vision had wowed audiences with the example of its “Readius”. The device is now in construction, and will contend with the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Amazon’s Kindle when it hits the market sometime in mid-2008.

Karl McGoldrick, chief managerial of Polymer Vision, said in their “Readius”, customers would get the large display, the super battery life, and the high-end connectivity of e-reading, along with the form factor and weight of a mobile phone. McGoldrick said they are taking e-reading and bringing it to the mobile phone in start this device. Meanwhile, it will be likely just to make phone calls with the “Readius” that connects to the Internet using third-generation mobile phone networks with high data speeds.

Also with the “Readius”, users will be able to set up their email accounts, news sources, podcasts, audio books, and blog feeds on their computers at home, with the data getting pushed to their “Readius” whenever updated. Polymer Vision has said it is talking to seller and mobile operators for selling its “Readius”. Like the iPhone, the “Readius” gives operators a chance to boost data usage, which is more gainful for them.