Research In Motion (RIM) and Orange UK today introduced the BlackBerry 8820 smartphone to the UK market.

The new smartphone features RIM's thinnest handset design with a full and  highly tactile QWERTY keyboard, large ultra bright landscape display, user-friendly trackball navigation system and best-in-class voice and data functionality. The BlackBerry 8820 also includes built-in GPS (Global Positioning System), RIM's latest media player enhancements, and a microSD / microSDHC (microSD High Capacity) expandable memory slot that can support the current and future generations of microSD memory up to 32GB.

The BlackBerry 8820 is the first dual-mode BlackBerry handset combining EDGE/GPRS/GSM cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity for data access and voice support through UMA (unlicensed mobile access) for fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) offerings, making it fully compatible with Unique, the innovative converged service for business customers from Orange.

The BlackBerry 8820 smartphone supports the 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi standards to enable data access over Wi-Fi connections in the enterprise, as well as through public hotspots and wireless home networks. The smartphone can seamlessly switch between cellular coverage and a Wi-Fi network to deliver any BlackBerry data service to the user - email, Instant Messaging, organiser, web browsing and other mobile data applications.

For enterprises that require Wi-Fi users to access the corporate network through a VPN (Virtual Private Network), the BlackBerry 8820 includes IPSec-based software that supports the most commonly deployed VPN gateways from vendors including Cisco, Check Point and others. The BlackBerry 8820 includes a microSD expansion memory slot memory that can support both microSD (up to 2GB) and microSDHC (4GB to 32GB) memory cards.