SK Telecom and RIM Introduce the New BlackBerry Pearl 3G Smartphone in South Korea

The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone is now available for pre-order in black, pink or white from SK Telecom • BlackBerry Pearl 3G is an ideal choice for consumers and business customers looking for a compact smartphone to stay connected with friends, family and co-workers • BBM™ and NateOn will be available, allowing users to chat and share interesting moments with their friends and family anytime, anywhere

Seoul, South Korea - SK Telecom and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today introduced the BlackBerry® Pearl™ 3G, the smallest BlackBerry® smartphone yet, in South Korea.

In addition to its compact and stylish design, this unique 3G-enabled smartphone offers remarkable performance and features, including the industry-leading BlackBerry email, messaging and instant messaging capabilities that so many people love. With a choice of black, pink and white models, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G is now open for pre-order from SK Telecom, and availability is expected in October. The first 1,000 customers who pre-order the BlackBerry Pearl 3G from SK Telecom will receive a BlackBerry® Premium Skin or BlackBerry® Skin*.

The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone is as powerful as it is compact. Measuring 50mm wide and weighing only 93g, it still manages to pack in support for high-speed 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) networks, Wi-Fi® (b/g/n) and GPS. Together with popular messaging applications like BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) and NateOn**, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G lets users chat and share interesting moments from their lives with friends and family.

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone features a new 20-key condensed QWERTY keyboard that supports the standard Korean input method. The Korean input method on the new 20-key keyboard requires less key presses for text input than a traditional phone keyboard, making typing faster and simpler. The handset also features an optical trackpad for smooth navigation, dedicated volume and media keys for added convenience, a camera with flash for quality pictures on the go, and support for up to 32 GB of personal content.

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G supports access to BlackBerry App World™, featuring a broad and growing catalog of mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones. It also comes with BlackBerry® Media Sync for easily syncing photos as well as iTunes® and Windows Media® Player music with the smartphone.***

“We are pleased to introduce the BlackBerry Pearl 3G,” said Soon Hyeong Kim, Vice President, Solution Business Office at SK Telecom. “We expect this small, stylish and powerful handset will open up the market for small-sized smartphones in South Korea. The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G provides a rich set of communications features and is an ideal choice for customers who want an easy-to-carry smartphone to stay in close touch with friends, family and co-workers.”


“We are delighted to launch the BlackBerry Pearl 3G in South Korea with SK Telecom,” said Norm Lo, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Research In Motion. “With a broad range of powerful communications and multimedia features in such a compact design, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G is a very compelling choice for South Korean customers.”

For further details on pricing and availability, please visit www.mysmart.co.kr/blackberry or contact SK Telecom’s authorized reail channels.

* Five different colors of each type of skin are available for selection while stocks last.
** NateOn is expected to be available from SK Telecom for the BlackBerry Pearl 3G in October. Availability for other BlackBerry smartphones will announced at a later date.
*** Certain music files may not be supported, including files that contain digital rights management technologies. Photo syncing is currently only available for Windows-based PCs.

About SK Telecom


SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM, KSE: 017670) is Korea’s leading telecommunications provider with more than 23 million subscribers, which accounts for more than 50% of the total market. Established in 1984, the company reached KRW 11.7 trillion in revenue in 2008. SK Telecom was the first to launch and commercialize CDMA, CDMA 2001x, CDMA EV-DO and HSDPA networks. It currently provides cellular, wireless internet, mobile media, global roaming service and more. For more information, please visit www.sktelecom.com or email press@sktelecom.com

About Research In Motion


Research In Motion (RIM) 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, Asia Pacific and Latin America. 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.

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