BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 (click for larger image)

After months of speculation, Research In Motion officially announced its first clamshell smartphone.

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 still has many of the enterprise-grade features one expects from a BlackBerry, but the new form factor should help RIM bolster its presence in the casual market.

The light-sensing external display enables users to preview incoming e-mails, phone calls, texts, and photos without opening the handset. The company said the internal screen sports a 240 by 320 resolution for crisp detail and contrast.

Like the BlackBerry Pearl, the Flip has a SureType QWERTY keyboard for composing messages, and a trackball for navigation. The handset has integrated access with the BlackBerry wireless services for push corporate e-mail, and it also works with Microsoft Exchange, IMB Lotus, Novell GroupWise, and Web-based e-mails.

The Flip also comes preloaded with DataViz Documents to Go, allowing users to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on the handset. While it lacks 3G network support, customers can use the integrated Wi-Fi and the EDGE connection for Internet browsing, e-mailing, and streaming video from YouTube's mobile site.

The handset works with the BlackBerry Media Sync application to let users sync their iTunes music, and the Flip can have up to 16 GB of storage via the microSD slot. The smartphone is capable of playing video, has Bluetooth version 2.0, voice activated dialing, and background noise cancellation.

Additionally, a 2-megapixel camera with flash and zoom are on board, and it's also capable of video recording. The device measures in at about 3.9 by 1.9 by .7 inches, and it weighs 3.6 ounces.

T-Mobile will be the exclusive carrier of the handset in the United States, and it will be available this fall for an unspecified price.