CrackBerry calls up camera, music

Reuters suggests that the BlackBerry Pearl, rumoured for the last month, is now imminent. It is likely to be a slim model, following the vogue set by handsets such as the Motorola Razr, and add the multimedia extras common on many other devices.

It also floats the suggestion that an alliance with Apple could result in a device with iTunes on board. An AppleBerry, it suggests, although BlackApple, iBerry or BlackMac could do just as well.

Research In Motion, the company behind the hugely popular gizmo, has always said that it intends to have a consumer version of the product at some point, although the large majority of sales thus far have been into the corporate sector. Banks and financial services has been a particularly happy hunting ground. As anybody who commutes into London by train can tell you, the CrackBerry is as necessary an accompaniment to City drones as a bowler hat and copy of the Pink ‘Un would have been 50 years ago.

Of course, some celebs for whom text messaging just won't hack it have already embraced the BlackBerry despite its current lack of bells and whistles. David Beckham, former King of England, and his wife, have often been snapped with their always-on email gewgaws. µ