RIM officially introduces Porsche Design P'9981 smartphone from BlackBerry

RIM has introduced the Porsche Design P'9981 smartphone from BlackBerry. The phone with the futuristic QWERTY keyboard was formerly known as the BlackBerry Knight. The handset will be available from Porsche Design stores later this year and there is speculation that the price tag will be a very Porsche-like $2,000.

So what are you getting for that stack of 20 C notes? The device offers solid construction, for one thing with a forged stainless steel frame, leather back, and a sculpted QWERTY keyboard. The model is equipped with a exclusive Porsche Design UI and a Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app. Each unit of the P'9981 gets a premium PIN that allows the user of the device to find another P'9981 user in a crowd.

Other specs include a single-core 1.2GHz processor, HD video capture and 8GB of native storage that can be pumped up to 40GB using a microSD card. The phone is NFC enabled and has BlackBerry 7 OS on board. That means the phone has the second-generation WebKit browser and includes the fast and smooth liquid graphics..

Executives from both companies made some comments. Todd Wood, RIM's Senior VP for Industrial Design said, "This collaboration stems from a shared belief that form equals function. The Porsche Design P’9981 is a truly modern luxury smartphone, where the timeless style of Porsche Design meets the unmatched mobile experience provided by BlackBerry." Dr. Juergen Gessler, CEO of Porsche Design Group, gushed, "Since 1972 Porsche Design has presented milestone products with iconic style, and the P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry will be our next landmark. The pure and distinctive design, coupled with authentic materials and an emphasis on the manufacturing process, perfectly match our philosophy and complement the Porsche Design product assortment."

source: RIM