Optus offers 3G BlackBerry 8707g in Australia

August 15th, 2006: Optus plans to offer the 3G-enabled BlackBerry 8707g to customers in Australia. The handset is expected to be available from mid August.

The BlackBerry 8707g features popular and proven BlackBerry functionality including support for "push" email, phone, text messaging, organiser, browser and other corporate data applications. The handset can also be used as a tethered modem, providing customers with the ability to access the Internet from their laptops.

Together with Optus' 3G network, the BlackBerry 8707g allows users to simultaneously send and receive email, browse the Internet and use other applications while speaking on the phone, even while the handset is being used as a tethered modem.

Featuring a full QWERTY keyboard, the BlackBerry 8707g operates on 2100 MHz UMTS networks and also includes quad-band support on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS networks. The handset features 64 MB flash memory and supports attachment viewing of popular file formats (including JPEG, BMP, TIFF, Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Corel WordPerfect and Adobe PDF).

The high resolution QVGA (320x240) LCD display on the BlackBerry 8707g supports more than 65,000 colours and it incorporates intelligent light sensing technology that automatically adjusts the display and keyboard brightness to optimise visibility in outdoor, indoor and dark environments.

The BlackBerry 8707g features a built-in speakerphone and Bluetooth support, dedicated "send," "end" and "mute" keys, as well as intuitive call management features such as smart dialling, conference calling, speed dial and call forwarding.

For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server™ software tightly integrates with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise and works with existing enterprise systems to enable secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate data.

For individuals and smaller businesses, BlackBerry Internet Service™ allows users to access up to ten corporate and personal email accounts (including Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and most popular ISP email accounts) from a single handset.

The BlackBerry 8707g will be available at Optus from mid August with different service plans options.

Comment on this story.