RIM and Porsche Design unveiled the BlackBerry P’9981 smartphone today in a special event hosted at Burj Khaleefa, Dubai. The ultra-luxurious BlackBerry features stainless steel in the front and a complete leather back. Porsche Design P’9981 is created on a platform that unites a 1 GHz processor and the BlackBerry 7 OS. It works on the same Touch & Type principle like the Bold 9900 with stainless steel premium designed keypad and touch screen display. The limited-edition Porsche Design P’9981 hit the shelves of Porsche Design Stores before the end of this year, costing $2000 (see photos here). The official press release is below:
Today, Porsche Design and Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) announced the elite new Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry®. Designed by Porsche Design, in collaboration with RIM, the luxury brand’s first smartphone delivers engineered luxury and performance.
The Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry is instantly identifiable as a Porsche Design product. The exclusive material choices for this unique smartphone include a forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, sculpted QWERTY keyboard, and crystal clear touch display. This customized Porsche Design P’9981 comes with an exclusive Porsche Design UI and a bespoke Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app experience. It also includes premium, exclusive PINs that help easily identify another P’9981 smartphone user.
“Since 1972 Porsche Design has presented milestone products with iconic style, and the P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry will be our next landmark,” said Dr. Juergen Gessler, CEO Porsche Design Group. “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.”
“This collaboration stems from a shared belief that form equals function,” said Todd Wood, SVP for Industrial Design, Research In Motion. “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.”
Powerful hardware and software
The Porsche Design P’9981 is built on a performance driven platform that features a 1.2 GHz processor, HD video recording, 24-bit high resolution graphics, and advanced sensors enabling new augmented reality applications. It comes with 8GB of on-board memory, expandable up to 40GB with a micro SD card.
BlackBerry® 7, the operating system for the new Porsche Design P’9981, includes a next generation BlackBerry® browser with a fast, fluid web browsing experience that is among the best in the industry. It also features Liquid Graphics™ technology, which delivers a highly responsive touch experience with incredibly fast and smooth graphics.
The Porsche Design P’9981 includes built-in support for NFC (Near Field Communications), which will enable many new and exciting capabilities.
The Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry will be available from Porsche Design stores later this year.
