Announcing the BlackBerry 8820 — with Wifi AND a removable battery

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In what had to have been the most predicted announcement of the year, Research in Motion announced BlackBerry with WiFi yesterday.  This RIM BlackBerry 8820 is essentially a BlackBerry 8800 with WiFi added.  In WiFi mode, users will have access to all BlackBerry Enterprise Server features, or BlackBerry Internet Server features. Unlike the iPhone, this is more than just WiFi data.  The release states that support for UMA will allow FMC applications to be built and deployed by carriers as well.  Let's hope that RIM reaches out to third parties like Gizmo Project and Truphone and permits them also to integrate with the 8820.

And in what has to a poke-in-the-eye for Apple, the RIM press release notably calls out this feature:

Removable Battery – The BlackBerry 8820 comes with an ultra-thin, high-capacity, removable battery that further extends the exceptional battery life for which BlackBerry handsets are known.

Nice.

Available from AT&T and other carriers this summer. 

Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.