Not  a  lot  seems to be going Research In Motion’s (RIM) way the past few weeks, so it makes for a nice change to see something positive emerging from the BlackBerry maker’s stable. Especially if its something sleek in the form of the new Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry.

The Porsche Design P’9981 is instantly identifiable as a Porsche Design product, boasting exclusive material choices such as a forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, sculpted QWERTY keyboard and clear 2.8" (640 x 480, 287 ppi pixel density) TFT LCD  touchscreen.

This customised smartphone features an exclusive Porsche Design UI (user interface) and a bespoke Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app experience. It also includes premium, exclusive PINs that will assist users in easily identifying another P’9981 smartphone user.

Sporty hardware & software

Besides the trendy and exclusive look and feel, the Porsche Design P’9981 also sports solid performance under its sports car-inspired hood. Like the new BlackBerry Bold 9900 it employs a Qualcomm MSM 8655 1.2 GHz processor and features a 5 MP camera that can record HD-ready (720p) video recording, built-in support for NFC (near field communication) as well as 24-bit high resolution graphics. It operates on BlackBerry 7 OS and comes with 8 GB of on-board memory, which can be boosted to 40 GB via the addition of a microSD memory card.

“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 at RIM. “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.”

The Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry will be available from Porsche Design stores later this year. No local release details are available yet.

 

In related news Basis International has announced that it is taking legal action against RIM to protect its ownership of the “BBx trademarked operating system independent language, database, and toolset.”