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A month and a half after Research In Motion shipped its new BlackBerry 7100 smartphone in the United States (from T-Mobile as the 7100t) and Europe (from Vodafone as the 7100v), the company’s newest handset is now available from Rogers Wireless in Canada as the 7100r.

As with other BlackBerries, the 7100 series delivers voice, e-mail, instant messaging, HTML Web browsing and organizer capabilities. It does this, however, in a form factor that is more like a traditional mobile handset. The 7100 measures 4.7 x 2.3 x 0.8 inches (11.9 x 5.8 x 1.9 centimeters) and weighs 4.2 ounces (120 grams).

With the new smartphone, RIM replaced the BlackBerry thumb-keyboard with one that uniquely merges a keypad and a keyboard. For text entry, each key supports two letters, while predictive text software called SureType helps you accurately input text-so when you press a key the 7100 knows which of the two supported letters you mean to use.

The software's word database encompasses approximately 35,000 words plus the user's address book. As with your word processor's spell-checker, you can add more words to it as well.

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said "The new BlackBerry 7100 with SureType keyboard technology is the result of many years of research and innovation. We have listened to mobile users and created a new device that we believe will attract a whole new audience to BlackBerry for the first time."

Since the 7100 series uses quad-band GSM/GPRS radio, you can use these handsetswhen traveling anywhere in the North America, Europe and Asia, as well as many other parts of the world. Other features include Bluetooth for use with wireless headsets and other peripherals, a bright color screen, and 32MB of RAM.

Unfortunately, there is no way to add more memory because the handheld does not integrate a memory card slot like most other smartphones. Of course, the device can connect to RIM's renowned enterprise software, BlackBerry Enterprise Server, for access to corporate e-mail and data.

Rogers Wireless sells the 7100r for $399 Canadian.