First it was rumor. Now it's fact. RIM's first flip phone, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, is definately headed to T-Mobile, the country's fourth largest mobile operator. Confirmation arrived this week in the form of a "Coming Soon" listing on T-Mobile's Web site.

The Pearl Flip 8220, a quad-band EDGE (no 3G) phone, like other recent BlackBerry models offered by T-Mobile, integrates Wi-Fi with support for unlicensed mobile access (UMA) technology. This allows the smartphone to work with the carrier's T-Mobile Unlimited Hotspot Calling (formally called HotSpot @Home) and T-Mobile @Home services.

T-Mobile @Home lets you make landline calls over the Internet for a flat $9.99 per month, while T-Mobile Unlimited Hotspot Calling (boy that's a mouthful) will allow the Pearl Flip 8220 to seamlessly switch voice calls and data connections between a wireless carrier's cellular network and a Wi-Fi network, depending on which is cheapest to use or available at a given moment. T-Mobile has the largest Wi-Fi footprint among mobile operators in the U.S.

More on the Pearl Flip 8220
According to RIM, the compact (3.9 x 1.9 x 0.7 inches) new smartphone is designed to cradle the face naturally during phone calls, while a newly developed drop hinge creates a comfortable resting point for the hand while entering text and also provides stability while taking pictures or video with the integrated 2-megapixel camera with flash and zoom.

The quad-band EDGE based BlackBerry Pearl Flip features two high-resolution color displays. Messages, Web pages and videos are displayed on the large - internal - 240 x 320 pixel resolution screen, while the external display allows users to preview incoming messages and calls without opening the handset.

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 also sports an improved Web browser that is capable of displaying Web pages in column or page view. It gives users the option of viewing pages in desktop-style HTML content or the mobile version.

As with past BlackBerry Pearl models, the Pearl Flip 8220 integrates a keyboard/keypad hybrid supported by RIM's SureType technology. A keyboard system that now includes better word completion, in addition to a spell checker and a user-customizable dictionary.

In addition to allowing you to make voice and data calls over a Wi-Fi network when a cellular network isn't in range, UMA enables the Pearl Flip 8220 to easily and seamlessly switch between the two, depending on which is cheaper and available at a given moment. So, say you're on a phone call over T-Mobile's cellular network, when you walk within range of supported hotspot (for instance, at your house or T-Mobile hotspot), your call is automatically be switched over to Wi-Fi.

Additional features of the Pearl Flip 8220 include DataViz Documents to Go for reading and editing Microsoft Office files, RIM's BlackBerry Maps application, a microSD slot for storage expansion, and a media player with support for RTSP for watching online streaming video. There's also Bluetooth 2.0 for use with hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals, such as a GPS accessory.

The removable/rechargeable 900 mAhr battery specs out for four hours of talk and over 14 days of standby time.

See here for more on the BlackBerry Flip 8220. You can also sign up there to be notified when the smartphone becomes available.

Market Position
While Nokia maintains its place at the top of the smartphone heap, its share is slowly shrinking. RIM, on the other hand, grew its market share by 126.4 percent since the second quarter of last year. This has enabled the mob-e-mail specialist to take over the second position.

Part of RIM's success has been due in large part to a push into the consumer segment over the last few years, particularly with the BlackBerry Pearl and BlackBerry Curve models. The Flip 8220 should help RIM maintain this momentum by broadening the appeal of its smartphones to an even wider audience.