Orange targets youth market with prepay Blackberry

In a sure sign smartphones are heading for the mass-market, Orange has designed a package aimed squarely at the youth segment that will include a prepay BlackBerry Pearl 8120 for €160 and will be marketed with an Orange monthly internet add-on costing €6.

Orange said that with nearly two thirds of UK mobile customers now using pay-as-you-go, "it was pleased to be bringing one of the most popular email and multimedia devices to the masses as the first operator to offer BlackBerry on pay-as-you-go in the UK." The Pearl, which is available now, includes a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and media player.

RIM has previously stated that one of its big targets for this year is to push its Blackberry email devices into the consumer market, and is increasingly using social networking users as a vehicle to promote its devices. The launch of the company's Storm handset, with touchscreen technology, is seen as another attempt to tempt consumers towards smartphones--or to lure Apple aficionados away from their beloved iPhones.

For more on this story:
Mobile Today
and Techradar

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