RIM has announced that it will be launching a new 3G version of the Pearl for Europe, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G (9105), and in the process ditch the traditional qwerty keyboard.

The new model, which will follow the standard Pearl form factor, but align more closely with the company's BlackBerry Bold 9700 phone will come with more "computing power" say the BlackBerry maker, but with a strong focus on the consumer.

That stronger focus means that owners of the new phone, due out on "most" networks at the end of May, won't get the more familiar rocker style keyboard in they buy the phone in Europe or Africa, but a predictive text number pad (1-0) instead.

"Europe have decided to take the number pad design over the qwerty keyboard one to be released in the US," a spokesperson from BlackBerry told Pocket-lint in a briefing.

Other specs worth mentioning are that all three kinds of Wi-Fi (b,g, and n) supported as well as a bump in the cameras capability to 3.2 megapixels. 

Running BlackBerry OS 5.0, the handset also sports a rather crisp screen 360 x 400 pixel screen.

Full specs are:

- Elegant candybar design measuring 4.25" x 1.96" x 0.52" (108mm x 50 mm x 13.3 mm) and weighing only 3.3 oz (93 grams)

- 624 Mhz processor with 256 MB Flash memory

- 360x400 sharp-resolution display (238 ppi)

- Optical trackpad that makes navigation fast and smooth, plus a comfortable keyboard that enables quick and accurate typing

 -Media player for videos, pictures and music (music plays up to 30 hours), plus dedicated media keys integrated along top of the handset

 - 3.2 MP camera with zoom, autofocus, flash and video recording

 - Built-in GPS for location-based applications such as BlackBerry Maps, as well as photo geotagging

- Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) - first BlackBerry smartphone to support 'n'

- microSD/SDHD memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB cards

- Premium phone features, including voice activated dialing, speakerphone and Bluetooth (2.1) with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits (including systems that support the emerging Bluetooth Message Access Profile standard) and other Bluetooth accessories

- Access to BlackBerry App World, featuring a broad and growing catalog of mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones

- Support for BlackBerry Media Sync for easily syncing photos as well as iTunes and Windows Media Player music with the smartphone

- BlackBerry OS 5

- Support for tri-band UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks

- Removable, rechargeable 1150 mAhr battery that provides approximately 5.5 hours of talk time on 3G networks