11:30 AM -- Now that BlackBerry has got the WiFi-enabled "Pearl 2" 8120 phone out the door, the firm is looking ahead to 2008.

Talking to Indian paper, The Business Standard, RIM's VP of customer accounts says that the Canadian email mavens will deliver "four or five" new models in 2008. All of them will have "consumer-friendly applications and design," according to Gregory Wade.

This should come as no surprise to readers who have been following RIM's progress this year, as the firm has finally busted loose from the golden ghetto of the enterprise. As Wade says: "The BlackBerry Pearl represented almost 55 per cent of RIM’s total shipments in the first quarter of 2007."

Still, with the iPhone, the first Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android-based phones, and a multitude of other devices coming in 2008, RIM will also face more competition than ever in trying to keep hold of its new consumer cred.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung