Research in Motion, today announced that BlackBerry 8703e will be released this coming Sunday. This announcement, in and of itself, is a pretty big deal. The last QWERTY BlackBerry released on Verizon was the BlackBerry 7250 which came out several years ago. The thing that I don’t understand, however, is why Research in Motion would announce that the BlackBerry 8703e on the same day that the BlackBerry Pearl is to be released.

The BlackBerry Pearl, is arguably the biggest release of a new device to date for RIM. Many may not like the SureType keyboard and some may think that a BlackBerry with a camera is a horrible idea, however, I predict that the BlackBerry Pearl will be the biggest selling BlackBerry device to date. What marketing genius decided to dilute the “mad dash to get a Pearl” hoopla with the release of a new 87xx series device. From the other side of it, how many will notice an announcement about a new BlackBerry that doesn’t have a Camera when they see posters plastered all over T-Mobile stores of a BlackBerry with a camera.

BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry 8703e