Sprint today announced plans to introduce the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 next month. This will be an updated version of the smartphone that launched last year, and will for the first time include 3G and a GPS receiver.

Like all models in the Pearl series, this upcoming device will be smaller than most of RIM's other products, and it will include a SureType keyboard instead of a full QWERTY one.

Unlike its predecessors, though, the 8130 will include a 2.0 MP camera, an externally accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot, and a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack.

In addition, Sprint is including support for some of its services: Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV, and Sprint Navigation.

Naturally, the Pearl will offer the features people have become accustomed to from previous BlackBerries, including support for RIM's push email system.

This series of smartphones has a 240-by-260-pixel display. This is not a touchscreen, as the device is primarily controlled through a trackball.

Coming Next Month

Sprint says it will introduce the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 in November, though it declined to be more specific than that. RIM can make the device in two colors ? silver and amethyst - but Sprint hasn't said which of these it will use.

It also isn't saying what it will charge for this model.

Verizon Wireless is expected to introduce its version of this smartphone on November 1.