I’m not sure what to make of this sales chart displayed on Amazon. It shows sales of Blackberry Curve models outpacing those of the diminutive Blackberry Pearl by a factor of 9. Having used a Blackberry Pearl for about 6 months I can say that they’re interesting devices but the Pearl’s Suretype keyboard, where three letters are on each key, is frustrating to use. If this survey is any indication you could wonder how well a keyboard-less touchscreen Blackberry Storm will fare in the fight. Of course these sales charts also could be significantly skewed since Amazon have been heavily discounting Blackberry Curve’s on T-Mobile and AT&T for the last month with rebates that bring the net cost of both Blackberry Curve phones to -$75.

Amazon Meters: BlackBerry Curve VS. BlackBerry Pearl

Speck today is introducing a line of snazzy looking SeeThru hard shell cases for the Blackberry Curve 8110, 8120 and 8130. The cases also come with a swivel holster and belt clip. Cost is $24.95 and the available colors are clear, red, green and pink. The colors nicely compliment the underlying Blackberry case and add a much needed layer of protection. As someone who has dropped more than his share of Blackberry’s - I recommend a good case as your first accessory investment. These Speck’s cover a lot of real estate on your device without blocking the all important access to the keyboard.

Speck SeeThru Hard Shell Case for Blackberry Pearl

Google has just kicked off a version of their popular Google Maps that now supports voice search on the Blackberry Pearl. For now only the Blackberry 8110, 8120 and 8130 (US Only) are supported. The search can be downloaded over the air by visiting http://m.google.com/maps on your compatible Blackberry. Once installed you’ll be able to skip typing and instead press the left-side key and speak your search. When you finish speaking the location you want to find, Google Maps for mobile will recognize your request and search the map. This service is similar to Yahoo OneSearch that I reviewed back in April 2008.

Google Maps with voice search (Only for Blackberry 8110, 8120 and US version of 8130)

Vodafone just released version 4.5 of the Blackberry OS. This version, while posted on the Vodafone site, can be downloaded and installed to most Blackberry Pearl’s (Update: see the links at the bottom that I just added which will allow you to download the 8300 OS or the 8800 OS upgrades). PC Magazine has a pretty good overview of the new features in version 4.5 - including voice notes, streaming media support, bluetooth stereo music, Microsoft Office document editing with DocumentsToGo. Even though these versions are from the Vodafone site, they will work on any carrier’s Blackberry. Just make sure you select the proper model Blackberry to upgrade and follow the instructions from the link below. UPDATE: If you are on T-Mobile - do not use the instructions below - you should wait until the official T-Mobile OS is released. Make a backup before doing any upgrades and follow the instructions on the Blackberryforums site explicitly.

Link: Vodafone Blackberry 8100 version 4.5 OS
Link: Instructions on installing the version 4.5 OS to your Blackberry 8100 (Pearl)
Link: Blackberry Curve - 8300 OS upgrade to v4.5
Link: Blackberry 8800 - OS upgrade to v4.5