Months after it introduced a trim BlackBerry for consumers called the Pearl, Research In Motion Ltd. is lifting features from that popular device to refresh its core lineup of handsets for business users.

The Waterloo, Ontario company today will introduce the BlackBerry 8800, a full-keyboard handset that, in addition to sending and receiving e-mails and calls, plays music and video and contains global positioning system technology to power mapping and navigation services.

The 8800, the first of a series of multimedia devices Research In Motion is expected to launch this year, will be available through AT&T Inc.'s wireless unit starting next week for $300 after rebate, with a two-year service contract. RIM says it plans to launch with overseas carriers within the month and other North American carriers soon.

In September, the company launched the consumer-targeted Pearl, a much narrower BlackBerry featuring a camera and multimedia player. It said the Pearl, with a $200 initial price, was the most successful launch in its history, but it hasn't provided specific sales figures.

The latest announcement is part of a frenzy of mobile hardware and software launches expected during 3GSM World Congress, a wireless-industry conference that starts today in Barcelona, Spain. A big theme this year will be whether any new devices challenge Apple Inc.'s iPhone, a combination iPod media player, Web browser and mobile phone announced last month.

Research In Motion holds nearly half the market for smartphone shipments in the U.S., according to market research group IDC. Still, it faces mounting pressure to come up with multipurpose handsets that can compete not only with Apple but with established handset heavyweights Motorola Inc., of Schaumburg, Ill., and Finland's Nokia Corp. Such competition is already heating up as Research in Motion tries to appeal to users who want more than e-mail.

Co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie says the 8800, the thinnest BlackBerry yet, is a step in that direction. "It's a real lunge forward with respect to style," he says.