Along with the all-new form factor will come an all-new -- well, kinda new -- software build for RIM when it releases the BlackBerry Pearl (or KickStart, or whatever the hell they decide to call it) 8200 series later this year. The most fliptastic of the Pearls will join the Bold in sporting BlackBerry OS 4.6, and shots are surfacing of what exactly that'll look like once it gets grafted onto T-Mobile's WiFi-equipped 8220 model. As one might expect, it looks like it's taking a lot of UI cues already seen and enjoyed on the Bold with the usual T-Mobile twists added in like myFaves support; in particular, we're loving the insanely slick stopwatch display. Too bad we'll use it... oh, never. Cell Phone Signal likes October for the 8220's release, which runs the risk of burying it beneath the Dream -- maybe that rumored $50 out-the-door price can move a few, though. That, or overflow once the Dream stock dries up.

As if we weren't already worried enough about our cellphone causing Blackberry thumb, certain indecisiveness, and, of course, brain cancer, the WSJ is now reporting that according to some leading opticians, portables, especially with small screens and smaller fonts, could be causing irreversible eye strain and damage to our vision. Apparently the action of focusing for long periods of time on small spacial areas held relatively closely to the body -- especially displays with poor contrast ratios, and bad glare -- tends to overwork the eye's ciliary muscles, and might be causing deteriorated vision in the same young group of patients now visiting doctors for other technologically related ailments, like portable audio related hearing loss -- a group far too young to be coming in for their annual eyes, ears, and artificial hip-bone checkup.

[Via TechDirt]