Orange has launched a pay as you go Blackberry handset aimed at the youth market, in an interesting marketing idea.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 in indigo marks a shift away from a focus on the business market for RIM. The handset will be available on prepay for £145 and will be marketed with an Orange £5 monthly internet add-on.

The phone will promoted to the youth market with easy access to internet sites such as the Facebook, Myspace, Flikr and windows live messaging.

Pippa Dunn, director of pay as you go, Orange UK said: ‘With nearly two thirds of UK mobile customers now using pay as you go, we are really pleased to be bringing one of the most popular email and multimedia devices to the masses as the first operator to offer BlackBerry on pay as you go in the UK .’

Features include a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and media player. The handset will be available in early February.