RIM unveils its slickest smartphone ever—the Porsche BlackBerry (price tag: nearly $2,000)

That’s right: in the midst of the worst period in Research in Motion’s history—with executives ousted, share prices plummeting, lawsuits and image problems even the Black Eyed Peas couldn’t fix—the BlackBerry maker is launching a sleek, sexy and absurdly over-the-top smartphone (though not quite as over-the-top as this one). Co-designed by Porsche Design, a subsidiary of the world-renowned luxury sports car manufacturer, the Porsche Design P’9981 retails for $1,890 and is available at the Porsche Design store in Yorkville (natch). The product launched in Dubai last year, and apparently sold out instantly. Word is the phones are also selling briskly at Harrod’s in London. Just think: RIM only has to sell 529,101 of these bad boys to recoup the $1 billion in savings the company is looking for by the end of its 2013 financial year. [Wall Street Journal]