If the relatively expensive price tag of Research in Motion's BlackBerry 9000 puts you off, there's some hope for you to reconsider getting the device. Stolen shots of a certain BlackBerry "Niagara" hint that there's going to be a more affordable version of the 9000. It comes with a price, of course: it's possible that some features will be removed, such as 3G. More on this gadget in the full article.

The BlackBerry 9000 (you know, the latest BlackBerry that's supposedly being developed with a touchscreen), seems to have gotten a leak. A leaked picture that is. We don't know if it's a fake or a really early version but you might be interested in seeing it for yourself. Leaked picture in the full article.

What's black and white and has GPS? Say hello to the BlackBerry 8820. Stylishly thin at 14mm, this little dynamo weighs in at only 134g and is packed with everything you need - and more - for your lifestyle on the go. Features include:

• Wireless email
• Organiser
• Browser
• Phone
• BlackBerry Maps
• Multi-media player
• Corporate data access
  
• SMS
• MMS
  
• GPS
• Wi-Fi support
• 64 MB internal memory
• MicroSD card
• Bluetooth capability

Plus this little SmartPhone is smart enough to automatically adjust its lights for optimal viewing. It has a QWERTY keyboard with a 320 x 240 display screen. The 8820 is also Research in Motion's first Smartphone to support WiFi and has the standard 802.11 a/b/g and even supports IM and can switch between calls and WiFi networks seamlessly.

It also supports third party applications, giving users access to a whole plethora of available programs. The battery is removable and can support up to 5 hours of talk time and can go up to 22 days if on standby.

RIM will release the BlackBerry in the U.S. through AT&T later this summer, and last heard to be priced at US$ 230.

A new variant of the ever-popular BlackBerry phone has hit the market. Thanks to RIM and T-mobile USA, fans of the award-winning phone in the United States can now get their hands on the new white BlackBerry Pearl.

"The BlackBerry Pearl has set the bar for combining the functionality of a full-featured BlackBerry phone and the ultimate in style, all at an affordable price," said Mike Butler, Chief Marketing Officer, T-Mobile USA. "Now, the white BlackBerry Pearl provides our customers with another effortless, yet stylish, option to stay connected with loved ones."

Features of the BlackBerry Pearl include the following:

• Access to up to 10 supported personal and corporate email accounts, including most popular ISP email accounts through the BlackBerry Internet Service
• AOL, Yahoo! MSN and ICQ support
• 1.3 megapixel camera with 3 zoom levels (up to 5X) and built-in flash
• Multimedia player with stereo headset jack with support for MP3 and AAC music files, as well as MPEG4 and H.263 video formats
• High-performance HTML browser
• Newly enhanced version of RIM’s popular SureType™ keyboard technology
• Smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing, and call forwarding
• Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), dedicated 'send', 'end', and 'mute' keys, speakerphone, and Bluetooth support
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE network support
• BlackBerry Maps – a new application which adds mapping and location-based services to the BlackBerry Pearl
• Polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ring tone support
• 240x260 color display
• Innovative light-sensing technology
• 64MB built-in flash memory, expandable via microSD expansion slot
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server support

The T-Mobile exclusive white BlackBerry Pearl also comes with a host of similarly-colored accessories including a stereo headset, travel charger, and USB cable. Premium leather holsters and totes, an automotive charger, and Bluetooth headsets are also available online and through T-Mobile retail outlets.

Enter the BlackBerry BlackLash. Embattled CrackBerry-aholics are suing employers for the mishaps and tragedies supposedly caused by the gadget - and they're winning.

No joke. We've posted a warning we received about this not too long ago, and now the addiction chicken has come home to roost. Lawsuits and complaints filed against employers detail how an employee's excessive dependence on the BlackBerry has wrecked marriages, caused near-fatal accidents, sleepless nights, and burned the smooth skin off a baby's bottom. We kid you not on the baby's formerly-smooth bottom. The Independent story we're sourcing this article from mentioned the case of a woman who claims her BlackBerry distractions is the cuase of using cleaning fluid instead of baby oil for her child's nappy. Among many other cases.

Researchers at the University of Northampton have noted that the classic signs of addiction - denial, withdrawal, antisocial behavior - were showing up among heavy BlackBerry users as well. If this doesn't bode well for the users, the employers who provide the gadgets in the first place are off worse. They can now be liable for class-action lawsuits for failing to address this growing addiction, in the same manner as tobacco companies have been sued.

And it's not just the BlackBerry. The Independent also considers a number of other gadgets as potential crack-toys, including the Microsoft Zune and Sony PSP. Geez, I'm going to have to cut down on my PSP usage now... ugh, head hurting, hands shaking... must play PSP...

We've reported before that Linux is coming to cellphones everywhere. Motorola in particular are doing this with its E690 cellular phone. This "leaked" piece of information is released by the folks at handcellphone. The phone at focus supposedly runs on Linux and supports both touch-screen and screen writing technology, something that BlackBerry devices can’t provide.

   

The Motorola E690 PDA phone comes equipped with the following features:

• A big 262K QVGA TFT bright and clear screen.
• A 2.0-MP digital camera with flash that snap photos up to 1200 x 1600 in resolution. The camera also supports video recording and conferencing.
• Two MFT speakers that output 3D surrounds sound
• Support for MP3, WMA, RealAudio, MIDI, WAV, AAC, AMR, sound formats
• Support for RealVideo, MPEG-4, H.263 video formats.
• WAP, and full internet browsing.
• Excel, PowerPoint, and Word file viewing capabilities
• Mini USB1.1 connection
• Bluetooth
• and built-in voice dial system.

Amazing that such a small looking phone (judging from the pics above), packs so many features.

There is currently no information regarding the release date of this Motorola E690 PDA phone. We'll keep you updated if we get more info.

It must have been some BlackBerry-lover's birthday, because someone's brought out a few video clips of the new Pearl 8100 in action. The clips show off the phone's Bluetooth capability and web browser (by visiting CNN.com). Other features that were shown in the clips include going through the setup wizard and a demo of the voice recognition feature (in this case, by checking the battery's charge status). No clips of the video camera feature are included, though.

The model is not set to be released until September 18. Details on it are pretty tight, except for what we've got already in our last report. Until then, check these video clips out and dream it was you holding the Pearl in your hands.

Download: [RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Bluetooth clip]
Download: [RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100 browser clip]
Download: [RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100 setup wizard clip]
Download: [RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100 voice recognition clip]

It's a fact that we are more connected to our employers, teacher, friends, classmates, strangers, and the internet more than ever thanks to PDAs, mobile phones, and laptops. What's wrong with that? Isn't that supposed to make life better?

Too much of a good thing is bad.

It's lead to the idea of "CrackBerries". It's what most people cal their BlackBerries, these days. It's called as such because of the way that people depend on the gadget so much for their daily lives. Studies have shown that out of 2,300 executives surveyed, 1/3 of them believed they spend way too much time with their gadgets. Most would probably grow anxious if they didn't have their Blackberries near. Thus, the connection with the addicting drug "Crack" and BlackBerry.

There have been books and seminars written about turning off BlackBerry, mobile phones, and PDAs at selected times of the day to slowly get off the gadget dependency. Some suggested that lunch and driving on the way to work and going home would be appropriate times. This would result to less stomachaches and vehicle accidents.

However, the "addicted" are making their stand. They're basically saying that their lives have improved thanks to BlackBerries and gadgets. 77% of the executives surveyed earlier said that it improved work/life balance. It helped them manage office matters when they're out in the field or at home; they became efficient workers.

How many people are CrackBerry addicts? Let's take a look at some figures. First quarter fiscal 2006 ending June 3, Research In Motion Ltd.(RIM) shipped 1.2 M units of BlackBerry, totalling to 5.5M subscribers. Although, not all of them may be addicted, but even just a third of that would be a large enough population. What is the US Government doing to help decrease this addiction? They warned employers that keeping employees on the CrackBerry gravy train could lead to lawsuits due to employees suffering with their personal lives.

In the end, Aristotle's Golden Mean would be better. "Keep everything in moderation."

Two months after the Blackberry 8707v was introduced in Spain, Blackberry is now ready to pump up the PDA scene again with its latest innovation, the Blackberry 8707g.

Set for launch this week, this black beauty supports the usual Blackberry "push" email, phone, text messaging, organiser, browser and other corporate data applications.

It boasts of a QWERTY keyboard, 320x240 color LCD, 64MB of flash memory, built-in speakerphone and Bluetooth (2.0) connectivity. The handset can also be used as a tethered modem, with the ability to access the Internet from laptops.

John Hsu, a reporter in China's commercial capital of Shanghai, got in ahead of the Blackberry's September launch. He bought his Blackberry online for just $65 - roughly a fifth of its retail price in the United States. He uses it like a regular phone because it looks cool and he thinks its sound quality is better than an average smart phone. Still, he has no plans to subscribe to a Blackberry e-mail service provided by China Mobile, which can cost as much as 598 yuan ($75) a month.

"I would like to get work e-mails on my Blackberry, but the price has to be right," said Hsu, who now pays 20 yuan ($2.50) a month to get personal e-mails on his Hewlett-Packard PDA phone.

Yes, China has caught Blackberry fever, and it comes with complications. If Hsu is representative of price-sensitive Chinese retail customers, the most debilitating and lingering effects of Blackberry fever may be felt by the device's maker, Research in Motion, and service providers such as China Mobile Ltd. In this case, the problem is an old one: cheap knock-offs.

Pirated products have long been a thorn in China's side. The country's audio and video piracy industry is one of, if not the biggest piracy industries in the world. China has a poor track record of enforcing intellectual property rights, and Chinese companies are being hit just as hard as foreign companies. "Piracy is something that affects everybody in China," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based research firm Marbridge Consulting.

According to George Guo, senior vice president at top Chinese mobile phone manufacturer TCL Communications, used phones and phones sold by unlicensed vendors forced all the major local mobile phone makers except Lenovo Group Ltd. into the red last year. TCL, which bought France's Alcatel's cell-phone assets, is making a big bet on the better regulated, and arguably less competitive markets abroad.

In 2005, China sold roughly 15 million so-called black-market phones, compared with 80 million handsets sold through licensed dealers, according to Marbridge Consulting. That means an estimated 16 percent of handsets sold in China are either made by unlicensed companies or smuggled in.

A lot of unscrupulous people are getting into the already-prevalent piracy market, lured by great returns in exchange for a considerably smaller investment. An unlicensed factory needs as little as 1 million yuan ($125,000) to start, and can get its phones to market early by skipping the government testing process. Makers of the so-called "black phones" often evade taxes and provide no customer service. Piracy is also a more attractive business than smuggling, because while smuggling can be a capital offense in China, makers of unlicensed phones merely get a slap on the wrist.

The use of refurbished and unlicensed phones is also rampant in Eastern Europe and Middle East, but not in more developed markets. Such products pose a growing threat to the likes of foreign brand names such as Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd and Nokia as well as home-grown players such as TCL, Ningbo Bird Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Konka Group.

The Chinese mobile phone industry's future does not look pirate-free just yet, what with the huge market for cheap knock-offs. Consideration for big faceless companies is hard to come by these days, and some people will always let quality be damned and go for what is cheaper, especially considering the high prices of virtually everything else in these times. But is the price you're paying now really worth the effect it has on your whole country's economy? That's the question that those who patronize pirated goods need to ask themselves.