RIM and Verizon Launch BlackBerry 7250

Research in Motion and Verizon Wireless released the BlackBerry 7250 yesterday. It features Bluetooth, Full Web browsing, and 32 MB of memory. You should be able to get your hands on one of these babies this Friday, February 11th for $349.00 with a 2 year contract.

Even though Ontario, CA based Research in Motion has already lost their patent infringement case with Virginia based holding company NTP, they have no plans to settle. In 2001 NTP claimed that RIM infringed upon several of their patents around push email technology and eventually was awarded 54$ million in damages and an injunction preventing RIM from selling there BlackBerry Handhelds and Services in the United States. That injunction was stayed and a higher court actually overturned the $54 million in damages but did uphold that RIM infringed upon 11 of 16 patents held by NTP.

Henry Bunsow, an attorney representing Research in Motion, said the company would not settle out of court and is prepared to argue before the U.S. high court.

BlackBerry Thumb, also known as Ninetendonitis or PlayStationitis is spreading throughout the Text Messaging community. The debilitating ailment is caused by repetitive thumb motions such as those used when sending emails on the QWERTY keyboards found on BlackBerry devices and cell phones. In most cases, you can start using mobile slang such as “cul8er” for “See you later” or “wsup” for “How are you doing today” to lessen the amount of typing that one must do. In the most serious cases, more drastic measures such as using the voice capabilities in your mobile device and not typing for a day or so while your thumb heals.

This isn’t big news because it was just kind of assumed that R7 would be supported, but now, it is official. For all you Notes admins that have been using lack of BlackBerry support as your excuse to migrate off of R6 to Exchange instead of R7, that probably isn’t going to work anymore. Sorry…

If you are a Mac user and a BlackBerry user, PocketMac For BlackBerry is the tool for you. I probably won’t purchase just because my G4 sits right next to my primary desktop PC, but if I were a Mac only user or had a Mac Laptop, I think that I would have to shell out the 30 bucks. I have a friend who showed this to me and swears by it.

It is officially Free BlackBerry Promotion month. This is the third straight post that someone, United Airlines in this case, is offering a free BlackBerry for using their services. Buy a qualifying roundtrip flight valuing $250 or more and get either BlackBerry 6230 with a $39.99 a month plan or a BlackBerry 7230 with a $59.99 a month plan from T-Mobile.

Avis, the “We Try Harder” rental car company has also announced that they will be giving away a BlackBerry 6710 with free activation for those who rent between Jan 1st and March 31st.

Orbitz has a promotion going on right now where you can get a free BlackBerry 6710 (a $99 value) if you book a flight, rent a car, reserve a hotel room, or buy a vacation package through their site. You do have to sign up a one year service subscription for $29.99 a month but you also get 85$ worth of mail-in rebates to cover the setup fee and the first month’s subscription costs. This is not a bad deal if you were already going to use Orbitz, but if you are just interested in getting a Blackberry, you can probably find similar offers from various handheld retailers on a variety of handheld units. This promotion runs through May 15th.

Here is a picture of the Cingular /AT&T Blackberry 7100g. It looks like the 7100v from Vodophone in Europe moreso than it’s North American counterparts from T-Mobile in the States in and Rogers Wireless in Canada. It should be out sometime this month.

Rumor has it that Cingular will be releasing the BlackBerry 7100g that was originally slated for AT&T sometime this month. I must admit, that it was the 7100t from T-Mobile that turned me into a Blackberry finatic back in the fall of 2004. Unlike traditional BlackBerry models, the 7100 series lacks the traditional QWERTY keyboard and are the size of a traditional smart mobile phone.