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Not much going on in the world of BlackBerry today, so we’ll cover a couple of news snippets for you wanting to scratch that BlackBerry itch:

Another BlackBerry patent application. Russell Shaw shares with us another RIM patent application. This one would automatically select correct punctuation marks. We’re not quite sure how it could be so intuitive. But if it stops people from sending comma-splice-filled sentences, we’re all for it.

Another BlackBerry outage. This is the second of September, third of the year. It wasn’t as far-reaching as its predecessors, but it’s still royal PITA for people who depend on the device to make a living. It’s kinda like when our Internet goes out; we understand that it can’t be up 100 percent of the time, but when it goes down it hampers our ability to earn money.

Palm coming out with new smart phone. This is kind of like their BlackBerry Pearl. It’s called the Centro, and it’s the smallest device released by Palm. Unlike the Pearl, it has a full keyboard, so despite what the guys at Palm will tell you, this was definitely created with the intention of competition with RIM. They say they want to market to the 95 percent of cell phone owners who don’t have a smart phone. Best of luck, Palm. The device is $99, so it’s tough to go wrong.

Ever hear of Slingbox? It’s this neat little contraption that we heard of while listening to our endless hours of sports talk radio. What you do is hook the box up to your TV. Then, through the power of the Internets, your TV feed is broadcast to your desktop or laptop computer. So if you’re away on business and your hotel doesn’t get some of your local channels, you can just watch your home TV through your Slingbox. Ah, but what about those instances where you don’t have an Internet connection? Or, in the case of hotels, if you don’t want to pay them for Internet access. Well, the creators of Slingbox are working on software that would allow you to view your home TV on your BlackBerry.
Read the rest of Watch TV on your BlackBerry with Slingbox…

Flyers of Air Canada will find the ticketing process far easier now. Instead of having to remember a boarding pass for a flight from the airline, all a flyer will have to do is display his or her BlackBerry in order to board the flight. Pretty novel, eh? Air Canada is introducing the service for all of its domestic flights, plus a number of its international destinations, many of which are in the US.
Read the rest of Use your BlackBerry as a boarding pass…

We were psyched up enough when Research In Motion announced that the new BlackBerry would be WiFi capable. We’re getting to a good point with mobile data speed, but it still doesn’t come close to a solid WiFi connection. Now, though, it appears that T-Mobile will be tying in the soon-to-be-released 8320 with their Hotspot @Home service. So now not only will you have WiFi data transfers, but you’ll also have free calling at T-Mobile Hotspots.
Read the rest of Make calls via WiFi on your T-Mobile BlackBerry…

If there’s one thing we don’t understand, it’s technical documents. So when we came across a Russel Shaw blog regarding a Research In Motion patent, we knew we were in for it. We could feel our eyes glazing over as we read. It’s a lot to digest, but the long and short is that we could be seeing a feature in the next series of BlackBerry that allows for a voice-activated switch from speakerphone to handset mode.
Read the rest of Switch from speakerphone to handset mode hands free…

When you’re using a BlackBerry enterprise server, there are always security risks. Software has been developed to minimized the infiltration of a server, but hackers are working ’round the clock to beat these systems. Yesterday, Verizon announced their own measures of security: Verizon Wireless Private Network (VWPN — which plays on VPN, which is Virtual Private Network). These private networks will “create the secure tunnels between the mobile device and home office.” So not only does it benefit big businesses (who already have security measures), but it benefits lone BlackBerry users who sync the device with their home computers.
Read the rest of Verizon releases new security measures…

We suppose this is a change that makes sense: your mycingular.blackberry.net e-mail address will be changed to an att.backberry.net one starting in October. This change actually might be a little late. AT&T completed its takeover of Cingular earlier this year, with the Cingular moniker being dropped completely by May. We wonder why things weren’t changed back then, because we see a slight — though probably rare — problem that could crop up.
Read the rest of AT&T changing your BlackBerry e-mail address…

Who knew that Lotus Notes, IBM’s personal office software, would have come back to help Research In Motion. The software was the deciding factor in Visto Corporation’s patent infringement suit against RIM, which resulted in the rejection of Visto’s patent. There are still two outstanding patents which Visto claims were violated by the BlackBerry. The case is not scheduled to be heard until July 2008, which leaves plenty of time for further patent rejection.
Read the rest of IBM saves BlackBerry’s bacon…

There are tons and tons of cases for your BlackBerry out there, and we find it hard to believe that some people don’t take advantage. Even if it’s out of your pocket and attached to a belt clip, it still stands to incur some serious damage over time. You invested a lot of money in the device, and therefore should be protecting it in any way possible. Problem is, a lot of the BlackBerry cases just don’t pass muster. Otter Products thinks they have a solution: the OtterBox 1933. It fits a BlackBerry 8800, 8820, and 8830 — and it seems durable enough to make your BlackBerry last much longer.
Read the rest of Introducing some serious BlackBerry protection…

As we headed into Labor Day weekend, rumors started to heat up regarding a Microsoft takeover of Research In Motion. Apparently, Microsoft is feeling the pressure of Google’s entry into the mobile phone world, and as a competitor, Microsoft feels the necessity to keep pace. So as we were slogging through the afternoon grind with thoughts of beaches running through our minds, we were greeted with a bit of speculation. This kept the news flowing, holiday or not.
Read the rest of Weekend fodder: Microsoft/RIM merger…