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For this I’m thankful. Research In Motion has announced a scheduled outage for North American BlackBerry users from between 6 and 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. However, that is Mountain Time. So adjust accordingly. Thanks to Boy Genius Report for the tip. BBGeekcast coming later today.

Normally, I’d just say “T-Mobile set to launch Pearl on April 14.” But considering they blew their last deadline, I’m not so ready to do that right now. Fool me once, T-Mobile…Anyway, Engadget Mobile has a screen shot of the Pearl’s release date. Of course, this could just be another Photoshopped job, but I’d like to believe that T-Mo can roll this device out, you know, two months after the original schedule. I’ll post the screenshot after the jump. Yes, it has WiFi, which will be compatible with Hotspot @Home. Should nab T-Mo a few subscribers from other networks.
Read the rest of Will T-Mobile launch the Pearl on April 14?…

Over the past few weeks, I’ve read a ton about the implications of the iPhone entering the business world. “It’ll kill BlackBerry,” say some Apple enthusiasts. “RIM is here to stay,” say the BlackBerry crowd. Clearly, it’s more complex than that. Count me among those who think that there is a place for both of them. (”You moderate,” both crowds day. “You stand for nothing!”) But as Rae revealed on the BBGeekcast last week, there is a large contingent of BlackBerry users who like the simplicity of it. This came after she said she’d rather not see BlackBerry models featuring a slide-out keyboard or a touchscreen. So maybe we shouldn’t be calling the iPhone a “BlackBerry killer,” but rather a real BlackBerry competitor.
Read the rest of The great iPhone debate…

There are a couple of things BlackBerry users have been looking forward to. First is HTML and Rich Text email, which we know we’re not getting for a while. The other, though is Java-enabled browsing. Thankfully, Research In Motion has announced a Java Development Environment (JDE) plugin for Eclipse, which is the development platform for the BlackBerry. This plugin will allow Eclipse developers to add Java-based applications to their repertoire. I’m not too familiar with application development, so I’ll let the press release do a lot of the talking.
Read the rest of RIM announces Java development for BlackBerry…

I love the flexible nature of the Internet. If this was a print publication, I wouldn’t have been able to mutate this topic so quickly. Anyway, in discussing articles for BBGeeks, we decided that GPS — that is, global positioning system — should be one of the topics we cover. And so we decided to talk about what you can do with GPS on your BlackBerry. I started on my own device, and immediately I realized something was afoot. Then I remembered a tidbit I had heard a while ago: Verizon sort of, um, cripples the GPS feature on its phones. That is, unless you pay them $10 per month, or $3 per use, for their VZNavigator. So right from the beginning, I was hampered. The idea was to start with the BlackBerry Maps program, which comes installed on new devices. But without the ability to explore the program myself, what was I to do?
Read the rest of GPS units and your BlackBerry…

It’s a very sad day for the BlackBerry community. Russell Shaw, author of the superb BlackBerry Beat blog at ZDNet, among many other publications, passed away on Friday. He was 60. Beyond ZDNet, he wrote plenty for The Huffington Post, and actually ran a second blog for ZDNet, IP Telephony, which focused on VoIP services. And, as if he couldn’t be any more into the BlackBerry, he also wrote for BBHub. So we’ve lost a great contributor, but beyond that, a great man — I didn’t know him personally, but I haven’t read an ill word about him, before or after his death.
Read the rest of BlackBerry community loses top contributor…

Podcasting is like blogging in so many ways. What I’ve noticed most is that it takes a while to get used to the medium. I’ve been blogging since 2005, but I didn’t hit any kind of groove until late 2006 at the earliest. So trust me when I say I’ve been wary of my performance on the podcast for the first two weeks. But I think we’ve got a good one this week, where we wrap up the happenings of the week. And I got Rae Hoffman, founder of BBGeeks.com, to do a little segment for us.

So click on over here to hear the BBGeekcast (11 min, 37 sec)

And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss future episodes!

You can also subscribe to theBBGeekcast on iTunes.

Highlights include:
Read the rest of BBGeekcast: March 14, 2008 - Episode 3…

Imagine if Batman had a BlackBerry. Man, just think of all the nifty things he could do with it. For starters, he could probably ditch half of his utility belt. No, I doubt he could shoot his grappling hook out of the BlackBerry’s speaker, but he sure could use it to get information on the Joker and that pestilent Penguin. Maybe the folks at BIO-key International had Batman in mind when they released the PocketCop application this week. It’s a law enforcement tool that allows officers to get information on things like wanted persons and stolen property right from their handheld devices.
Read the rest of Crime-fighting application appears on BlackBerry…

Just a reminder that the software sale at the BBGeeks store ends this Saturday, March 15. So if you want to take advantage of 20 percent off BlackBerry software, just head over to the store, and enter the code BBGOPEN to receive the discount.

Wait, I thought that T-Mobile was supposed to have this first. I guess not. Maybe their overstock of colored first-gen Pearls held them back. But in any case, AT&T has announced the release of the BlackBerry Pearl 8120. On the surface, it seems the same as the CDMA Pearl 8130. That would make enough sense. It has the same upgrades: Better web browser, 2.0 MP camera. But AT&T has a goodie in theirs that Verizon, Sprint, and Alltel lack in the 8130: Wi-Fi.
Read the rest of Pearl 8120 hits AT&T…