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Feeling overloaded with BlackBerry news and rumors? We know the feeling. We hear new things almost every day, and it can be tough to keep up with it all. that’s why we’re bringing you BlackBerry News from the Wire every Thursday.

We’ll catch you up on everything ‘Berry that happened over the course of the week. Not only that, but we’ll rank ‘em by importance, so you can more easily skim the items and read the ones of most significance. If you only have time to read one article, for instance, you might want to head down to our 5-star section. It’s All the BlackBerry News Fit to Geek.

RIM finally announced BlackBerry Tour
We’ve been waiting for over a month, but we’ve finally got it. RIM officially announced the BlackBerry Tour this week, much to our delight. Of course, as predicted there wasn’t much new to convey. All the specs are as we’ve discussed ad infinitum, and there were no specific release dates with the announcement. What we did learn is that Spring will sell the device for $199.99, same as the Palm Pre. Presumably Verizon will go with the same pricing. One analyst expects Verizon to get shipments in mid-July. This would go along with Telus, which is rumored to be launching it on July 15. All of this aligns with what we’ve previously heard, so it’s becoming easier to believe.

More on the new BlackBerry Messenger
Earlier this week we learned about a BlackBerry Messenger upgrade. That’s obviously good news, and the upgrades seem like they’re worthwhile. If you thought the Boy Genius Report guys were going to stop there, well, then you haven’t been reading their site. They’ve followed up their initial report with a few new findings. First, this will be available with OS 5.0, so all eligible devices will get the treatment. Second is threaded SMS support, which some users have been clamoring for. Third is PIN barcode scanning, which allows users to generate a barcode of their PIN, which can be scanned by another user with the device camera. Finally, you can backup and restore your Messenger list using an SD card. Sounds like great stuff. I cannot wait to get a copy of it myself.

BlackBerry Onyx in the Bold family
CrackBerry’s review of the BlackBerry Onyx makes it seem like a true next-gen Curve. It’s slimmer than the Bold, but has many of the same functions — kind of like the Curve is a slimmer version of the 88xx series. We learn this week that the current OS build for the Onyx tags it as the 9020, which would place it in the Bold family. This makes sense, in the same way that the 88xx and 83xx both start with an 8. So this could be the Bold 9020 or the Bold…something. The Bold Curve? Doubtful. Further word is that this will hit mass production right around the end of summer, so expect to beg for this as a stocking stuffer.

BlackBerry Gemini 8520 spotted
Amid the news of the Storm 2, the Tour, and the Onyx, the BlackBerry Gemini series hasn’t gotten a lot of attention. Maybe that’s because it’s a 2G model in a 3G world. In any case we saw some pictures of the Gemini this week featuring T-Mobile branding. Originally thought to be released sometime later this year, TmoNews.com has a roadmap which places the release date at August 5. So we might not be that far off from the first BlackBerry with an optical trackpad. However, that release date is pure rumor.

IRS tries to enforce employee cell tax, then recants
The IRS was involved in a bit of a hoopla this week. It appears there’s an old law on the books, back from 1989, which in essence states that employees must be taxed for personal use of company material. That, of course, means cell phones. The IRS collected comment last week and issued a few ways companies could deal with this, including a flat 25-percent assumed personal usage rate. This caused a bit of an outcry, which led the IRS to come out in favor of abolishing the law. If you thought the IRS would never turn down tax revenue, well, there you have it. Of course, there’s a difference between calling for a law’s abolition in a statement and taking steps to do so. We’ll see where this one leads.

OS 5.0 to bring predictive text
Ever wonder why there’s no predictive text function on your QWERTY BlackBerry, while those Pearl users get all the glory? If you’d like predictive text, you’re in luck. It appears to be a feature of OS 5.0. Once you get used to it, your typing speed might go through the roof — and you might become more understandable, without the need to abbreviate common terms and use slang.

Balsillie’s bid to buy Coyotes denied
The Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL are mired in bankruptcy hearings. As we’ve reported before, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has long wanted to buy an NHL team and move it to Canada. Unfortunately, the league opposes him, so he’s been shut out thus far. He had a chance with the bankrupt Coyotes, but a bankruptcy judge denied his bid, citing the June 29 deadline as the main reason. The proceedings will continue, as will Balsillie’s quest, presumably.

Work at Microsoft? Pay for your own BlackBerry
Microsoft employees were met with a harsh reality this week courtesy of their employer: it’s Windows Mobile or pay for it yourself. This is not cool for employees, who have to deal with an old OS until 6.5 comes out later this year. Plus, does anyone really like WinMo?

Taking advantage of BlackBerry vibrations. We’ve seen some varied response to the new app which tuns your BlackBerry into a vibrator. Not very sanitary, but a neat idea nonetheless.

Get Dad a BlackBerry app or two for Father’s Day. We run down some Dad-centric software in anticipation of Father’s Day this Sunday.

eCom MasterCard application on the way. If we’re going to move to a mobile shopping platform, security is of the utmost concern. eCom’s new MasterCard app, which could be out in a few months, seems to take care of many of these.

Storm themes galore. We run through nine different BlackBerry Storm themes.

acceloDex to help manage your contacts list. If you’ve got a Storm with hundreds or even thousands of contacts, you can use acceloDex to help manage them.

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