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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.

Looking at the Storm’s touch screen
One thing keeping our rapt attention through these summer months is the BlackBerry Storm 2. The original hasn’t even been out a year, yet we’ve been hearing about a follow-up for many months now. It figures to come out around the same time of year as the last one, and little by little, despite the best efforts of RIM to keep it under wraps, we’re learning about the device. Here’s a video concerning the touch screen, which should prove to be a huge improvement over the original. Further, there are some pictures of a dismantled Storm 2, which is always cool. Finally, we see that the Storm 2 could be in line for an October release. More than likely, that will get pushed back.

IM clients to get an upgrade in BIS 2.5
There are a number of interesting BlackBerry software upgrades coming up in the near future. No, not a new browser, though we’ll get to that in just a minute. This time we’re talking about OS 5.0 and BIS 2.5. One upgrade we’ll see, as we learned this week, is an enhancement of IM clients. This will provide a few things, including the addition of avatars to the address book, from where you can send all types of messages, and dedicated icons on the home screen for individual conversations. So yes, this means you can link your IM contacts to those in your address book. You can also search through old conversations, a big plus for many business and personal reasons. Check out the whole CB post for the full gamut.

MyBlackBerry finally takes off invitation requirement
Back in mid-July, I felt really bad. Just before midnight on one particular night, I wrote up a post on the impending release of MyBlackBerry. Word was that it would be good to go on July 15, so I foolishly said you can check it out “now.” Turns out they didn’t take off the restrictions when they said they were. Boo to that. Anyway, via the official BlackBerry blog, we learn that MyBlackBerry is now live, for real. No joke this time. Head over to http://my.blackberry.com/ to check it out.

RIM acquires Webkit developers Torch Mobile
For all the flak RIM catches about their browser, it’s not like they’re not trying to do anything about it. There were some incremental improvements that came along with OS 4.5, and boy is it a ton, ton, ton better the one which came with OS 4.2. This week, though, RIM took some big steps to making massive improvements. They acquired Webkit developers Torch Mobile, in hopes of creating a, guess what, Webkit-based browser. With this, plus Silverlight and Flash on the horizon, we could yet see a killer native browser.

AT&T Bold users get visual voicemail upgrade
If you’ve ever switched from your carrier voicemail to a visual platform, you’ll never go back. It was one of the big selling points of the iPhone, and now it’s spreading to other platforms. BlackBerry users got one of their own this week, as AT&T released visual voicemail for the Bold. Pretty soon we’ll all have this natively on our phones, but for now the Bold users will get to take advantage. Have fun while the rest of us either jealously wait or settle for a third-party visual voicemail system.

BlackBerry now dominates Handango
Since, well, forever, Windows Mobile has dominated mobile software retailer Handango. Why this is I’m not sure, but I’m guessing it has something to do with MobiHand being so ubiquitous on the BlackBerry. Now, though, it looks like Handango has joined the party. BlackBerry now accounts for 44 percent of all Handango apps sold, up from 31 percent in 2008. That could shift back once Windows Mobile 7 hits, but between now and then the BlackBerry and iPhone platforms will only get stronger. Sorry, WinMo.

More countries can use PayPal in App World
One big complaint about App World at its inception was that it wasn’t available in enough parts of the world. Also, that PayPal was the exclusive payment method. The latter hasn’t changed, but now the former has. We learned this week that PayPal has extended its reach for App World into 10 new countries. These include Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal. It also now offers support in French, German, and Spanish in addition to English. This is good news for our overseas friends. Now you can check out App World, where App World is the top free application.

Enhanced Gmail plugin now available. I note a few problems with the plugin, but it’s still a must-have for all BlackBerry-Gmail users (unless you prefer the app, which many do not).

A look at BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac. It was a good week for people like me, Mac/BlackBerry/Gmail users. Not only did we get the Gmail plugin, but we learned more about the soon-to-be-released Desktop Manager for Mac. I can’t wait for September.

Counting calories on your BlackBerry. Hey, you’ve gotta work off that brisket from last weekend before the holidays.

Spoofing your caller ID. Here’s a neat app which allows you to mask your caller ID, disguise your voice, and record calls. It ain’t free, but for some it could be worth it.

More BlackBerry themes. As we do every other Wednesday, here are three more premium BlackBerry themes.

Introducing the Thumbplay Music Store. It’s the first one available on App World, and it ain’t half bad.

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