Kudos to Steve at BlackBerry Cool for pointing us to a new Nextel BlackBerry 7100i software upgrade.

The page I have screen-capped links to a PDF with instructions on how to install the upgrade. I've put the URL for that page in the Read link below this post.

But I am not going to send you there just yet. Not until I go over the key directions.

Everyone turn the page now:

1. If it is open, close the BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
2. Download the appropriate file for upgrading your desktop software.
3. Double-click the .exe file that you downloaded.
4. The Choose Setup Language dialog box might appear. Select your language and click OK. The Welcome window appears.
5. Click Next. The Country or Region Selection window appears.
6. Select your country and click Next. The License Agreement window appears. Read the License Agreement carefully and, if you accept its terms, click Yes. The Customer Information window appears.
7. Follow the on-screen instructions.

There's more you may well need to know. For that, well, it is now OK to click on the Read link below this post.

Pinstacker N8DBB wasn't "horsing around" when he took his BlackBerry Pearl out to Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville in Louisville on Saturday.

Update: A BBHub reader from Louisville challenges the authenticity of these photos. He says they are not of Churchill Downs. Last night, N8DBB wrote me to confirm that this was a case of mistaken identity.

The actual Churchill Downs, just a few miles from this photo, was a far busier place tha what you are looking at here.

That's where the Breeders Cup was held on Saturday.

Bet (pun intended) you didn't know this about Churchill Downs. There's more than one track on the grounds.

Fulfilling the "road less traveled," N8DBB went to a scene less traveled, and took two BlackBerry Pearl shots. You are already looking at one. Even tho it is not of Churchill Downs, the scene has its own quality. Restfulness, for one.

And another.

The scene is so peaceful, it's difficult for me to imagine thundering hooves.

But it is not difficult for me to image you sending me your Pearl shots at russjourn@gmail.com.

"I jet out of the front of the store to my car just to realize that I had from the front of the store to my car dropped my precious 7100i," writes HowardForums member b2k380. " I got back out of the car while getting drenched and found her laying face down in a puddle of water and getting rain pounded out of her back."

Note how b2k380 calls his 7100i "she." Or whatever.

"I knew she was toast but tried anyway, it worked but i still took it to Nextel and they sent me a new one," he writes, (but) today while attempting to charge her something seemed wrong I have had it on the charger and it seems to be full but when i look on the status page it says 80%, it went up to 85% then back to 80% while still on charge. Should i go ahead and get a battery now or what its not fully charging or at least it doesnt seem to be... "

Two fellow Ho-Fo'ers have advice for b2k380. Remember, there but for fortune go you or I..

CNET is out with "Pick the right BlackBerry for you," a post offering a side-by-side comparison of six of the newest BlackBerry models.

The new posting offers summary reviews, editors and users ratings, pricing info and technical specs for the BlackBerry 7130c, BlackBerry 7130e, BlackBerry 7100i, BlackBerry 7105t, BlackBerry 8700g, and BlackBerry 8700c. There are also video demonstrations of the 7100g, 7100i, 8700c and 8700i.

Interesting: the side-by-side display of both the CNET editors and Users' ratings show the BlackBerry 7130c in the lead with an 8.3 "Excellent" rating from the editors and a "Spectacular" 9.0 rating from Users who offered their opinions on the device through the CNET site.

South Korea-based business communications solutions provider KT Powertel said this morning they are introducing the BlackBerry 7100i together with Blackerry Enterprise Server for their corporate customers.

The BlackBerry 7100i will be compatible with KtPowertel's push-to-talk network

Ever heard of a company called SIRF Technology Holdings, Inc.?

No, I didn't think you did.

They specialize in Global Positioning System chips, such as those used in the BlackBerry7520 and BlackBerry7100i.

Seems like SIRF had a real bad day on Wall Street yesterday- dipping as much as 13% on the face of investor disillusionment at slow earnings forecasts offered by the San Jose, Calif. based company yesterday.

Now what should BlackBerry users make of this, especially since SIRF also makes GPS chips for Garmin, Motorola as well as General Motors' OnStar service?

Perhaps a general assumption that orders might be down because most everyone who wants a GPS-enabled  device- BlackBerry or no- already has one?

Hmm, maybe we are too early in the upgrade cycle for those GPS users to feel compelled about replacing their unit?

After a long period of delay, Canadian carrier TELUS and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion have officially released the BlackBerry 7100i. TELUS is the only carrier in Canada to offer the 7100i.

It's available on TELUS' MiKE network for the following prices:

No contract- $549.99 (CDN, but of course)

One-year contract- $499.99 (CDN).

Two-year contract- $449.99 (CDN).

Three-year contract- $249.99 (CDN).

The companies also say that TELUS would "soon" offer the BlackBEnterprise Server v4.1 and BlackBerry Enterprise Server - Small Business Edition v4.1.

BBHub reader Derek Ethier is frustrated that the long-promised Telus BlackBerry 7100i hasn't arrived yet, and is still in the(bad pun alert) "ether."

"There seems to be some kind of hold-up on the release of the 7100i in Canada (by Telus) and given the amount of time it's been out in the US, it seems a little strange," he wrote me last night.

"I'm just trying to raise some kind of awareness in order to force Telus into doing or saying something," Derek adds. "My corporate representative has been useless."

(hmm, now that's a first, wise-ass blogger thinks to self)

Derek said that because the situation is "frustrating as hell, so I thought I'd give it (contacting BB Hub) a shot."

Well, Derek, glad you pinged us. Relieving BlackBerry user frustrations is part of the reason we are here.

So, any other of you Telus customers chomping at the bit for your own BlackBerry 7100i?  Tell us! (blogger uses up bad pun quota for the rest of the year)

TeleNav Inc. is now offering their branded TeleNavTrack GPS solution on the BlackBerry 7520 and BlackBerry 7100i.

The company brands TeleNavTrack as the first BlackBerry platform service that offers real-time, combined turn-by-turn GPS navigation and tracking capabilities.

A fully hosted  Web-based service, TeleNavTrack's pricing per phone/device starts with the TeleNavTrack Basic plan at $9.99 per month, plus a one-time $19.99 activation fee. The basic service includes GPS tracking, timesheets and location reporting.

For a little something extra, The TeleNavTrack Plus plan offers two-way messaging, and comes in at $12.99 per month.

The $15.99 TeleNavTrack Enhanced plan adds barcode scanning, wireless forms and job dispatching and scheduling capabilities.

The top-line TeleNavTrack Premium costs $21.99 per month, which includes turn-by-turn audible and visual navigation.

I've found an interesting Howard Forums thread in which a reader writes from a "somewhat rural area" he has traveled to with his BlackBerry 7100i, but with no charger to keep the power in his BlackBerry up to snuff.

"I left home for the week-end, (100 miles), with my somewhat new BB 7100i, (haven't bought any extras yet), and I forgot to grab the AC charger on the way," writes Rick-o in the thread he's started called "Help! Slight Emergency with 7100i."

"After noticing I was without the charger, I thought I was ok since I was coming back home Sunday afternoon and figured the battery would hold up long enough to get back on the charger," he adds. "Well, come to find out, I'm now stuck away from home until tuesday, with no way to charge my phone."

And without any carrier stores around, the reader wants to know if there is something - anything- he can pick up that will rev up his 7100i should the power drop real low.

Member Turbo993 offers a couple of suggestions, but then it seems that Rick-o found his own. In some store, he found a $19.99 Belkin car charger, one made by a company called Talkworks.

And just in time, apparently.

"My BlackBerry  was down to 0% this afternoon, but was still functioning," Rick-o writes. "How's that for cutting it close?"

To which I say, I bet the next time Rick-o hits the road, he packs up his BlackBerry charger.

Telmap Navigator is showing their BlackBerry solution at CeBit, a trade show that opened in Berlin, Germany today.

The offering feaures turn-by-turn navigation with map, text and voice instructions. 

The content specifically spotlights  "Points of Interest," restaurant reviews, hot spots, as well as hotel and theater listings. 

Telmap Navigator is compatible with all BlackBerry 7100 phones, as well as with BlackBerry8700.

A new Pinstack.com thread covers a subject sure to be crucial to the decline of Western civilization- which car cradle is best for the BlackBerry 7100i?

"I need something that's not going to scratch up my 'Berry and will hold it tight," writes Pinstack Member oyster rsx. "Also I will be using (BlackBerry-compatible mapping service) Telenav so it will have to be at an angle to get (a) good signal."

Pinstack head honcho hydn (Hayden James, actually) suggests the Auto PDA Holder from BlackBerry Source.com.

Toddboy71 is partial to the $29.99 Blackberry 7100i Auto Mount (automount) Cigarette Lighter Adapter Mount on ExtremePDA. That's the model you see on the right.

Yet not every BlackBerry 7100 user is in search of the perfect car cradle.

"I am too rough in the car for a car cradle," writes Pinstack Member melissaox. "It would not survive a day with me tossing the laptop around in the front."

Several security experts think that because of the increasing number of smartphone users as well as the comparative ease of spreading viruses across these platforms, that smartphone security will be tested this year.

Attacks on smartphones haven't reached the critical mass needed but it will happen sooner rather than later," antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab CEO Eugene Kaspersky, tells Red Herring.

"Mobile phone attacks scale very well for fraud," Internet Security Systems chief technology officer Chris Rouland also tells the publication.

"Phone viruses are propagating quickly and they have only been gated by the fact that there are not enough smartphone users today," he told the magazine. 

Rouland added that because phone carriers would likely have to bear the $100-per-incident cost of cleaning infected handhelds, only a few hundred infected phones are enough to cause a problem. 

Yet network security executive Simon Klalaf disagrees. The Vernier Networks CEO tells Red Herring that the financial incentives that spur malware writers to develop viruses are not there for smartphones.

"Putting a worm on laptops where the objective is to steal financial or personal data is a bigger problem for everyone," he tells Red Herring.

BlackBerry-enthusiast site BlackBerry Cool had these first, but I ain't above spreadin' the link love about GUI eye candy.

Like these pretty BlackBerry 7100 themes from Keith.

Keith didn't design these themes, but he is making them available for free. These theme screens aren't downloadable individually, but they can be downloaded as a grouped Zip file.

I like them is what I think.

What do you think?

Boris Boege of Skylab Mobile Systems writes to tell me that their GPS mapping tool "Spot for Blackberry" now supports all Bluetooth enabled Blackberry devices in combination with a Bluetooth GPS receiver.

Former versions were only compatible with BlackBerry 7520 and BlackBerry 7100i. Both of those models have an integrated GPS receiver.

Now, Spot for BlackBerry has been rev'd to support the BlackBerry 7100 Series, the BlackBerry 8700 Series as well as the BlackBerry 7250 and BlackBerry 7290.

"Spot for Blackberry" costs $49. A time limited demo version is available free for download.

Further information is available at: http://www.skylabmobilesystems.com/en/products/spot_bb.html

I'm a SprintNextel subscriber.

As one, I receive the quarterly Sprint Connection newsletter.

Mine came via email just now.

Looks like the promotion priority for the SprintNextel folks this quarter is the BlackBerry 7100i.

$199.99 with a two-year plan.

That London trip to see Bon Jovi looks pretty cool, too.

If you have a BlackBerry 7100, and want to create your own ringtones, you may wish to consider downloading and installing Millennium Studios' BlackBerry 7100 Series Ringtone Builder Package.

The Package includes:

• A digital video with ringtone creation instructions:
• A link to software that helps you convert sound files from the .wav or ,mp3 format to the BlackBerry format;
• 5 MB of hosting space on the Millennium Studio's ringtones web server, with uploading privileges for six months;
• 10 free ringtones, pre-configured for your BlackBerry and available on Millennium Studios' web server for you to download and install on your BlackBerry if you wish.

Total cost is $24.95, but Club Handango Members pay just $22.46.

Click the Read link below this post and you'll ring up Handango.com's BlackBerry 7100 Series Ringtone Builder Package page.

On the RIM section of the Howard Forums mobile phone site, I have been tracking this new thread called 7100t on Rogers Wireless. It was originally made for T-Mobile, but has now been unlocked.

Forum Member hi09 wishes he could say "hi" on his 7100t. But he started the thread because calls cannot be completed. He thinks the problem is his SIM card.

But then jase88 gets on the case with a couple of posts that should, IMHO, get a hi-5 from hi09.

"It sounds to me like a provisioning issue--or the device doesn't like your SIM for some reason," jase88 writes in part. He quickly comes back with a post that goes into more detail.