Did you happen to see The Wall Street Journal's piece today entitled "Apple iPhone Is No ReasonTo Hang Up on RIM Shares?"

I'd link to it except the article is subscriber-firewalled.

Anyhow the gist of the piece is that BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion's Pearl and forthcoming devices are priced far below the iPhone (think $199 and $299 vs. couple hundred dollars more), so that the Pearl has a leg up.

The piece also points out that BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion is "cozy" with more than 225 carriers worldwide.

The iPhone? They are cozy with one- Cingular, now being rebranded as AT&T.

Do you have a Cingular BlackBerry and like to chat on Yahoo?

Pinstacker Stack Pro N8DBB recently complied a How To Guide for Cingular BlackBerrys to get Yahoo IM from other posts.

The problem is that Cingular does not have the service book required for Yahoo IM to work on your BlackBerry.

If you have an unlocked BlackBerry and a friend with another provider's SIM card you could always pop that into your BlackBerry and get the service books.

If not there are a few steps to follow. Basically you download a backup file to your PC, load it on your BlackBerry, register your BlackBerry to get the other service books you need. This should get the needed service book on the BlackBerry and you would be good to go.

Good luck!

The media campaign changing Cingular to AT&T starts on Monday. This includes the stores and websites as well.

AT&T will be using some co-branding to begin with and include some familiar Cingular stuff at first, such as the Raising The Bar phrase.

The announcement doesn't say when the Cingular name will be gone, but does imply it will be gone once all the legal changes are made and customer awareness of the change is high.

Be prepared to see AT&T on your bill in the upcoming months instead of Cingular.

Our peeps over at TUAW (The Ultimate Apple Weblog) are linking to a Wall Street Journal post that seems to affirm Apple CEO Steve Jobs will announce an Apple branded cell phone today.

This phone is supposed to be marketed by Cingular Wireless.

You know Cingular- the outfit that kept moving the release date for their flavor of BlackBerry Pearl, and unlike T-Mobile, kept almost their entire retail and online distribution channels in the dark.

RIM put up with that because RIM tends to defer lots of marketing and distribution efforts to their carrier partners.

But at Apple, it is difficult to imagine Steve Jobs letting the carriers rule.

So I wonder if he'll be capable of baby-sitting Cingular'd distribution for such a product in a tight-ship way that BlackBerry/RIM was unwilling to because of their "carriers-first" corporate culture?

There is now a new version of the BlackBerry Pearl OS available from Cingular.

It is version 4.2.0.71.

I just was pointed to the post from Spamdumpster on Pinstack. Not a lot of comments yet on what changes there are in this OS.

I don't have a Pearl to try it out on, so if you try it out, let us know what's new. Nothing like a new OS for your BlackBerry to start off the new year.

Now if only we could get OS 4.2 for the 8700 series.

Earlier today, mobile solutions developer Kodiak Networks said it has signed a global licensing agreement with Research In Motion to feature Push-to-Talk and other applications on the Cingular BlackBerry Pearl.

Here's what's going to be enabled, according to a press release from Kodiak:

• Availability - Instantly displays the current availability/status of friends, family, and business colleagues to receive a wireless call. Availability states include "Available," "Silent," "Do Not Disturb," and "Unavailable."
• Call Me Alerts - The ability to alert others that a user needs to talk and allows them to call back directly from the PTT button.
• Call Waiting - Allows users to easily accept voice calls and other PTT calls during an existing PTT session.
• Convert to Cellular - Enables BlackBerry Pearl customers to convert an individual or group PTT call instantly to a standard cellular call or instant mobile conference call at the touch of a button.
• Voice Messaging - Easily records and concurrently distributes voice messages to an individual or multiple voicemail boxes without ringing the called parties' telephones. Does not require the caller to remember telephone or PIN numbers.
• Contact List Privacy - Permission-based contact management. Users authorize which contact and group lists they join.

With the AT&T-BellSouth merger having been approved late Friday, it is now an article of faith that the Cingular Wireless name will go away sometime in the next several months.

Why? Cingular is the wireless company originally owned by SBC and BellSouth. But, see, SBC bought AT&T and took the name, and the bulked up AT&T's $82 billion purchase of BellSouth was approved by the FCC late Friday.

The question for Blackberry users is, when are we going to see the AT&T logo burned on formerly Cingular-branded devices?

In other words, what about an AT&T logo on the Pearl, forthcoming 8800, or other future models further back in testing?

I've been pouring through our server logs, and then counting down the ten most-read BBHub posts of the year.

And now, as we roll out the old year, it is time for #1.

On BlackBerryForums.com, contributor muss2k1 writes this morning that his friend works at the Cingular corporate office in Paramus, NJ in the EIS (Enterprise Information Systems) department.

"I told him to get more information about the (BlackBerry) 8800 because they receive the devices way before release so they can learn it before they come out so they can help troubleshoot for customers.," muss2k1 writes.

"Anyway, the manager states that the 8800 (shown via our fellow AOL site Engadget) is still at RIM undergoing more testing," muss2k1 passes along. "He also confirms that it won't be available on Cingular until Feb earliest and April latest. "All RIM told Cingular was first quarter of 2007 but the manager states that the agreement they have with RIM is that they must get the phone atleast one month in advance so they can train their EIS reps."

BBHub reader Troy differs with the assumption that the upcoming rise Cingular will implement January 21 for text messaging fees will let Cingular Wireless customers leave their contracts without penalty should they wish to do so.

"Actually, you can't escape your contract because of this change," Troy writes. "It's's in the wording - text messaging is a pay-per-use service. The text message price increase is not affecting the monthly text packages that people have subscribed to."

Troy adds his belief that this texting price increase is identical in nature that the hike Cingular made to its Directory Assistance 411 service- a rise that Troy notes that did not allow subscribers to break their contract>"

Heading recalls savings plans, CDs, and for me, oh, better not go there.

(Blogger leaves PC for cold shower)

(Blogger returning to PC after cold shower)

The Consumerist web site describes a way for Cingular Wireless customers to break their contracts without a termination fee.

The pretext would be text- an increase in the text message rat for all postpaid and Pick-Your_plan customers not currently signed up with an SMS packet. . Effective January 21, you will have 30 days to break your contract.

The text message rate change is effective Jan 21, 2007. You have 30 days from then to break the contract. The change affects all postpaid and Pick-Your-Plan customers not currently subscribed to an SMS package.

Consumerist notes that HowardForums and FatWallet have extensive threads devoted to the subject.

Nice find by Steve at Blackberry Cool.

Writing in his personal blog, Paul Levy, CEO of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, describes how he has shed his BlackBerry addiction.

"I write from experience," Levy notes. "I was a 'Crackberry' addict. As I look back and see how often I was rude or inattentive, I am embarrassed. As I look back and see how often I responded in haste to an email in the midst of other activities, I am appalled."

Next, we learn the straw that broke the camel's...maybe not the back.

BBHub reader Bill Capella saw our post from earlier today, noting a BlackBerryForums thread with reports of non-functioning Push-to-Talk capability on the Cingular Blackberry Pearl.

Bill has a solution.

"I was able to fix the exact problem with all our devices," Bill writes.

"The problem has to do with the PTT button being mapped by default to voice command function," he informs us. Bill recommends changing the button to Push to talk in the Options - screen/keyboard.

"You will no longer have the problem where PTT gets stuck," he assures us.

These first surfaced yesterday on a BlackBerryForums thread entitled PTT Not Working On The Cingular Pearl.

Today, the posts confirming these issues are really starting to mount up.

Let's take a look at how we got to this point.

"Recently I picked up a Pearl with Cingular and activated a PTT on the device. The first time i used the device the PTT worked fine," ny21&23writes. "Then when i tried to use it a couple of hours later it didnt work.

"More specifically it appeared that the PTT function became stuck," he explains. Everytime i tried to push the PTT button it would not end the call.

"The part that really is frustrating is I have tried three different devices.," ny21823 adds.E"ach device had the same problem. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Well, ny21823, yes, indeed they have.

Just came across this on Pinstack for all the Pearl owners out there. Stack Pro Rcbjr posted the information on the Cingular OS 4.2.0.84.

Looks like this OS is what the new Cingular Pearls are shipping out with now.

Not sure what the differences are from the T-Mobile and other versions of the Pearl 4.2 OS. If you have tried it out please let us know what you think.

However it seems there is still no option to turn off the auto dim feature.

I know I love to have the most up to date OS, but only try it out if you are comfortable. And always remember to back up first.