At RIMarkable, one of Rob's readers reports some insider-y news that this coming fall, SprintNextel will release a new BlackBerry that will bridge Sprint and Nextel's Push-to-Talk Networks.

QChat's main web page (linked below) says the solution enables communication to begin with the press of a Push to Talk button on the handset, as opposed to a standard cellular call. It forms a call by combining separate point-to-point connections between each IP endpoint at a managing entity known as the QChat Applications Server, deployed on the carrier's IP Wide Area Network (WAN.)

"Pressing the Push to Talk button originates a call to the target QChat user and provides the originator with information indicating the availability (presence) of the target user," QChat's website points out. "If the target user is available, the originator receives an immediate indication that the target user is available and the originator can begin speaking. The call originator's voice is then sent through the carrier's network to the target's handset. Initiating a call to a QChat user who is not available will simply result in a negative response tone rather than a busy signal or a voicemail."

"The transfer of responsibility process is basically the same for all cellular service providers, celltradeusa's FAQ notes. "The individual wishing to take over the contract submits a credit application to the service provider by phone or going to a corporate retail location. The company will make a decision on the credit worthiness of the applicant. If approved, transfer of responsibility documents are prepared and signed by the Celltradeusa.com original Get Out member and the Get In member who is assuming the contract. The transfer is complete when the documents are signed."

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.

Sprint Nextel Corp. is now charging 15 cents per message - a 5 cent increase - for using text messaging without a monthly package.

This move makes me wonder how many, if any, current SprintNextel cell customers will thus decide that they are doing too much text messaging lately, and might as well switch to a BlackBerry where they can send messages as part of a data plan without being literally nickel and dimed to do so.

Then again, such a move might spur Sprint subscribers to try and break their service contracts and sign up with a competitor. They might have the "material change" clause in their corner.

That's even despite the fact that subscription-based pricing plans will stay the same- $5 for a monthly allowance of 300 messages, $10 for 1,000 and $15 for unlimited usage. Extra messages above those amounts will remain at 10 cents a clip.

And so it is that a BBHub reader named Kenneth (yes, really!!) writes to me that he had lunch with his SprintNextel reps and they told him that "by this time next year they would be releasing a BlackBerry CDMA 8800 series device that will include a lot of what has been talked about so far as well as a VoIP-enabled walkie-talkie function."

Due to some proprietary functionality, the BlackBerry 8800 (which will look like the device shown above, as provided by our sister site Engadget) will have far less latency in walkie-talkie mode than some users might have expected," Kenneth tells me SprintNextel tells them.

And as to compatibility with legacy Nextel iDEN DirectConnect (not voice) network, Kenneth says SprintNextel reps told him this handheld will be compatible.

Kenneth and I wonder, if this the beginning of the end of Nextel's iDEN?

1. In Desktop Manager, double-click Intellisync.
2. In the Intellisync window, click Configure PIM.
3. Click the Address Book to highlight it.
4. Click the Configure button and select Advanced Settings. The Advanced Settings for Address Book window opens.
5. Click Field Mapping at the bottom of the window. If an Intellisync message appears, click OK. The Field Mapping for Address Book window opens. The left-hand column displays the available fields in your handheld address book. The right-hand column displays the available fields in the address book on your computer. The mapped fields display a double arrow in the middle column.
6. If the field you want to display is adjacent to the corresponding handheld field, click in the middle column to map the fields. A double arrow appears in the middle column.
7. If the field you want to display is not adjacent to a corresponding handheld field, drag the field in the right-hand column and drop it next to an available field in the left-hand column. For example, if you want to see your contacts' department information on your handheld, move the Department field next to the User Defined 1 field.
8. Click OK to close the Field Mapping for Address Book window. Click OK to close the Advanced Settings for Address Book window. If an Intellisync message appears, click OK. Click OK to close the Handheld Configuration window.
9. In the Intellisync window, click Synchronize Now. After you synchronize, the mapped fields should appear on the handheld.
10. Now synchronize again.

Yesterday I was flying cross-country to Boston for the VON Show. (I cover Internet Telephony, too).

Had logged my 26 (I am not exaggerating) appointments on my (you only get one guess).

On the plane (with my Nextel BlackBerry 7520's radio off, of course)- I realized, much to my horror, that the scroll wheel would only let me navigate the theme screen vertically and not horizontally. So getting to my BlackBerry Calendar was a four-step process.

So I did something radical. I removed the battery. Then I re-inserted it.

I gotta tell ya, when that hourglass keeps running for several minutes, I freak. Freak as in "what if the theme screen doesn't appear this time?"

I put the BB away for a few minutes- crossed my fingers- and then...

SUCCESS, WOO-HOO!!

Takeaway: don't panic!!!

More scuttlebutt about the BlackBerry 8100:

Unlike all other BlackBerry models to date, there won't be any carrier-specific letter labeling on this new camera-ready 8100 series.

By "carrier-labeling," I mean no more BlackBerry (model number) "c" for Cingular, "t" for T-Mobile, "g" for Verizon, "v" for Vodafone, "r" for Rogers, etc.

We hear this decision has been made to cut down on market confusion, as well as to reduce expenses incurred by re-plating physically identical devices.

Makes sense to us.

What do you think?

AIRCHARGE (not shouting, for that's the way they want to spell their name) credit card devices are now able to be used by mobile merchants to accept credit card payments over BlackBerry devices.

Typical scenarios could be for furniture delivery, limo rides (fu-fu, woo-hoo) trade show tickets sold on-site, and even flea market booths.

The central functionality of te Pipeline Data product is the AIRCHARGE JavaME software for wireless payment processin. It is certified to run on the Sprint network that services the BlackBerry 7130e and BlackBerry 7520.

The AIRCHARGE payment processing software can be loaded onto the via BlackBerry over-the-air (OTA) and is compatible with virtually any merchant processing account.

In her new post entitled "Where Is Life Going," MySpace Blogger Tiffany wonders aloud why she is working in a call center eight years after she started college.

She describes her current gig as "working at a call center-saying 'Thank you for Calling Sprint Together with Nextel BlackBerry support' only about 50 times a day."

Tiffany believes there's more to life than working at a call center, and as she puts it, "hating your job."

The rest of Tiffany's post describes how she believes that God has a plan for her life.

I just noticed something interesting when I read the copy of the manual for the forthcoming Motorola ic502 as posted on the FCC site.

Notice the branding: "NEXTEL only from Sprint."

Seems like this is to replace the familiar: "Sprint: Together with NEXTEL."

Maybe this is supposed to signify the further absorption of the NEXTEL brand into Sprint, which bought NEXTEL a year ago and is now corporately known as SprintNextel.

Tell that to the customer billing systems of Sprint and NEXTEL. I have a legacy NEXTEL BlackBerry plan but a new Sprint EVDO for my notebook. But guess what- even though my invoices come from Sprint, I will be getting two separate bills for at least the next several months.

Marketing slogans running ahead of real-world systems integration? Well perish the thought!

Had an interesting experience today going into a "Sprint" store and trying to get my notebook updated for EVDO.

They were out of aircards, but since this wasn't really- despite the livery- a Sprint store but a legacy Nextel store, they couldn't access Sprint's online ordering system to order a refreshed supply. Why? Because the POS systems are not yet compatible. They are supposed to be on July 9, I was told, but this was on June 27.

So they sent me about 1,000 feet down the road to a Sprint store. They had the card but when they tried to add my EVDO to my existing BlackBerry account-, well, no can do. Why? About a year after the merger the customer systems are not yet integrated.

So for the forseeable future, I will be getting two bills.

Answer me this- it seems that when these big mergers take place, the financial end of things get mashed up within days. But why does it take a year or more for systems compatibility- especially with a merger of equals?

Last weekend, I journeyed up to Bellingham, Washington for what I had hoped would be a whale watching expedition.

The evening before I left my hotel for the journey home, I plugged my BlackBerry charger into a wall outlet.

On the morning of my departure I took the BlackBerry out and packed it away.

Two days later (Wednesday) I notice my BlackBerry juice is down to two bars. I get nervous when that happens.

"Uh, dude, where's my charger..."

I call the hotel (225 miles north of my home) and they have it waiting for me. They agree to snail mail it back.

But with two bars remaining, see, I just can't wait a couple of days.

So I fork over $39.99 for a new charger. Which was ready and waiting for me courtesy of the helpful staff at the SprintNextel Store at 897 Ne 25th Avenue
Hillsboro, OR.

And no, I didn't tell them of my toils here. Just good people, delivering good service.

So I offer my props.

BlackBerry-enthusiast site BlackBerry Cool points us to a Flickr post that illustrates "the world's biggest BlackBerry."

The "BlackBerry" is actually inside the Nextel store at the Las Vegas Convention Center Monorail Station.

Perfect location for capturing the attention of conventioneers, so many of them who carry BlackBerrys as well as use the Las Vegas Monorail to get from their hotels to the LVCC.

With no traffic hassles, I might add. The LV Monorail rocks.

USA TODAY and Gannett have partnered with MobileVoiceControl, Inc. to bring natural voice access to USA TODAY's mobile content using BlackBerry.

SprintNextel account along with a SprintNextel BlackBerry is required.

BlackBerry users will now be able to to search USA Today content  by simply pressing an assigned button on their device and speaking the request. Following the spoken request, the BlackBerry Browser will be automatically launched and opened to a page displaying the requested content.

The system will gives users the ability to dial by voice command, verbally add appointments to their calendars, and to dictate emails instead of typing them.

The system is downloadable to the user's BlackBerry handset over the air and unlike many off-the-shelf natural language systems,does not require any user voice training.