The warm temperatures in Chicago earlier this month belied the truism that the earth is getting warmer.

A BlackBerry Pearl-using BBHub reader took advantage of that relatively calm day to take a photo of the Chicago skyline from the vantage point of a nearby park.

You're looking at the photo now.

A reader named Nick at BlackBerry Cool is especially observant these days.

He was on the Rogers Wireless support site and guess what he found.

A pull-down menu that leads to a page for the white BlackBerry Pearl.

Which can only mean one thing.

Coming real, real soon.

Now let's look at this image.

If Rogers has gone this far insofar as including a support page for the white Pearl, I'd have to say the device will be available any day now. I am guessing within a week.

Right after midnight ET this morning, RIM and T-Mobile formally announced the white BlackBerry Pearl. Low as $149.99 with rebates. That's $50 less than the "regular" Pearl.

Announcement is so new, not even linkable yet, so I will update with that as well as when official pictures become available later this a.m. Link below.

And I think you will like this pix.

It's now available at T-Mobile retail stores, authorized dealers, online (probably later today) at www.t-mobile.com, or by calling 1-800-T-MOBILE.

In addition to the "regular" Pearl features, there's a bunch of white accessoriesThe new white BlackBerry Pearl also comes with a complement of white accessories -- stereo headset, travel charger and USB cable -- that are included in the box.

As good as official without being official yet.

Not only that, but Boy Genius has posted some shots on his site.

The one up there in the upper right is the most straight-on to me.

But wait. Don't you want to see three others:

That's the box it comes in (as if you didn't know.

Interesting presentation, but BG, the glare, dude.

Let's now look at:

The keyboard looks classy.

But I have one overarching question I would like to ask you readers.

You know how many people won't buy a white automobile because they feel that dirt and scratches would appear more conspicious on a white-colored car?

Would you have the same concerns about a white Pearl?

Over on my ZDNet IP Telephony/Convergence/Broadband (and occasionally license to write "big think") blog, I have been running a poll asking voters:

If you could win a free BlackBerry Pearl or iPhone, which would you want?

Obviously poll is not scientific but the readers really prefer the iPhone.

I mean REALLY prefer the iPhone.

Take a look by how much at the time of this post.

Disagree?

Shameless Self-Promotion here, but you can weigh in if you want.

Travelin' today and tomorrow so service here might be a little on the light side.

Keeping the traveling theme intact, thinking of how cool it would be to be in Europe right now.

In a place like Barcelona, where BBHub reader administrador took out his BlackBerry Pearl 8100 and captured this photo of one of Spanish architect Gaudi's builings from Barcelona: Casa Mila, la Pedrera.

Intricately constructed buildings like this have many visual points of reference. It is up to the photographer- and the camera to render these accurately.

I think the 1.3 megapixel camera in administrador's Pearl did just that.

One lucky (though that may be a matter of dispute) eBay bidder now has a white BlackBerry Pearl headed his way.

He stepped up to the plate and forked over $1,025.00.

Poorer? Maybe a bit. But it's his money, so who are we to criticize? Listen, I write this from a Las Vegas hotel room where downstairs, people are spending a good bit more and getting nothing in return.

But at least winning bidder datasquid (cool user name BTW) has a new BlackBerry Pearl. A white one.

• 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.

BlackBerry Forums Member ojrana has posted what he assures are two photos of the forthcoming white BlackBerry Pearl's back plate.

I have no reason to doubt him, but if he had 3,000- or even 300 BBForum posts to his credit I'd feel even more confident than I am with respect to the three posts he's made so far.

But enough about ojrana. You want to see the photos, right?

Hmm, doesn't look suspect, or even Photoshopped.

One more:

My instincts tell me this is legit. And will be out sometime in February.

I'm not big on skateboarders on the sidewalk. They get in my way, hey hey.

But put 'em in skateparks and it is fun to watch 'em rip.

Sometimes the very act of them rippin' makes a fun photograph.

And if you have a Pearl, such as BBHub reader iswise "wisely" (baa boom ba bing) had with him a couple weeks back, well, why not.

Great timing iswise. And dude you really captured the concentration in your friend's eyes.

If I tried this- even back when I was his age- torn cartilage city.

Worse torn cartilage than I actually had.

While the instructions I cited for removing the "Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld" tagline does not work on the Pearl, BBHub reader and ardent ham radio guy David Kozinn provides this solution for performing that action on the BlackBerry Pearl.

"On the Pearl, go into the messages list, and press the menu key (the one to the left of the trackball)," David advises. "Scroll down to and select "Options," then "Email Settings" and make sure that "Use Auto Signature" is set to "Yes." You'll then be able to change your signature.

But then David adds an important point.

"Note that this procedure applies if you are using a corporate BES server," he writes. "If you\'re using a BIS server (i.e., you have an email address like someone@carrier.blackberry.net), you have to change the setting on their website."

We've been made aware of a new Winterland game built expressly for the BlackBerry Pearl.

Developer Sundara from the UK started this game out as a screensaver, but now it is a game.

This free game sure fits the season, I must say.

Haven't tried it yet, but if you would like to , the download link for the installer .zip file is directly below this post. And if you want to get a sense of what you will be dealing with, click and see a couple of screens from the actual Winterland experience.

Well, let's see how many more points we can earn in the 29 seconds available to us.

592? Not bad, I guess.

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.

Dating back to August 10, the most frequently eyeballed BBHub post of the year is "T-Mobile's BlackBerry 8100 is Pearl.. Cingular's name will be the..."

At that time, with Pearl still a little more than a month in the future, I suggested that Cingular might take another name for its 8100. I thought they might want to alleviate confusion by picking another moniker for their 8100 flavor.

Time proved, of course, that Cingular thought the Pearl name was just fine for Cingy's and BlackBerry's purposes.

"A Pearl by any other name?"

Back on Thursday, Flickr Member Likelihood of Confusion (hey LoC, confusion ain't likely- it's inevitable) stood atop New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal garage and trained his BlackBerry Pearl on 42nd Street, in the vicinity of Times Square one block east.

If Likelihood of Confusion were to take that pix now, he'd obviously find a street full of folks about to do that New Year's Eve countdown thingee. Some of whom took Port Authority buses to get to this very place.

Hey, notice that bright light at upper left? Reflection? Beacon? Searchlight? Meteor?

Some of us party on New Year's Eve.

Where there are parties there are cameras.

Where there are BBHub readers, there are Pearls.

Where there are BBHub readers there are parties (well, at least some of ya).

Where there are Pearls there is email functionality to send party shots you take with your Pearl to me at russjourn@gmail.com.

Don't drink and drive, especially with one hand on your Pearl (or other BlackBerry).

Let's see, am I leaving anything out?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!