Last September, I predicted that after the BlackBerry Pearl debuted on T-Mobile, that the carrier would drop their prices on legacy models with the same form factor.

If anything, I underestimated how much Tmo would do so.

There's one thing dropping prices on legacy models. Facilitating enough rebates so that purchasers will actually make money purchasing these devices is something else.

This comes to light in a current Amazon-T-Mobile promotion for the BlackBerry 7105t.

Buy one, sign up, and between the rebates you'll get instantly and the ones you'll get after several months of being nice and paying your bills on time, you'll be $74.99 richer.

iotum Talk-Now for Blackberry is a service that lets you share your availability to talk with others. It's designed to eliminate "telephone tag", by letting people actually view the availability of the people they need to speak with.

Iotum Talk-Now can:

• Show at a glance the availability of your preferred contacts.

• Notify you when a contact becomes available to talk.

• Share your person-to-person availability to let people know the best time to reach you. This availability will be shared when a user adds you to his Talk-Now list or when you notify a contact to return your call.

Your availability to take a call from a specific contact is defined by iotum based on:

• What you are doing (calendar, presence on BlackBerry)
• Your preferences: set up when you are available or not for a call; apply different priorities and preferences to different contacts or groups of contacts.

• Who is requesting the information.

Iotum is currently running the service as a limited technology preview. Amongst other things that means it's likely to have a few bugs, and it's a little heavy on data usage (expect 10M or more per month), which we are working to correct. But it works, and doesn't seem to be buggy.

Iotum's CEO emailed me this afternoon to tell me they are looking for up to 500 Blackberry users to play with what Iotum says "is the next revolutionary idea in mobile presence. To get your Talk-Now account, visit www.iotum.com/blackberry.

A little more than an hour from now, we'll learn what CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) viewers regard as the Greatest Canadian Invention.

Suffice to say that the BlackBerry is on the list.

Mike Lazaridis will join some 20 other Canadians in presenting his own choice.

I realize that many if not most of you readers don't have ready access to this tv show. Still, you do have access to the CBC Web site. Check the link below for updates.

Steve at BlackBerry Cool tells us they are giving away a GPS puck for the winning entry for the winning entrant in a short essay to pick the biggest BlackBerry news story of the year.

I'd select the Pearl. Radical broadening of BlackBerry devices to the consumer market- even though Research In Motion declines to admit that the Pearl is primarily a consumer device.

Link to the post below.

• IT policy support for camera features, VMWare support, .wav file attachment and playback support
• Role and group based administration features that make it easier to delegate and align tasks while ensuring strict access control
• Wireless instant messaging with support for Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005 and Office Communicator
• Enhanced support for PowerPoint and document viewing and more

First, you have to live in Canada.

Second, you need to sign up with Rogers for a three-year plan.

Third, you have to be one of the first 50 people per day to show your face at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario on these days:

• Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM
• Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
• Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

If you do the click-y just below I will show you this offer and also let technology from our peeps at MapQuest illustrate where the International Centre (I just love typing Centre rather than Center) is:

And how do I get there, you ask?

Well,

Wow that's kinda close to the airport.

One more thing.. "Disco Road" is nearby. I kid you not.

Ask.com is offering a free BlackBerry Pearl.

This promotion, however, appears to be limited to UK users. Promo is being distributed by Local London, a collection of websites from 40 neighborhood newspapers in and around (you only get one guess where)- London.

You log on to ask.com and answer the following question:

Which website has Local London teamed up with to give away a BlackBerry Pearl?

I know it's Monday, but if you think real hard...

Hey, miss the butler?

Some of you have already responded:

Here's what you have reported so far.

For those of you headed home from work, call your Cingular store this evening and ask when they are gettin' the Pearl.

Late tonight or early tomorrow I'll put all your answers together and tell you what they mean.

Let me first show you a grab of the first of many findings you have come back to me with so far.

Not atypical.

Send your findings to the comment field at this link.

Pinstacker CoolFinalan refers to a free, 60-day BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4 trial offer.

Basic concept is a test drive for organizations thinking about BES.

"As part of your BlackBerry Enterprise Server trial, " CoolFinalFan notes BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion as saying, "you will have the option to sign up for a trial of Technical Support Services (TSupport) from RIM at the Tx0 level.

Jobs site Monster.com and Shorn Entertainment today announced the season two launch of Cube Fabulous, a popular broadband TV office-makeover show.

This season's theme begins with an episode that will see the transformation of a Manhattan's real estate agent's office into a hip hop-themed crib. An advertising executive's cube is next to get pimped.

Here's how BlackBerry fits in.

In conjunction with the series, Monster is accepting entries into their Tech Fabulous Office Makeover Contest. The contest, which is hosted on MOnster.com, is giving five winners a $2,500 prize package that includes a BlackBerry, an HP notebook, a foot massager and a mini-fridge.

Put me down for the foot massager.