Editor's Blog: Covering 3GSM, virtually

For several years I have been covering the big 3GSM mobile show, spanning the years when it got its silly new name. But for personal reasons this year I'm back in London, rather than Barcelona.

We knew there would be lots of news on many fronts coming out of the show but the plan was for one of the silicon.com team, senior reporter Jo Best, to head there while I offered support from silicon.com's offices. (Think 24's CTU if you like, minus the Cisco phone endorsements.)

In recent times it hasn't escaped the attention of many an attending journalist - or any other keen observer - that those on the show floor are often last to hear certain pieces of news.

RIM to Introduce Newest BlackBerry

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. on Monday will unveil a new version of its top-end e-mail phone for business users, replacing the signature side navigation wheel with a front trackball that first appeared last year on the consumer-oriented BlackBerry Pearl.

The BlackBerry 8800 will be offered in the United States by AT&T Inc.'s Cingular Wireless starting Feb. 21, priced at $300 with a two-year contract commitment.

The new device enters a far more crowded market for multifunction "smart" phones than the 8700 did when it was launched in late 2005. Back then, the main competition was Palm Inc.'s Treo, while lower-priced BlackBerry-like entrants from Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. had not yet arrived.

RIM is billing the 8800 as the thinnest BlackBerry to date, measuring 0.55 inch from front to back.

Shiny at 3GSM: BlackBerry's 8800

Not to be confused with Nokia's 8800, BlackBerry have just announced their new version, the 8800, which apparently contains 'GPS goodness', according to our woman of the hour, Susi, who obviously needs a long nap, judging by this video. Bless. The mobile appears to be a mash-up of the Pearl, and previous model, the 8700g. Expect to see this glued to your nearest businessman's ear shortly.

SIRF Expects Cellphone GPS to Overtake Auto

GPS chipset vendor SIRF Technology Inc expects mobile phones to grow as a target market, from under 20% of its revenue last year, to overtake automotive (50% in 2006) and consumer/recreational (25% to 30%) by 2008.

"It may only overtake then in volume shipped initially, because with a billion cellphones selling globally each year, if just 10% of them start shipping with GPS, that will immediately pass in-car automotive, personal navigation devices, and consumer/recreational as the largest market," said Kanwar Chadha, founder and VP of marketing at San Jose, California-based SIRF.

Cellphones are still a relatively small percentage of the total GPS market and the bulk of phones offering satnav still do so via an external puck containing the GPS chipset. However, Motorola, Nokia, RIM and HTC, as well as a number of ODMs from the Far East, are now embedding the silicon in the phone itself, making the functionality easier to access and use.

Research In Motion Prepares for IPhone With New Model (Update2)

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry e-mail phone, will start selling the slimmest version of the device yet, revamping the design ahead of Apple Inc.'s introduction of the rival iPhone.

The BlackBerry 8800 has a music and video player, a global positioning system and a full keyboard, co-Chief Executive Officer James Balsillie said in an interview. The 8800 is 14 millimeters (about one half-inch) thick, compared with 11.6 millimeters for the iPhone.

Research In Motion is striving to hold on to its lead in U.S. e-mail phone sales by kindling enthusiasm for the BlackBerry while drawing attention away from rival Apple. The companies will vie for sales when Apple releases the iPhone in June, in a market that may almost triple by next year.