I came across an article online mentioning that some analysts think the iPhone is not a smartphone.

Instead they call the iPhone a very high end feature phone. This is based mainly on the idea that the iPhone will not support third party applications as the BlackBerry does.

Someone will probably find a way to get some applications on the iPhone regardless, but analysts think the lack of third party applications might hinder the phones sales.

I had a Sidekick with T-Mobile once upon a time, and one of the main reasons I gave it up for a BlackBerry was the lack of third party applications. I love being able to try out games and applications that do a multitude of things, as many others do.

What do you think? Is the iPhone a smartphone?

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.

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.

After it seemed a given that Cisco was going to let Apple-maybe even transfer to Apple- rights to use the Cisco-trademarked iPhone for the new device Apple CEO Steve Jobs debuted yesterday...

Cisco Systems Inc. now says it is suing Apple in federal court over Apple's use of Cisco's registered iPhone trademark.

Cisco has owned the trademark on the name "iPhone" since 2000, when it acquired InfoGear Technology Corp., which originally registered the name.

Cisco's Linksys division put the trademark to use all of three weeks releasing an Internet-enabled phone called "iPhone" for VoIP calls.

I think the fact that Apple released the iPhone just three weeks later is probably contributing to the animus here.

"Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," said Mark Chandler, Cisco senior vice president and general counsel, in a statement. "There is no doubt that Apple's new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission."

Cisco is seeking injunctive relief to prevent Apple from copying Cisco's iPhone trademark.

"Today's iPhone is not tomorrow's iPhone. The potential for convergence of the home phone, cell phone, work phone and PC is limitless, which is why it is so important for us to protect our brand," Chandler added in his statement.

BlackBerry Cool has just posted an interview wit Boy Genius.

BG says that he thinks iPhone has set RIM back three years.

I have a link to the post below, but as of the time I am making this post BBCool seems to be down.

Update: up now.BBCool: I guess time will tell...Do you see the iPhone "killing" the BlackBerry?

It depends how that question is asked, "do you see the iPhone killing the BlackBerry in the consumer area, or in business or both". Look on your site under the iPhone article, i think 11 out of 12 people said they are jumping ship from a 'Berry to the iPhone. Those are real users, real people. And I couldn't agree more. RIM just lost 3 years. You hear that Mike (Laziridis, RIM co-CEO)??
You just lost 3 years. You hear that Jim (Balsillie, the other CEO)??

Well, no one every accused BG of being closed-mouthed.

From Steve's morning Macworld keynote in SF- where he introduced the iPhone (link to our sister site Engadget's superb coverage below this post)

Looks like he's sayin' poor ol' BlackBerry's "buttons and controls can't change."

And you still wanna synch with this guy's Mac OS X?

Here. See what I mean?

Late Tuesday, a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge T. John Ward in Texas awarded RIM-suing Visto Corp. damages in a patent infringement suit it had filed against Seven Networks.

In making the ruling, Judge Ward doubled and added interest to a jury's original $3.6 million award, which was decided upon in April.

Now the ruling is $7.7 million.

So let's get this straight. Seven Networks has to pay Visto $7.7 million.

No lucky sevens here, that's for sure.

Bermuda-based Digicel, the largest GSM operator in the Caribbean, has just introduced introduced BlackBerry Connect for the Sony Ericsson P990.

Yes, the handset you are looking at over there on the right.

Nine of the carrier's 22 markets are involved in this rollout. We're talking Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, as well as Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos; with plans to expand the offering across all of Digicel's 22 markets.

But in keeping with the song I may have planted in your head with this Post's title, no Kokomo.

Unless you are talking about Indiana, I guess.

Surfing around Pinstack I came across a post from Stack Admin Hayden The BlackBerry 880 - a lot rides on this launch! I was curious to see what BBHub readers thought.

More devices are out there now that offer a full QWERTY keypad. More devices offer email close to what the BlackBerry offers. Some of them even look a lot like a BlackBerry.

But none of them have the RIM OS, which is more stable than Windows Mobile.

Will the BlackBerry keep its grasp on tits market or will the other players swoop in and take it away?

I am with Blackberry all the way. What do you think?

Any questions about the validity of RIM filing suit against Samsung over the BlackJack I had this past weekend have been put to rest. It has to be news when it hits the Washington Post.

The story has no comment from Cingular nor Samsung, but plenty from RIM. There is a lot more detail now as to what is in the suit.

RIM is concerned the BlackJack is similar in name, color, and size to the Pearl and this might confuse consumers. The suit mentions the BlackJack ads that Cingular has put on television, which I have seen, that capitalize on the similarities.

There is also mention of a Samsung i600 released overseas that is very similar to the BlackJack, but uses a completely different name. RIM suggests that Samsung did not use the BlackJack name overseas as the BlackBerry is not as popular there.

What do you think?

I got a note from my friend Craig Johnston who records an excellent podcast on mobile computing (a must-listen to, by the way). He pointed me to his most recent podcast where he talks to Jeffrey Neafsey from Microsoft's Mobility Solutions and Services group. They discuss Microsoft's recent addition of "Device Services" which provides centralized management of Windows Mobile devices. Craig asks a lot of good, probing questions on the new product to see how it stacks up against the current BlackBerry offering.

From where I sit, it seemed like Device Services provides some nice (and sorely needed!) remote management features, but falls well short of what RIM provides. Take a listen and let us know what you think. How do you think it compares to what a BlackBerry solution has done (for years)?

Late Friday I received a very interesting forwarded email.

The email seems to indicate a Microsoft executive's mention that it is their intention to get Windows Live Mobile Search working on a BlackBerry Pearl.

Didn't announce the carrier, but the intent was still there.

Intrigued, I Googled the message sender and the recipient.

Let me show you a copy of the message, and what I found out about the sender and recipient.

Surfing around the web today I came across one blurb stating RIM sues Samsung over the BlackJack infringing on the BlackBerry trademark. This is coming from Hawaii's Star Bulletin Biz Briefs.

I had wondered about it myself when I saw the BlackJack TV adds.

According to the website RIM filed suit in Los Angeles federal court saying Samsung's use of "BlackJack" in connection with a so-called smart phone "constitutes false designation of origin, unfair competition, and trademark dilution".

RIM wants to stop the use of the BlackJack name as well as get unspecified damaged.

In a recent interview Ballmer was asked about Windows Mobile. Apparently he made comments about the mobile out doing the desktop version in licenses.

The response included "It often surprises people when we tell them how much we outsell BlackBerry. BlackBerry, because they are more popular in the United States, people assume that they're quite popular. The truth of the matter is we actually outsell BlackBerry many factors to one, that's worldwide, yeah, absolutely."

I was a little shocked personally, and apparently so was Msmobiles.com. They stated that Windows Mobile has a market share world wide of less than 10% for smart phones.

I haven't counted personally, but I am thinking BlackBerry has Windows beat on this one. And the idea that BlackBerry is a niche device is changing with the release of the Pearl.

I know I am biased as I love my BlackBerry, but to say Windows Mobile and Nokia are the only real players making smart phones makes me wonder.

I have to wonder if there is some sort of connection between the Cingular Free Camera Phone promotion I just got emailed about, and the fact that Cingular is putting their version of the camera-equipped BlackBerry Pearl on sale tomorrow.

If I am Cingular, I am thinking that because there is likely to be such a rush on the Pearl, I might want to create pricing incentives for other camera phones that I sell.

Incentivize these devices rather than run the risk of having them overshadowed by the marketing blitz and then have them sit around for the holidays?

Well, maybe. Cingular is hard to read. But still, why did they send me this promo when I am not even a Cingular customer?