It’s actually happened — after bringing BlackBerry from pager to the top of the smartphone world only to see the iPhone and Android all but demolish their share, RIM today announced founders and co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie would be stepping down, and current operations head Thorsten Heins would be taking over as the new, unified CEO.

And one of his first official acts was to call our own Kevin Michaluk, founder of CrackBerry.com and #1 BlackBerry fanboy.

It’s hard to express just how big of a change this is for RIM. Let’s put it this way. Since launching CrackBerry.com in 2007 I have been wanting to get an interview with RIM’s CEOs. It has never happened. With Thorsten, it happened in literally minutes, and it wasn’t even me who asked for it to happen, but rather it was the CEO wanting to do it. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Mike and Jim and all they have done for BlackBerry over the years, but it’s clear that for BlackBerry to thrive again RIM needed a shake up, and I think Thorsten is going to do an amazing job leading the way.

With their marketshare continuing to slide, lackluster PlayBook sales, and QNX/BlackBerry 10 superphones still months away, it’s clear RIM needed to do something to reassure investors and enthusiasts alike. Here’s wishing Heins every success. Strong BlackBerry competition is good for everyone. Bring it on.

Source: CrackBerry.com

While we often complain about Apple’s over-curation of the App Store, here’s a cautionary tale about what happens when a $500 BlackBerry App World “app” meets a CrackBerry.com founder left alone in Vegas without adult supervision.

I’ll save the back story of how I decided I needed to buy the app for our next CrackBerry Podcast (for now let’s just say I was triple dog dared into it), but buy it I did. And you know what they say, What happens in Vegas ends up on Youtube, so check out the video above to see this Limited Edition desktop clock app get purchased and installed onto my BlackBerry Bold 9900. While at the time of purchase I thought this was the most expensive app in App World, turns out there are quite a few overpriced clock apps in there. And while I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the world to have bought the Cesar HQ app, looking at the other clock apps I discovered one review by another person on another $600 clock app, so it looks like there is at least one other sucker out there.

Apple yanked the notorious I Am Rich app from the App Store a short time after it launched and has made it a policy not to allow similar apps since. While RIM evidently doesn’t enforce similar restrictions, and it was nice of Kevin to single-handily double App World sales last night, bottom line, Adam is never allowed leaving Vegas before Kevin does again.

Source: CrackBerry.com

Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have released an official response from RIM to Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference yesterday and Steve Jobs’ demonstration of a BlackBerry Bold 9700 suffering from similar signal-drop when death-gripped:

“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.”

CrackBerry Kevin ran a death-grip poll on CrackBerry.com and as of this writing 14% had the death-grip, 72% did not, and 14% saw bars drop but come back.

When you factor in that we don’t know how RIM calculates bars, what dropping and coming back up means, and add the crucial crazy that makes iPhone 4 antenna issues so maddening — that not everyone has them, and the whole situation has snowballed into equal parts fact and frenzy,

Steve Jobs might have done better mentioning the industry-wide death-grip problem as a bullet point and saving the videos for the Q&A if he got called on it because there was every chance it could come back to bite him in the a$$. Likewise, RIM might have been better off not making a public statement, going with humor, and letting the public weigh in for a while because this can now come back and bite them in their own co-a$$es. Why?

Same reason Steve Jobs’ should never have sent that “hold different, get a case” email response. RIM has now cued everyone in a weak signal with a BlackBerry to rev up their YouTube engines and start asking for free cases. TiPb’s already getting email:

I reported last week to [that] I could do just what Apple said in their news conference today, it was nothing against Blackberry. I own a Bold 9700 and a iphone 4 and my statement was it was no big deal. This is my third Blackberry and third iPhone. For you to say you have avoided the problem is in fact a misstatement. Your phone does the same thing without a case on it that the iPhone does and it does no harm to either phone.

Now for the big question Since my Bold 9700 does what the iPhone does are you going to fix my phone because it must be defective.

Thank You, Dwight

TiPb’s own Alli Kazmucha, who’s in a weak signal area, has been able to reproduce the BlackBerry Bold 9700 death-grip as well:

I managed to replicate [the death-grip] on a 9700 in less than 15 seconds, and on a 3GS.

We have bad coverage around a certain area in town, and like Apple said, in poor coverage areas it can be replicated. People forget that key point.

I’ve replicated it on my iPhone 3GS as well.

Nokia and RIM have both chosen to respond. We’ll see if Samsung does as well, and if HTC and Motorola decide to get into “antennagate” as well. One thing’s for certain, Phil Nickinson from Android Central is right when he says any new phone that gets released from any company now is going to be under increased — and in some cases ridiculous — antenna scrutiny.

Good.

Video after the break.

Update: Boy Genius shows the BlackBerry 9650 on Verizon dropping to one bar when death-gripped in the second video after the break…

[CrackBerry.com]

Over the last 5 weeks of the 3rd Annual Smartphone Round Robin, the editors of our sibling sites, Casey from AndroidCentral.com, Kevin from CrackBerry.com, Matt from NokiaExperts.com, Dieter from PreCentral.net, and Phil from WMExperts.com have all had their chance to review TiPb’s flagship iPhone 3GS. And we’ve just had to sit here and take it, the good and the bad, the raves and the rants. Well, it’s week 6 now, baby, and TiPb gets to retort!

PreCentral.net’s Dieter Bohn

Week 1 saw our Editor-in-Chief, Dieter Bohn, this time representing PreCentral.net, return to the iPhone he’s reviewed about 5 or 6 times already, and… he was remarkably fair and I’m kind of sad there’s nothing much to pick him apart over. Thanks for nothing! One of his negatives is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, though:

I will admit to being a little tired of the iPhone’s design. It’s iconic and singular, but honestly it doesn’t feel as ‘high end’ as it once did. Not that the Palm Pre or Pixi is the picture of luxury, but sometime soon Apple will need to remember that phones are fashion and fashion changes.

iPhone 3G was indeed a departure from the original iPhone 2G; it lost the aluminum and gained a new, curved-for-thinness form. And people got really upset their cases didn’t fit any more, their docks didn’t fit anymore, and accused Apple of changing just to force people to re-buy all their accessories. Then the iPhone 3GS came out, new model same as the one before, and people got really upset that it wasn’t refreshed. Fashionistas complained one could tell they had the new model. Both the iPhone casing and the iPhone home screen wouldn’t be hurt for an update, but Apple won’t win either way.

As for Dieter’s conclusion:

We try not to pick winners in the Smartphone Round Robin, but rather talk about user needs and preferences. If you need apps and music, right now your choice is iPhone. If that’s not big and you care about openness and multitasking, webOS has a serious leg up. What’s sort of amazing is that most users don’t need to dismiss either out of hand.

I’d add the mobile web to that. iPhone Safari still hasn’t been exceeded and there’s a reason iPhone-optimized sites are still what other mobile WebKit clients want to pull. The point itself is spot on though — iPhone is owning the app and media space while BlackBerry owns messaging, and Android, Palm, Nokia, and WinMo battle it out over “openness” and “in-between”. Multitasking we might get in a future update (iPhone 4.0?) but it’s tough to see Apple loosening their ties on the App Store until and unless competition forces them to. Geeks and philosophers notwithstanding, some users and some developers prefer the level of trust a “gate-keeper”-style store provide (though Apple could certainly do better on the consistency side).

WMExperts’ Phil Nickinson

Week 2 brought us Phil Nickinson, editor of WMExperts.com, and again he was frustratingly fair. He also raised some good food for thought:

Some of the best conversations surrounding smartphones these days have to do with Apple’s singular vision. It designs the phones. It keeps a tight fist on the manufacturing process. It largely controls the marketing of the devices. Even the act of selling an iPhone is controlled by Apple. Want to use the iPhone? You have to connect to iTunes at least once. Apps? Only (official) way to get them is through Apple’s App Store. Everything, at least at some point, must pass through Apple. Do not pass Go, head directly to Cupertino.

I’ve been toying with the over-simplification that iPhone involves surrendering control to Apple in exchange for user-experience, Android involves surrendering privacy to Google in exchange for free services, and BlackBerry involves surrendering serenity to RIM in exchange for constant connectivity. There’s no perfect device or perfect model; everything is a compromise, and for a large swath of users, that’s a good deal. They don’t want to control (or have to worry about managing) their device — they just want to easily use it.

Phil’s conclusion:

We don’t believe in iPhone killers. That’s a phrase that was coined by writers who couldn’t think of any other arguments to make. No, we’re not looking for Windows Mobile 7, if and when it’s announced and later released, to “kill” anything, save for maybe the bad taste that Windows Mobile 6.5 left in a lot of mouths. But even that isn’t entirely fair. Microsoft announced Windows Mobile 6.5 and for the most part delivered exactly what it promised. No more, no less. A stopgap to hold things over until WM7.

Actor and gadget aficionado Stephen Fry uproariously so elegantly phrased:

Does anybody seriously believe that Android, Nokia, Samsung, Palm, BlackBerry and a dozen others would since have produced the product line they have without the 100,000 volt taser shot up the jacksie that the iPhone delivered to the entire market?

That the iPhone jumpstarted a complacent smartphone industry in 2007 is undeniable, as is the impact its made since. In that context, the media contrivance of “iPhone killer” makes sense. Until something makes that same original-iPhone-in-2007 level leap, it’s likely the media will keep comparing everything to the iPhone. Steve Jobs was recently rumored to have said Google’s Android wants to “kill” the iPhone, and likely the Windows Mobile team does as well. They have to if they want any hope to be competitive. No doubt the iPhone G4/4.0 team at Apple wants to kill the iPhone 3GS/3.0 as well. That is one of the keys to Apple’s success.

AndroidCentral’s Casey Chan

Week 3 had Casey Chan, editor of AndroidCentral.com share his thoughts on the iPhone 3GS, and forget the conclusion, he starts with the bang:

Ah, the iPhone. For better or worse, the iPhone has become the starting point for many consumers looking to buy a smartphone. In a sense, it’s become the standard for everyone to measure themselves against. Because of its position at the forefront of consumer’s minds and the fact that it’s in everyone’s pocket, that’s completely fair. But because of Apple’s sometimes senseless decisions in dealing with all things iPhone, it leaves the rest of us a little uneasy.

Our own Chad Garrett likes to say the iPhone is the first smartphone for everyone upgrading from the RAZR and there’s some truth to that. With the iPhone, Apple mainstreamed the smartphone — they took it from a power device for power users with a powerful requirement for tweaking, managing, and messing around with, and carefully packaged a subset of important features for the masses. That means that, for any particular user — and especially for a power user — there’s a high chance that subset doesn’t include an important feature.

That’s Apple’s modus operandi, however. They’d rather start limited and add slowly. They’d rather leave something out completely than add in something they don’t think just works well enough. They’re masters of always leaving something else on the table for the next update. And they’re laser-focused on those features they consider essential for the user they’re targeting.

And yes, it drives us all nuts, even as they’ve sold 70,000 devices on the iPhone OS platform and used it to familiarize everyone with the next-step in multitouch iPhone OS UI — the iPad.

CrackBerry.com’s Kevin Michaluk

Week 4 was our best frenemy forever, CrackBerry.com‘s own Kevin Michaluk and he embraces the same yin/yang theory about iPhone/BlackBerry as TiPb:

I’ve said it many times over the past two years, be it in blog posts, on our CrackBerry podcast, or to individuals asking advice on what device to buy, that if you want the absolute no-compromise best smartphone solution that you keep a BlackBerry in one pocket and an iPhone (or iPod Touch) in the other. Though both Apple, RIM and every other manufacturer and platform in the smartphone space for that matter have the aim of developing the one device you need (in other words they’re trying to be both Yin and Yang), I still think as of now it takes two devices to have Best of Class everything. A device like the BlackBerry Bold 9700 is the ultimate communication and productivity tool, which excels in areas that matter both in enterprise (security, deployment, IT management) and to people who run their business and their lives depending on the phone, maximizing every minute of their day (one-handed speed of use, battery life, push everything, etc.). Apple hit the market with a compelling touchscreen experience that’s both intuitive and enjoyable to use that fits into the Apple ecosystem of products and services (ie. iTunes) and took it to the next level by causing a revolution in the mobile app space. So while the BlackBerry is still the ultimate communication / utilty tool, the iPhone arguably remains the ultimate convergence device.

Kevin being Kevin, however, he can’t resist tweaking us either. The Man who, in the first year called the iPhone 2G the iSmudge (before BlackBerry copied its black and silver design) and in the second year called it the Ah Frak Phone (on the eve of the BlackBerry Storm launch no less), decided this year he’d call the iPhone 3GS the douchebag phone (he owns one — as do almost all the Smartphone Experts editors).

NokiaExperts’ Matt Miller

Week 5 closed things out with NokiaExperts.com‘s Matt Miller, who like Dieter is a multi-handset mobile gadgeteer with a lot of experience and a global point of view. His take:

As a guy who has used every smartphone operating system I am also quite frustrated with the iPhone OS because I know Apple can do better as they have shown glimpses of in the past. One of the main things people mention with the iPhone OS compared to other smartphone operating systems is the lack of multi-tasking with 3rd party applications. [...] Personally, the major thing I want to see in the next version of the iPhone OS is support for some kind of Today or status screen where I can put widgets or parts of applications on a single screen so my key information is glanceable without having to dive into applications. [...] Another area I would like to see addressed is notifications. Palm’s webOS and Google Android have the best implementation of notifications while the iPhone’s is pretty poor.

Setting aside that these are some of the most popular reasons people still Jailbreak their iPhones, Matt (and the other editors who took similar issue with iPhone functionality) will likely find many TiPb readers agreeing with him, yours truly included. Only built-in Apple apps can multitask, only your latest push message is shown on the Lock Screen (if you haven’t already dismissed it), and that same one message/dismissal is the crux of the notification problem.

This brings everything sharply into focus. Apple prides itself on making software “5-years ahead of the competition” (see iPhone virtual keyboard). They would rather not provide a solution than provide one that they don’t think answers the problem simply and elegantly (see cut, copy, and paste appearing only in iPhone 3.). They would rather provide a highly focused subset of functionality for the mainstream than to check off every power-user want (see everything all of us, er… want). Every version of the iPhone adds features that were considered “missing” to the previous version, either as technology and development resources allow, or Apple deems us sufficiently learned on what came before, and sufficiently motivated to buy what’s next.

So, if RAM and CPU are at the level where multitasking will almost never crash the Phone app and Apple decides they have the UI for it they want, if Dashboard goes mobile but can remain uncluttered and Apple-esque in execution and DashCode joins the iPhone SDK, if… well, given the rapid rise of push notifications, there’s no if — we need better alert handling — we just might get some or all of these things in iPhone 4.0.

Conclusion… Coming Soon

Week 6 is my turn. The iPhone 3GS comes home to TiPb and given everything every other editor has written about it, and everything I’ve written about the Nokia, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone, and Palm webOS, I have to re-examine and re-review the iPhone 3GS.

While that may not be conclusive, it will be TiPb’s conclusion for this year.

Apple’s third iPhone meets CrackBerry Kevin’s third iPhone review, exclusively in the 2009 Smartphone Round Robin. Year one he called it the iSmudge. Then they got the Storm. Year two he called it the Ah **** phone. Then they got the Storm. (Joking. Not.) What’s he calling the iPhone and iPhone users this year?

Yeah, it ain’t pretty. But he’s also calling the iPhone the yin to his yang, the night to his day, the left pocket to his right pocketed BlackBerry, the… you get the idea. (We got it too.)

All credit for what little progress he’s made goes to our outstanding TiPb forum members, who learned him as much as any CrackBerry addict-in-chief can really be learned.

If you want to win an iPhone 3GS of your very own, you can still enter once a day on his thread, or any of the previous Round Robin threads in our forum. And for all the other videos, reviews, and contest threads (there are 6 smartphones up for grabs after all!) keep your browsers locked on smartphoneroundrobin.com!)

Now go read Kev’s review, then come back here and tell us whether you agree or disagree, and why!

Yesterday CrackBerry Kevin had a little funny at TiPb’s expense with their “Confessions” post of a Ruby Park strip. Fine. Two can play at that game. Above, via PvPonline, is the new official response to anyone bringing a BlackBerry into a “just works” place. B’okay?

I wasn’t at CES with CrackBerry Kevin and Smartphone Expert Dieter. I was at Macworld getting, you know, iPhone news. But even TiPb couldn’t ignore the Pre and it’s former-iPod/iPhone team designed goodness. So tempting is the Pre, in face, that we suspect iPhone and BlackBerry loyalists alike might stray from the fold to at least try it out come launch day (whenever that is). So, the question becomes, what to call them roving polygadetists? What matches up with CrackBerry or the Jesus Phone?

CrackBerry Kevin has been using Pre-Jects for a while now. TiPb has thrown around Pre-Verts. We’ve even carried the argument over to the Twitter (@reneritchie and @crackberrykevin — just don’t tell @backlon!)

Are we being Pre-Mature about the whole thing? Or Pre-sumptuous in not letting you, or much smarter and better looking commenters choose the name? We’ve even set up a handy, dandy poll in the forums.

UPDATE: Ah hellz ya! Dieter has got him a rebuttal going on over at PreCentral.net! Let’s get it on!

We can just feel CrackBerry.com‘s Kevin preening over news: Biggest. Jump. Since. Mayer.

Yep, U2 has left the warm embrace of Apple (though Product Red iPods no doubt remain) for the harsh corporate sponsorship of RIM. Of course, they flirted briefly with Dell first, and Bono’s Elevation Partners are huge backers of Palm — though according to PreCentral.net they likely needed to spend their cash on far more serious things, like bringing the Pre to market… Still:

“This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans. We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds.”

Kevin already called it “sloppy thirds” on our behalf (thanks!) and while Apple is continuing to discover fresh new talent with every iTunes/iPod ad, RIM keeps just going where Apple’s long gone from. Wait, do we sense a trend here?

It’s with the utmost respect and joy that we get to wish our sibling site, and public frenemies number one over at CrackBerry.com, a wonderful, wacky, cracky second birthday. From 7000 word reviews, to net-breaking first looks at the latest/greatest devices, to forums so big they now scare small nations, CrackBerry Kevin and his team have put together something special — a real community.

Congrats everyone. For today and today only, in honor of your turning two, we’ll say it loud — we’re Cracky and Proud!

And since Kevin and CrackBerry.com don’t know from understated, you gotta know they have more birthday contests running than you could shake a Storm at. Go forth and check them out, win some prizes, and party hardy.

Happy birthday!

Form-factor-palooza continues! During the iPhone Round Robin, our best frenemy CrackBerry Kevin spoke extensively about his desire for an iPhone Pro:

know a big part of the iPhone philosophy is to keep it simple, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to be a little more complicated, and luckily, tagging a product with “Pro” at the end covers the reduced intuitiveness of a professional device. At the bottom of the iPhone is a single home button. How about we toss a little Apple key to the left of it? Maybe when you hit that button you could get a few basic functions to pop up on the display… maybe like copy and paste? While we’re at it, let’s add a little back button to the right of that home key. The lack of a back key on the iPhone is one of my BIGGEST irks of all – you have to learn within each app the correct way to tap “back” to a previous menu (time waster). The most unified/simplistic means of getting back is via a back button. I know this is something that even iPhone fans (Rene, I’m looking at you) would like to see. Maybe add the ability to edit office docs natively – it’s not something one typically does on a smartphone all that often (more likely to view than to edit), but sometimes “Pro” users do have to make changes on the go. And last but not least, give it a flashing red light. In other words, make it more like a BlackBerry!

Seems he’s not alone, though Gizmodo certainly takes it to another level entirely: enter the slider! (Or re-enter, as we heard rumors of the iSlider back in July…) It’s not TiPb’s cup of tea. We’re still predicting an iPhone HD, but sans-slider. We highly doubt it’s something Apple would ever consider either, but we’re sure it would appeal to at least some of the HTC Pro/G1 crowd.

What do you think? Does the iPhone need it a big @$$ keyboard for 2009?

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Our Public Frenemy Number One continues his assault on the iPhone blog! Not only did Kevin post his video preview of the iPhone 3G, spend time on our forums learning what abuse really is, and even joined in for our iPhone Live! Podcast, he’s gone and done a near epic 7500 word iPhone 3G full, final review.

Fanboy much?

But what did he think of it? Did the man with two-tic-tactile thumbs-of-fury learn how to type on glass? Did he master the Super Monkey Ball? Did he get lost browsing “just the internet”? And did he finally, fully restore his childlike sense of wonder, something years of BlackBerrius Pusheruptus all but productivity’d out of him?

Check out his review to find out (hint: he calls it the Ah Frak Phone!), post a Crackberry.com comment for a chance to win the BlackBerry Bold, and post your thoughts on Kevin’s thoughts right here for a chance to win an iPhone 3G.

What? You want MORE chances to win? Head on over to the Crackberry.com forums to help me out with the Bold (the touchscreen isn’t working!) and then hit TiPb’s iPhone forums to give TreoCentral’s Jennifer a hand — she’s got the iPhone 3G this week!

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Background Reading

• TiPb’s 2008 iPhone Holiday Helper Gift Guide
• Kevin’s iPhone Gift Pick: Blueant Supertooth 3 Bluetooth Speakerphone
• CEOh-Snap! RIM Boss: Touchscreens Stink — Let’s iClone One!
• CrackBerry.com BlackBerry Storm coverage
• TiPb’s BlackBerry Storm coverage
• Smartphone Experts Round Robin

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat, or sent in questions!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

The iPhone 3G drives Crackberry Kevin nuts, no doubt about it. Sure, he likes a few aspects of it, including the inimitable App Store, but the push buzz when he’s talking, the lack of a back (button, that is), and a million other things add up to make him officially re-dub the device the Ah-[Redacted] phone.

While WMExpert Dieter kept hammering away about the openess of the platform, Crackberry Kevin focuses more on BlackBerry-type productivity. But that’s the beauty of the Round Robin — we get so many looks at so many different devices/platforms from so many different points of view.

Coming from a turbo tactile typing, push email addiction like the BlackBerry Bold, does Kevin have some legitimate gripes? Or is this just a case of post-Storm-FAIL sour grapes?

Confession: many of the things he picks on, we’ve complained about numerous times on TiPb already. But we’re allowed to offer constructive criticism about our beloved device. Can CrackBerry get away with it?

NOT. Head on over to CrackBerry.com and let him know what you think before El Jobso himself decides to call Public Frenemy #1 up and give him a little Apple-powered “Skidoosh!” You could even win a BlackBerry Bold for your trouble!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

CrackBerry Kevin is a productivity machine, no doubt about it. When he’s not literally typing the plastic off his BlackBerry Bold keyboard, he’s simultaneously answering 87 emails, browsing 64 websites, exchanging half-a-nation worth of PIN messages, and running his trackball in 9 directions with both feet!

Well, this week our best frenemy has to put his addictive little messaging monster aside and immersed himself in a smartphone about as different as a smartphone can be: The iPhone 3G.

We here at TiPb know it might take Kevin a while to break out of his BlackBerry bonds and slip into some next generation iPhone duds, and he knows it too — he’s asking for your help in our forums!

Remember, each day you reply to his questions, you get another chance to win an iPhone 3G and accessories!

(And if by chance you want to win an HTC FUZE, or an Android G1, Palm Treo Pro, or BlackBerry Bold, be sure to hit up every Smartphone Expert site!)