Andrew Douglas B2B journalist, turned PR man, specializing in new media.

iPhone killer coming soon from RIM

Finally, there's hope. In fact, I can almost smell victory. Soon, the smartphone crown...

Will.

Be.

Mine.

In the hard-fought smartphone war pitting my wife and her iPhone 3GS against me and my BlackBerry Bold, I'm left standing alone. The kids have long since abandoned me for Anne and her fancy apps. I'm left with the weak, "but it types way better" argument.

But not anymore.

Check out these pics, courtesy of Engadget:

Touchscreen!?! And a keyboard! Cool-looking but with BlackBerry business-class power! Whoooahhhhh. Life is good.

My wireless contract is almost up and I'm due for an upgrade. I won't be able to sleep tonight. These leaked pictures of the new BlackBerry 9800, a.k.a. "The Slider", with an all-new OS too, are just what I need. No word yet when it will be released or what its real name will be but don't worry, I'll be first in line.

Soon we'll see who the kids love most, won't we Anne.

Finally, podcasts land advertising dollars

My footsteps fall lighter on the ground when my thumb is spinning the wheel on my iPod. Walking isn't drudgery when I have my podcast friends to keep me company.

I'm even willing to pay -- a little -- to keep my friends happy. After all, they're important to me. I love podcasts so much that I don't listen to the radio anymore, even in the car, where I now plug my iPod into my car's sound system. I'm like everyone else in this digital world: I want choice and I want it right now -- whether it's a sermon from an obscure pastor in Australia, a funky sports roundtable discussion, or political jokes on NPR.

But nothing is free and I've been worrying that content owners would pull the plug on my podcasts unless they started making back some coin.

In fact, last year I even emailed one of my favourites, Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown, and told them I'd be okay if they started inserting one 30-second ad per half-hour. It wouldn't be worth it for people to fish their iPods out of their pockets to scroll past the ad and it would add an incentive for the station posting the podcast-version of the radio show.

Alas, nothing.

Until now.

I just got back from a walk with The-Best-Border-Collie-Ever. I was listening to a new friend, Political Gabfest, featuring journalists from Slate.com. Midway through the half-hour show, the host broke from the banter and started an awkward, two-minute advertorial for their sponsor, audible.com. During the advertorial, one of the panelists, Emily Bazelon, gave a warm review of a book she'd listened to from the sponsor.

Whew. I'm glad that someone is figuring out how to make these podcasts pay.

But yikes, I'm not sure who I feel about the columnists shilling so obviously for an advertiser. Why couldn't they just have inserted a good old fashioned 30-second ad?

I guess I still like to see journalists at least pretending that there is a wall between the advertising and editorial departments.

It's almost like we've got to figure out new rules with these new media. What's kosher and what isn't? Do the same guidelines that have ruled in the print journalism world hold in the digital realm? Should we demand the same level of editorial integrity from podcast broadcasters as we do from the folks on NPR or CBC?

I don't know. All I know is that at least one of my podcast friends is a little bit safer from the accountant's axe.

iPhone vs. BlackBerry

Typing on my BlackBerry Bold 9800 is so much easier than on my wife's iPhone 3GS. And that fact alone might make up for all its other downfalls.

We went head to head recently typing the famous opening line to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again." The rule was you weren't done until you'd typed the lines perfectly. I thumbed it on my BB.  Anne did the same on her iPhone. Then we switched -- I took her iPhone and gave her my BlackBerry.

Both times, the person on the BlackBerry typed 30 per cent faster than the person using the iPhone, even when using the unfamiliar device.

Now believe me, I love Anne's iPhone. It's a beautiful, powerful smartphone with a sweet interface and more apps than you could use in a lifetime. But for typing, it bites. Trying to hit the right key is frustrating and slow.

Anne is a very annoying iPhone owner. "Oh, does your phone not have an app for that?" she'll say sweetly. "Mine does." But in a moment of honesty, she admitted that the majority of the time she uses her iPhone as a phone or for email.

New iPhone 4G unveiled today. Still no keyboard.

I could write a long list of beefs I have with my BlackBerry -- like the fact that I'm so adept at doing a hard reboot by removing the battery that I bet I could do it blindfolded. Or the lack of apps. Or should we talk about the small screen?

But for keeping my inbox clean and moving projects along while I'm out of the office, give me my BlackBerry any day.