The Wall Street Journal has reported Research in Motion will be holding a press conference next Tuesday to unveil its new BlackBerry. All indications are the once darling of the executive class will be trying to catch up to the field by introducing a touch screen model, capable of pinching and scrolling thru features, and will be sporting a slide out keyboard, just like the modern big boys.

BlackBerry loyalists will probably appreciate the new features, but the whole world will be watching and some will be holding their breath that this won’t be a repeat of the Storm disaster. That’s really not fair, as the Storm was a good phone, it just came to the party late and was pretty much “ho-hum” by the time it was introduced.

RIM needs a hit to regain a grip on a market it once dominated. Can they do it? Tune in next Tuesday and we’ll see what we see.

Today we are bombarded with communications from others both welcomed or unsolicited, and many expect us to always be available.  Do you welcome this or is it a source of conflict, a source of stress perhaps?  For me, while I do appreciate being able to talk with my wife when necessary, there is a desire for me to not be bothered otherwise.

Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!

Today’s JAMM Store Deal of the Day is MobileNavigator 7 North America for Windows Mobile.  You can register MobileNavigator for half the regular price ($39.60 ), so be sure to check it out.

You can download a trial and/or register your copy here.

The folks at PhatWare have been hard at work keeping up with all the updates and releases from Apple and today have unveiled a new version of PhatNotes to do just that.

PhatNotes is the first iPhone and iPod Touch notes organizer to offer WritePad handwriting recognition technology for text input in addition to keyboard entry as well as full synchronization with PhatNotes Desktop software.

5 Top New Features in PhatNotes 2.0

• - Optimized for the iPhone OS 4.0, and uses new OS features to improve usability, performance, and appearance of the application.
• - Features the latest version of WritePad handwriting recognition technology, including inline gestures, improved spell checker, custom menu commands, and more.
• - The new User Reminders (alarms) feature no longer requires an Internet connection to create and receive alarms.
• - The new Styles feature allows users to change the note editor appearance by manipulating text, page and ink colors, and fonts.
• - Updated graphics, including the new application icon, provides improved appearance on devices with high-resolution screens.

PhatNotes for iPhone is sold exclusively in the iTunes App Store and is priced at $9.99. Check for any free upgrade offers if you are a previous user.

Security in a digital age has never been more important.  With the rise of interconnected networks, our computers are linked to the world and not merely to those computers in our own country even.  Security patching is a must and for those who don’t, they face the wrath of hackers and thieves.  We all know the lock and key concept – but now we must take this to the digital age.  Game companies such as Blizzard as well as financial institutions including PayPal have already implemented a form multifactor authentication that involves not only passwords (something you know) but also a token (something you have) which generates a random number based on time and a specific algorithm.  This is probably the one of the most effective means of authentication as even if you have a password, you still need the physical/biometric key.  If you have only the key, that still will do you no good unless you have the password.  With that, let’s take this security method to the masses.  PhoneFactor is one such company. 

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