When Mercedes says they want you to get personal with your car, they mean it. Recently Mercedes-Benz USA and Hughes Telematics, Inc. launched mbrace, which brings an unprecedented level of connectivity to Mercedes-Benz drivers and allows them to customize their in-vehicle experiences.

The system allows drivers to connect with their vehicles via an iPhone or BlackBerry, and remotely lock or unlock their vehicles, locate them in crowded parking lots or city streets through a map and much more.

So you’ve put off that purchase of a Blackberry, right? You’ve been waiting for a deal. Well, don’t wait any longer than next week. That’s when Walmart shoppers will be given a $100 gift card if they purchase nearly any BlackBerry phone on a 2-year contract from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless.

The offer starts at 8AM local time this Saturday and is in effect through November 20th.

One of the things that has many iPhone users angered is that while the iPhone has tethering capability, AT&T has blocked the feature. I can only imagine how angry the users would be if they had been able to tether the iPhone for years and the feature was cancelled without notice. Sprint has done just that for some of its customers.

A poster going by kevinapg has posted at the Sprint Blogs that the ability to tether his Blackberry handset has been blocked. The poster states that for years tethering has been supported through the Sprint Smartview software.

The first BlackBerry watch is almost here, and it turns out that RIM really did decide to outsource it’s production. The inPulse Smartwatch for BlackBerry is being produced by Allerta, and will use Bluetooth for incoming emails, text messages and other alerts from your handset to your wrist.

Some specs include a 1.3-inch OLED display, glass lens, full metal body, vibrating motor, microUSB port and a rechargeable battery that will last about four days of “normal use.” inPulse users will need to install a special BlackBerry application to pass along information, but you won’t be able to use your watch to actually send messages. It’s available for pre-order right now at $149, and they should start shipping in February.

Remember that rumor about RIM working on a Bluetooth watch to accompany its phones? Well looky here. We may now have the first real renderings of the final product. It may be called the “inPulse” and it features an OLED display, real-time message preview, and probably caller ID.

Looks like the watch isn’t being developed by RIM. Instead, work has been farmed out to a company dedicated to the BlackBerry aftermarket. An official announcement is coming “soon.” Thing is, Bluetooth watches haven’t been great sellers, but maybe more compatibility with the Blackberry is the trick.

mSpot isn’t new. It has been streaming full-length movies to cellphones for a few years. Now however, the company has a potential customer base of 40 million. Mobile phone users on Sprint, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile (including the G1, Pre, iPhone and other smartphones) can go to m.mspot.com to stream movies.

The service is on-demand, so you can also pause and restart them whenever you want. How about that? They have deals with Paramount Studios, Universal and the Weinstein Company, and it looks like more agreements will happen shortly.

Not that it’s much of a secret, but this is the first official image of RIM’s latest BlackBerry smartphone, the BlackBerry “Bold 9700″ or Onyx from T-Mobile. You get a high-gloss black finish with leather grain detail on the back.

Some other features include high-speed 3G Web browsing, Wi-Fi calling, visual voicemail and support for corporate and personal e-mail. The phone also comes preloaded with mobile applications from BlackBerry App World, including Amazon MP3 store for music downloads and TeleNav GPS Navigator for turn-by-turn directions.

Zeemote’s Bluetooth mobile phone controller for Blackberry is now available and is a much better way to game than using a trackball. As a standalone Bluetooth game controller, it helps to make mobile gaming a lot easier and closer to the gaming we’re used to on other platforms.

Until now, the Zeemote JS1 was only sold in bundled kits. But now you can get it as a standalone purchase directly through RIM’s accessory shop. The controller will cost you $39.99. So now that it’s available, are you interested in buying one?

If you are considering picking up a BlackBerry, why not get two while you are at it? Verizon is kicking off their “Buy One, Get One” promotion. Apparently the deal covers not only a second BlackBerry but a netbook, PC card, USB modem or MiFi.

As is usually the case, you’re getting the cheapest item free and it’s rebate-based, so you will have to pay for both devices and then wait with baited breath for your check to arrive in the mail. Apparently the promotion starts today and runs through until October 10th.

This remains a rumor until we get something more concrete, but in an informal interview, a RIM executive strongly hinted that the BlackBerry line will be getting a front-facing camera for videoconferencing in early 2010. And they aren’t worried about the iPhone.

The mystery exec said, ““video conferencing is something that could completely change the mobile landscape and it is something we have been thinking about and working on for quite some time. You will start seeing something early next year”. It makes perfect sense, so we have no reason to doubt it. Are you looking forward to some videoconferencing?

Zeemote has announced a version of their Bluetooth gaming controller for BlackBerry smartphones. The Zeemote JS1 is compatible with all BlackBerrys that have a trackball, and connects wirelessly for over fifty hours of battery-powered gameplay.

You get four action buttons and a thumbstick and it isn’t just for games. It can also be used to navigate the BlackBerry’s menus. That should help you BB users get your game on. It runs on two AAA batteries. The Zeemote JS1 for BlackBerry will be available this summer, in a bundle that includes a free Gameloft title.

When it comes to smartphones the Blackberry line form RIM are among the most popular devices out there right next to the iPhone and the hoards of Android devices hitting the market. Blackberry has been busy unveiling new devices lately with the announcement of the Tour this month and now the official unveiling of the Curve 8520.

RIM has announced a new Blackberry smartphone called the Curve 8520. The device is similar to the other Curve smartphones we have seen before with a 2-megapixel camera with video capability, 256MB of flash memory, and a full QWERTY keyboard.

In many states a Bluetooth headset or hands free kit are a requirement when using your phone and driving. In other areas headsets are merely a safer and more convenient way to talk while driving. The problem is that often we don’t have our Bluetooth headsets on us when we need them.

A new Blackberry Curve and Javelin specific Bluetooth headset is now available from Mogo Talk. The headset piggybacks on the Blackberry devices and charges there as well. A new back cover has the 5mm thick headset and charger integrated into the phone.

Many of you Mac users have been waiting for this news. RIM has been known for ignoring Mac support for its devices, but apparently no more. We’re talking a full-fledged Desktop Manager that supports Mac OS 10.5.5 and above.

We’re not yet sure when it launches. All we know is that it will be sometime in September. The bottom line here is that you will be able to do stuff like sync iTunes, add and remove apps, perform firmware updates, create backups and restore from them, and manage multiple BlackBerrys at the same time. That’s pretty big.

Life got much easier with the advent of tabbed browsing for desktop browsers. It’s something we take for granted, but how great is it that we don’t have to open up a bunch of windows on our computers? It would be great if you could do this on your BlackBerry.

Well, RIM is all set to introduce a similar feature in their upcoming operating system, the BlackBerry OS 5.0. In fact RIM has been working on getting tabbed browsing right since around 2007, so let’s hope they’ve finally nailed it. We’re hoping that it doesn’t affect BlackBerry speeds very much.