Network World's Joanie Wexler has an interesting theory.

Wexler suggests that the because the BlackBerry 7270 Wireless Handheld runs with an 802.11b radio than via a cellular radio, the device could rival SpectraLink's WiFI VoIP solutions.

If BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion is real serious about competing with SpectraLink, Wexler makes the point that some "known vulnerabilities" need to be addressed in the 7270.

These vulnerabilities are part and parcel of the 64 and 128-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy security protocols the 7270 runs on- a solution that is seen as inferior to the Wi-Fi Protected Access-2 802.11 security extension now supported by SpectraLink handsets.

RIM may be planning another strategy to close the security gap. Wexler quotes RIM Director of WLAN Solutions Eric Ritter as saying that RIM is testing several versions of the Extensible Authentication Protocol, all of which falls uner the IEEE 802.1x framework.