The warm temperatures in Chicago earlier this month belied the truism that the earth is getting warmer.

A BlackBerry Pearl-using BBHub reader took advantage of that relatively calm day to take a photo of the Chicago skyline from the vantage point of a nearby park.

You're looking at the photo now.

Did you happen to see The Wall Street Journal's piece today entitled "Apple iPhone Is No ReasonTo Hang Up on RIM Shares?"

I'd link to it except the article is subscriber-firewalled.

Anyhow the gist of the piece is that BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion's Pearl and forthcoming devices are priced far below the iPhone (think $199 and $299 vs. couple hundred dollars more), so that the Pearl has a leg up.

The piece also points out that BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion is "cozy" with more than 225 carriers worldwide.

The iPhone? They are cozy with one- Cingular, now being rebranded as AT&T.

A reader named Nick at BlackBerry Cool is especially observant these days.

He was on the Rogers Wireless support site and guess what he found.

A pull-down menu that leads to a page for the white BlackBerry Pearl.

Which can only mean one thing.

Coming real, real soon.

Now let's look at this image.

I just took this screen grab of the T-Mobile site's BlackBerry section.

Something's missing.

No white Pearl. Not yet.

Once again, we see a time gap between RIM and a carrier's joint announcement of a new handset, and its immediate availability- and its ability in the real world.

I suspect this will be fixed in a few days, if not a few hours.

But make with the click-y and I will show you the page at 11:10 a.m., nearly 12 hours after the official announcement crossed the wires:

Right after midnight ET this morning, RIM and T-Mobile formally announced the white BlackBerry Pearl. Low as $149.99 with rebates. That's $50 less than the "regular" Pearl.

Announcement is so new, not even linkable yet, so I will update with that as well as when official pictures become available later this a.m. Link below.

And I think you will like this pix.

It's now available at T-Mobile retail stores, authorized dealers, online (probably later today) at www.t-mobile.com, or by calling 1-800-T-MOBILE.

In addition to the "regular" Pearl features, there's a bunch of white accessoriesThe new white BlackBerry Pearl also comes with a complement of white accessories -- stereo headset, travel charger and USB cable -- that are included in the box.

As good as official without being official yet.

Not only that, but Boy Genius has posted some shots on his site.

The one up there in the upper right is the most straight-on to me.

But wait. Don't you want to see three others:

Over on my ZDNet IP Telephony/Convergence/Broadband (and occasionally license to write "big think") blog, I have been running a poll asking voters:

If you could win a free BlackBerry Pearl or iPhone, which would you want?

Obviously poll is not scientific but the readers really prefer the iPhone.

I mean REALLY prefer the iPhone.

Take a look by how much at the time of this post.

Travelin' today and tomorrow so service here might be a little on the light side.

Keeping the traveling theme intact, thinking of how cool it would be to be in Europe right now.

In a place like Barcelona, where BBHub reader administrador took out his BlackBerry Pearl 8100 and captured this photo of one of Spanish architect Gaudi's builings from Barcelona: Casa Mila, la Pedrera.

One lucky (though that may be a matter of dispute) eBay bidder now has a white BlackBerry Pearl headed his way.

He stepped up to the plate and forked over $1,025.00.

Poorer? Maybe a bit. But it's his money, so who are we to criticize? Listen, I write this from a Las Vegas hotel room where downstairs, people are spending a good bit more and getting nothing in return.

But at least winning bidder datasquid (cool user name BTW) has a new BlackBerry Pearl. A white one.

There is now a new version of the BlackBerry Pearl OS available from Cingular.

It is version 4.2.0.71.

I just was pointed to the post from Spamdumpster on Pinstack. Not a lot of comments yet on what changes there are in this OS.

I don't have a Pearl to try it out on, so if you try it out, let us know what's new. Nothing like a new OS for your BlackBerry to start off the new year.

Now if only we could get OS 4.2 for the 8700 series.

A friend just sent me a link to an eBay auction for the T-Mobile White Pearl.

I am not sure how much the White Pearl will be when T-Mobile finally unleashes it. Based on the current bid, there are at least a few people out there who want their White Pearl now.

Click on the Read link below to see the full auction listing. It is scheduled to end on January 9th.

Earlier today, mobile solutions developer Kodiak Networks said it has signed a global licensing agreement with Research In Motion to feature Push-to-Talk and other applications on the Cingular BlackBerry Pearl.

Here's what's going to be enabled, according to a press release from Kodiak:

• Availability - Instantly displays the current availability/status of friends, family, and business colleagues to receive a wireless call. Availability states include "Available," "Silent," "Do Not Disturb," and "Unavailable."
• Call Me Alerts - The ability to alert others that a user needs to talk and allows them to call back directly from the PTT button.
• Call Waiting - Allows users to easily accept voice calls and other PTT calls during an existing PTT session.
• Convert to Cellular - Enables BlackBerry Pearl customers to convert an individual or group PTT call instantly to a standard cellular call or instant mobile conference call at the touch of a button.
• Voice Messaging - Easily records and concurrently distributes voice messages to an individual or multiple voicemail boxes without ringing the called parties' telephones. Does not require the caller to remember telephone or PIN numbers.
• Contact List Privacy - Permission-based contact management. Users authorize which contact and group lists they join.

BlackBerry Forums Member ojrana has posted what he assures are two photos of the forthcoming white BlackBerry Pearl's back plate.

I have no reason to doubt him, but if he had 3,000- or even 300 BBForum posts to his credit I'd feel even more confident than I am with respect to the three posts he's made so far.

But enough about ojrana. You want to see the photos, right?

I'm not big on skateboarders on the sidewalk. They get in my way, hey hey.

But put 'em in skateparks and it is fun to watch 'em rip.

Sometimes the very act of them rippin' makes a fun photograph.

And if you have a Pearl, such as BBHub reader iswise "wisely" (baa boom ba bing) had with him a couple weeks back, well, why not.

Great timing iswise. And dude you really captured the concentration in your friend's eyes.

While the instructions I cited for removing the "Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld" tagline does not work on the Pearl, BBHub reader and ardent ham radio guy David Kozinn provides this solution for performing that action on the BlackBerry Pearl.

"On the Pearl, go into the messages list, and press the menu key (the one to the left of the trackball)," David advises. "Scroll down to and select "Options," then "Email Settings" and make sure that "Use Auto Signature" is set to "Yes." You'll then be able to change your signature.

But then David adds an important point.

"Note that this procedure applies if you are using a corporate BES server," he writes. "If you\'re using a BIS server (i.e., you have an email address like someone@carrier.blackberry.net), you have to change the setting on their website."