• New York Times, Wall Street Journal , Thursday, October 30, 2008 10:45 AM

In the midst of all the economic carnage -- including layoffs of the corporate types who have been tethered to email and sports alerts 24/7 -- the smartphone wars not only continue unabated but also seem to be gathering momentum. Not to be outdone by Apple's second-generation iPhone or Google's first iteration of a Google Android, Research in Motion's BlackBerry is coming out with three new models for the T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon networks, respectively.

David Pogue reviews two of them this morning -- the BlackBerry Bold 9000 ($300 with a two-year AT&T contract) and the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 ($150 with a two-year T-Mobile contract). The BlackBerry Storm, which will be the first BlackBerry with a touch screen, will soon be launched out of Verizon.

Handicappers who have been viewing the battle as a slugfest between the beauty of Apple and the brawn of Google are ignoring the tenacity of R.I.M. at their own risk, it turns out. Email continues to be the strength of the BlackBerry gizmos, Pogue writes, but they bring other endearing qualities to the battle also - although music and video benefits are not among them.

"Are they best of breed?" Pogue asks. "You betcha," he concludes. The gauntlet is dropped.

One wounded warrior, Motorola, announced that it shipped 25.4 million handset units in the third quarter -- a 32% drop -- as it continues its tumble from its one-time perch as industry leader, according to the Journal.

Sanjay Jha, who became Motorola's cell phone chief and co-CEO in August, has begun overhauling the struggling division. But he says plans to separate Motorola into two separate companies will be delayed from the third quarter of 2009 "due to the macroeconomic environment, stresses in the financial markets and the changes underway in mobile services." ;

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