RIM announces Wi-Fi capable BlackBerry

According to a May 16 announcement by RIM CEO Jim Balsillie, BlackBerry cell phones equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities will be available later in 2007.

This official announcement will be good news for the many BlackBerry aficionados wanting to make their favorite home-away-from-home (or office-away-from-office) device more productive in more places.

While rumors about a Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry have been floating around for a few years, other cell phone manufacturers - like Nokia and Motorola - began offering Wi-Fi-capable models to the wireless public as early as 2006.

Speaking at the JP Morgan Technology Center, Balsillie hinted at the cause of this slight delay on RIM’s part:

“Wi-Fi was over-hyped. I was not a big believer in it for the first two or three years because it was hyped as something that would subsume everything, that you would get rid of your cell phone. We feel it’s complementary of a cell phone” said Balsillie.

So, while we look up “subsume,” we’ll be eagerly awaiting the WiFi BlackBerry cell phone.