We just got done explaining how RIM strategically lopped $100 off the price of their BlackBerry Storm in order to compete with the iPhone. RIM’s strategy becomes clearer today, as they announced their latest iPhone-jabbing caper. Soon, CrackBerry addicts will get to use BlackBerry Desktop Software on their Mac computers.

Although it will not be available until September, the announcement was released on Monday, in the venue of Andrey’s blog post on the official Blackberry blog, “Inside Blackberry.” He explained, “we have all been hard at work here for a while now,” and promises the new “BlackBerry Desktop Software: Coming Soon to a Mac Near You!” The new software will be able to do everything that the PC version does: sync iTune playlists, calendars, notes, to-do lists, contacts, and applications, keep up with firmware updates and device backup.

The one interesting question about the whole setup is this: how common is the Mac-owning BlackBerry user? Generally, Apple loyalists will use a Macbook an iPhone, not a BlackBerry. As Andrey explains in the blog, “many of you…[were] saying “…this is great! But what about Mac?” Perhaps he knows of “many of you” who already use both. In this latest overture RIM should find out how much competition they can lure from iPhone.

This is not the first attempt that RIM has made to lure iPhone users and/or the Mac community using a piece of sync software. Late last year, they released “PocketMac” for Blackberry. It was a preview version of the BlackBerry Desktop Software allowing users to sync media. Back then, insiders promised enhanced Mac/RIM device compatibility in 2009.

Interested Mac/BlackBerry users can keep up with the soon-coming software on the “BlackBerry for Mac” page.

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Although Google Voice is still a members-only application, Google has developed and released handy mobile apps for Android and Blackberry phones.

This is, perhaps, a preparation for the wild success that Google anticipates enjoying once the by-invitation-only Google voice is available to all users. Currently, only early registrants of Grand Central and Google Voice have received their invitation to join the service, though millions have signed up and are waiting in line.

Google Voice portends to revolutionize phone life. While most phone users juggle a home phone, a cell phone, a work phone, and a few phones in-between, Google Voice compresses all those numbers, voicemails, and other features into a single, one-number package: Google Voice. By integrating all of your phones into Google Voice, you can accept calls placed to any one of those numbers from any phone you use.

Ironing Out the Bugs

Google voice is a cool concept, but it was a little cumbersome. The original set-up required an awkward dialing process through Google’s online interface, which would then ring the person being called. All that was a bit much for those accustomed to voice-activated Bluetooth sets.

Now, Google Voice users are entitled to easier calling placed directly from their phone. The calls must still be routed through the online interface, but this streamlining feature eliminates the need for the caller to log on to his or her Google Voice account merely to make a call.

Another erstwhile disappointing feature, now corrected, was the caller ID frustration. While it’s wonderful that Google Voice bundles all your phone numbers into a single, customized number, those who you called would still see any one of the various numbers you use. If the particular number was not in their contact list, they may recognize the caller. With the fix Google Voice will now display your official one-stop-shop Google number to those whom you call. Thus, the extreme convenience of your single telephone number is a feature that your contact list can enjoy, too. The single-identification number applies to text messages, too.

Google is nice about text messages. For mobile phone users who are required to pay an additional fee for sending and receiving SMS messages, Google voice bypasses these charges, since the messages are transmitted through Google’s system.

Features, features, everyone

Google Voice isn’t finished. They have plans, big plans, for making Google Voice a dominant force in telephony. Soon, international calls, number porting and a variety of other bells and whistles will render Google Voice a service that is hard to refuse.

And…uh…what about a Google Voice iPhone app? Apparently, they are still working on that.

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In an effort to dispel the swirling rumors of a price cut for Sony’s Play Station, Howard Stringer, Sony’s CEO, spoke out on rumor topics during his appearance at the Allen & Co conference in Idaho. Nor does Sony plan on selling hordes of shares to win through the slowdown. The rumors and urges for a PlayStation cost cut came from Activision Blizzard, Inc., a formidable video game publisher. Robert Kotick, Activiion’s CEO has threatened to cease production of PlayStation games if the console’s prices don’t drop.

The two companies, Sony and Activision, as businesses do, make moves that help stimulate and expand their business. “He likes to make a lot of noise,” was Stringer’s assessment of Kotick’s comments. “He’s putting pressure on me and I’m putting pressure on him.”

But for all the pressure, Stringer does not plan on lowering prices anytime soon. If he did Sony would “lose money on every PlayStation I make,” he said. And that is not something Stringer wants to do.

With a struggling U.S. market and only the faintest of glimmers on the horizon, Stringer is not in a mood for major risk-taking. He hopes that the appeal of a new trim design for the PlayStation 3 may be the fuel for higher sales—not lower prices.

Some of the more promising glimmers seem to be in Asia, with China specifically making promise of a quick rebound. “I see green shoots, but it’s a very light shade of green,” he explained, commenting on his upcoming recession panel participation.

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It’s good news for penny-pinching game lovers. Both Sony and Microsoft, developers of the Play Station and Xbox, respectively, are likely planning price cuts that will heighten competition and liven up the sagging gaming market. Ars Technica’s “inside source” claims that, in addition to the systems being available at a lower price, they will also be more powerful.

Don’t expect to go to Best Buy today and find a cheap Xbox. The price drops are not expected until this fall at the earliest. The cost-cut comes just in time for the holidays and just in time for some serious hardware upgrades for both Sony’s and Microsoft’s systems.

From the Microsoft corner, the Xbox 360 is going to receive the much-awaited standard upgrade to the ‘Elite’ model—a 120GB gaming machine that offers a few more perks than the less-powerful Xbox 360 Pro. Presently, the Xbox 360 Pro offers a 60 GB hard drive and retails for $299. The beefier Xbox 350 Elite comes with a $399 price tag, plus the roomier storage capability. If the rumors are correct, gamers can expect to purchase the sweeter Xbox at the lower price. The Pro may be phased out, giving way to the Elite as the standard Xbox.

Sony’s trick is, perhaps, a bit more exciting. Gamers have been salivating for months over the rumors of a PS3 Slim. The price cut plus the holiday season, plus a shrinking stock of PS3s (80GB version) may equal a drop in price of the 160GB PS3 and the release of PS3 Slim.

Although it’s all mere speculation at the time, the story goes something like this. If Sony keeps selling the 60GB PS3s at the rate they are currently, they will run out of them by early September. To replace them, the 160GB versions will be much more readily available. Thus, like the Xbox 360 maneuver, 160GB versions of the PS3 may become the garden variety PS3 by this fall—with a welcome price cut (maybe). To replace the phased-out 60GB model and up the ante for holiday-hungry consumers, the PS3 Slim just may make its debut (maybe).

Ars Technica’s conclusion is pretty confirmatory: “These moves all make sense: the systems are becoming less expensive to build, and hard drive space doesn’t cost much to add… although it does make a good story when you have more storage to offer consumers. With Microsoft selling entire games through Xbox Live, the Elite has become far more important.” Yet rumors are rumors, so you’ll have to keep tracking this one as real details are released.

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