Wi-Fi Networking News' Glenn Fleishman picks up on news from eWeek which reports that James Balsillie, co-CEO of Research in Motion, says dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular BlackBerry devices will be available before the end of the year.

"The addition of Wi-Fi will be a boon to hotspot operators," Fleishman writes. "There are approximately 5m BlackBerry subscribers as of late in 2005. While those users won't convert en masse, if RIM adds features that work better with more bandwidth, Wi-Fi service plans would almost certainly be cheaper than corresponding EvDO/HSDPA plans."

And in the eWeek article, Wayne Rash says RIM will be adding everything including the kitchen sink to the next generation of BlackBerry devices. "Balsillie also said that RIM would be introducing new features to BlackBerry devices, including MP3 players, video, memory expansion and image capture, very soon," he writes. "In addition, he said that GPS would be included in virtually all BlackBerry devices."