Recent data from comScore suggests that RIM controls 43% of the smartphone market in the US. The data has been collected from November 2009 to January 2010, and suggests that there are 42.7 million smartphones users in the US. According to these numbers, you would expect over 18 million people to be using a BlackBerry in the US during the period recorded. Another interesting data point relates to the growth rate during this period.

According to comScore, BlackBerry grew by 1.7% from November to January, while Apple only climbed 0.3%. These numbers are vastly different than the global growth rates recorded by IDC. Analyst market share reports are continually coming out and it’s always important to take notice of how the data is collected before running to the bank with these numbers.

Since the release of the BlackBerry Presenter and the announcement of the iPad I’ve been thinking more about mobile word processing. Until now I was satisfied just using the notepad and email functions to export the note-taking I do on my BlackBerry, onto my desktop. When iPad’s iWork word processing got debuted, I started thinking about how great it would be to get advanced word-processing features on my text-nimble BlackBerry.

After some testing I found myself wondering why bold, italics, and basic text formatting aren’t part of the BlackBerry experience. I would love it if I could compose BBMs or emails in bold, italics, and strikethroughs.

Here are some of the solutions I tried. Both had about as much ease of purchase and registration as any game or theme, which was surprising for such valuable mobile utilities.

eOffice 4.6 by DynoPlex Inc

eOffice offers a suite of editors and a great UI for handling the sharing, accessing, and storage of all your documents. I was pleasantly surprised to the file-management system so well-laid out for a mobile app. Having the phone memory, media card, google docs, an included online “Virtual Drive”, and PC Desktop access all available from the app’s file selection menu.

eOffice 4.6 has a great menu system for accessing the word processing features. Press the menu button and up comes a hierarchical, menu with more features and formatting than you would expect for a mobile word processor. From here you can access the file menu, fonts, formatting, tools, view, and zoom options.

I found eOffice to be elegantly designed for the mobile, it had all of the features I wanted, and saved the more advanced stuff for the desktop. I was able to seamlessly open word and excel files from my email, edit them on the go, and loved what I saw when I got back to my desktop word processor.

eOffice is feature-filled and well-priced at $29.95, pick up your copy today.

Documents To Go Premium Edition 2.0 by DataViz

Instead of an all-in one office suite, Documents To Go has instead opted for separate apps and good BlackBerry menu integration. DataViz has also developed something called InTact technology which insures that you have 100% document fidelity while editing on your device.

Documents To Go also has a file-loading app called Documents To Go Files. This app allows you to access documents on your device or remotely access your files on your PC. I look at this tool as an advanced out of office tool. Being able to access the stuff you don’t even plan on accessing when you leave the office has got to be the most subtle killer app I can think of. It’s also got a great PDF viewer to round out this professional suite of viewers and editors.

I like how Documents To Go handles the difference between viewing and editing. When you open a document from email or through browsing files, you’ll be asked if you’d like to simply view or edit the document. Seems like something small but I like how the concepts are separate within the same software. I’ve pocket dialed enough people in my time that I’d rather not pocket edit something important from work.

Documents To Go is available for $49.99, pick up your copy today.

Nimbuzz is a free IM app that features quite a few clients such as AIM, Google Talk, MSN, Skype as well as Facebook. They let us know that the app has been updated, with the connection issue for OS 5.0 resolved. Features include:

• Runs in background.
• Connects all your friends: Put all your friends in one place, check their status updates, and chat right from the buddy list.
• Home screen notifications: You wont miss anything, a red dot will show up on the letf corner of your screen everytime you get a new message.
• Auto-reconnects: for switching between 3G, 2G and Wifi networks.
• “Clickable” URL’s: Share links and websites with your friends! No need to retype web addresses.
• Sound profiles – your notifications can be customized, so you can make them personal.
• Save money on text messages with free Nimbuzz to Nimbuzz messaging.
• Free!

Try Nimbuzz in App World.

Reports and a photo of Sprint Nextel Inc.’s first WiMax smartphone, code-named Supersonic, have surfaced, but the company has not yet confirmed the device.

Sprint Nextel Inc. officials enticed reporters at CES in early January with comments that its first WiMax-enabled smartphone was coming later in 2010, partly to show the value of the emerging next-generation wireless network.

Phonenews.com said Supersonic, built by HTC, has a 4.3-inch capacative touchscreen, FM radio, and includes HTC’s acclaimed Sense user interface atop Android 2.1 mobile OS. The design is said to be based on the HTC HD series and MAX 4G sold in Russia.

The smartphone will feature a Snapdragon processor running at a fast 1GHz like Google’s recently launched Nexus One, also built by HTC. Some commenters have noted that Snapdragon does not currently work with WiMax, but perhaps some future iteration could.

Sprint officials could not be reached to comment on the latest report of the Supersonic.

If Sprint does launch a WiMax touchscreen smartphone like the Supersonic it will be seen as big boost for Sprint’s fast WiMax network, several analysts noted. While WiMax speeds of between 3 and 6 Mbit/sec have been touted by Sprint and other for two years, few devices other than laptop cards have surfaced to take advantage of the wireless technology. Sprint doesn’t even refer to WiMax very much in its marketing materials, referring to the speed it offers as 4G, partly to draw attention to slower 3G speeds being touted by the largest two carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Both Verizon and AT&T are launching a competing 4G standard called LTE this year and next.

At CES, Sprint announced the Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot that will work with WiMax networks, where available, to bring 3 to 6 Mbit/sec speed to the wireless router and distribute the signal to five devices via Wi-Fi.

Overdrive went on sale Jan. 10 at Sprint and Best Buy stores for $100 after a $50 rebate, plus a two-year contract that runs $60 a month. For that monthly cost, customers get unlimited 4G downloads. Where 4G is not available, downloads will be limited to 5GB of data per month on 3G networks.

Sprint also announced at CES that it will be the wireless provider for the upcoming Skiff e-reader, but launch date and other details were not announced.

This is a great story of thinking out of the box I found recently online - local Nashville company making it happen.

As the owners of Water Impressions found out, the bottle is worth more than the water:

The company, originally called Tennessee Branch Water, started out as a five-gallon bottle and cooler service that they purchased from its retiring owner. The Grahams had been customers of the water service for several years. They decided to buy the distribution rights from the owners, but they realized within a year that they could fill a niche in custom-labeled, half-liter bottles.

“We thought, ‘Well shoot, if we can put our label on it, we can put anybody’s logo and label on it,’” Debbi Graham said.

They now estimate that nearly 80 percent of their annual revenue is generated from the sales of cases of bottled water printed with a company or organization’s logo.

What is custom labeling? They explain:

Custom labeling with Water Impressions allows businesses and organizations to advertise through a high-quality product that increases their public exposure and explores alternative revenue sources. You provide the logo and color scheme and our designers will quickly create a custom label for your company or organization. Some businesses offer the water as a complimentary gift to clients while others sell the water to immediately increase revenues. Either way, custom labeling with Water Impressions is a valuable, innovative advertising opportunity.

If your company already offers bottled water, why sell water with someone else’s logo? For just a few more pennies, or in some cases for the same amount, you can sell water with your logo and business information. Many businesses that offer bottled water that is not selling well have found their bottled water business skyrockets with custom labeling.