I currently own the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone that I purchased in October 2007 just before my wife and I took a trip to Germany. This was a great phone to have on the trip as it gave us seamless phone connectivity while we were there.

Now RIM has introduced the new BlackBerry Tour 9630 which looks to be my next phone to replace the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition later this year.

I have many friends and business associates who have the Apple iPhone and think, like all Apple users, that it is the best there is on the planet. Although the iPhone has really cool apps (many toys) and folks love the touch screen to push them around on, I think that the RIM BlackBerry is still the better tool for doing business.

With the iPhone locked into only one cellular network, AT&T, what do you do if that network does not give you good coverage in your location? My BlackBerry 8830 is on Sprint which shares many locations with Verizon. You can buy and operate the BlackBerry on several networks here in the USA and overseas. I like that too.

Tell me what you think. Which phone do you use and like the best?

(Thanks to Darren at ProBlogger.com for the heads up on this)

This is not good news for home based business owners and online marketers who rely on making money from their Internet based businesses. How many more stats are looking into taxing affiliate sales to help bring dollars into their accounts in this down economy? Will your state be next?

Amazon.com Inc. closed accounts with its affiliates in North Carolina to avoid paying a proposed sales tax, according to media reports Friday. In an email, Amazon reportedly told marketing affiliates in the state that the move was a direct result of North Carolina’s push to levy a tax on purchases made through Amazon affiliates. FOX NEWS

Let me know if you are in a state where this has already happened or where legislation to tax affiliate sales is being proposed.