BlackBerry OS to get update this year

Given the rumors that we've been hearing about the forthcoming BlackBerry 9-series, it's no secret that RIM is gearing up for some big changes in the look and feel of its BlackBerry series of smartphones. Up until this point, however, we've heard relatively little on the topic of the BlackBerry OS, which is, admittedly, getting a little long in the tooth. Fear not, BlackBerry fans: at the Lotusphere conference today, RIM announced that they'll be pushing out an update to the BlackBerry OS during the first half of the year. Among the slated improvements: improved HTML and Rich Text support in email, an email search feature, a contact availability feature a la Outlook, IM presence features and support for Microsoft Office documents. If that sounds good to you, check out the press release for the full list of new features.

For more on the update:
- see this press release