The latest threat in the plot to kill the iPhone's popularity comes from smartphone leader Research In Motion. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that RIM is planning to unveil a touch-screen BlackBerry model sometime in Q3.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the Journal says the new iPhone killer will be called the Thunder (guess you have to go pretty strong after introducing the Bold), and will be exclusive to Verizon Wireless in the US and Vodafone in Europe.

RIM has yet to comment on the report, but we'll keep you posted. If you hear anything, let us know through our new comments feature.

Can't find all those books you picked up during your last self-help craze? Don't have the time or money to spend on a seminar to learn how to become spiritually or financially wealthy? Don't worry. Help is on the way.

The Learning Annex has teamed up with mobile content provider Twistbox to bring help and advice from some of The Learning Annex's 8,000 annual self-help seminars to the mobile phone.

Soon, consumers will have access to snippets in such areas as health, wealth, spirituality, relationships and even advice from psychics, Mobile Entertainment reports. The new partners will take advantage of Twistbox's on- and off-deck distribution platforms to deliver the video-rich content and mobile workshops to users worldwide.

MocoNews reports that Leeds City Council in the UK is trying its hand at a variation on the location-based mobile services (LBS) theme:

"LeedsCast sees nine mobile-detecting pods dotted around the city, each of which sends mobile users invitations to download an application that includes content from LeedsLiveItLoveIt.com, the council's own tourism infosite. Though the detection is done using Bluetooth, the council says content delivery is handled over T-Mobile's broadband network. Content includes listings for restaurants, hotels, attractions, shops and bars."

This is a nifty idea except that it goes against mobile security advice to disable your phone's Bluetooth Discovery mode; it would be great to hear reports from anyone who actually runs into something like this in the wild. It's also a great idea for more narrowly focused events such as conferences and other meet-ups.

As part of mediabistro.com's first annual Mediabistro Circus conference next week in New York City, we'll be hosting a Mobile Media panel. The panel will take place on Wednesday, 5/21 at 11:15 AM on the main stage at Skylight Studios in NYC. Here's the brief:

"In the world of mobile media, everyone is experimenting and trying to figure out what will stick. Is it the camera in the phone that's got everyone so excited, or the ability to text and watch videos? Mobile media is the 'wild west' of the technology world at the moment, and it's anyone's guess as to where it's headed. In this session, panelists will wax ecstatic about the fast-moving, ubiquitous technology." Our panelists will include some of the best and brightest names in the new digital media industry, including:

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Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang issued a letter to employees, as the Internet pioneer gears up for a proxy battle with billionaire investor Carl Icahn, CNET News reports.

"We always want to hear the views of our stockholders, but you should know that Mr. Icahn's letter reflects a significant misunderstanding of the facts about the Microsoft proposal and the diligence with which our board evaluated and responded to that proposal," Yang wrote.

The letter includes a FAQ for employees, and there's also a second letter meant just for the higher-ups with "talking points." Read the contents of both of Yang's letters here.

Orange, which is already the exclusive iPhone provider in France, has inked a deal with Apple to offer the iPhone in more than 10 other markets.

Pocket-lint reports that, by the end of the year, Orange customers in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Africa will be able to buy an iPhone.

The agreement adds Switzerland to the growing list of areas where Apple is abandoning its single-operator model. Swisscom has also been granted rights to offer the iPhone in Switzerland, which joins Italy, Singapore, India and the Philippines in having more than one carrier offering the iPhone.

Norway-based digital rights management (DRM) vendor Beep Science has been acquired by US security technology company SafeNet, reports DRM Watch. It turns out the deal went down a few months ago and closed last week, but we're only finding out about it today.

The report said that SafeNet has made a string of acquisitions in recent years, including antipiracy service provider MediaSentry, also in 2005, and that the company started in the 1980s as an enterprise security technology vendor.

"Mobile DRM is an uncertain and fragmented market, even where it is eventually adopted; several technologies are in play, including Microsoft's PlayReady, Marlin, SDC, and potentially Apple's FairPlay in addition to OMA DRM 2.0," the report said. "It remains to be seen whether SafeNet can successfully integrate Beep Science's technologies with the ones it already has and translate that into opportunities that meet the needs of this ever-changing market." And to think that we just want DRM to go away already.

Vodafone has added to its services portfolio with the acquisition of ZYB, a mobile backup service provider out of Denmark. ZYB, which will become part of Vodafone's Internet Services Division, also offers mobile social networking services, Cellular-news reports.

The world's leading wireless operator said in a statement that it bought ZYB to further its strategy of creating new revenue streams around broadband, mobile advertising and online services that integrate the user's mobile and PC experience.

Vodafone paid roughly $48.8 million for ZYB.

CBS has hooked up with EQAL, the folks behind the Web craze "Lonelygirl15" on a multiplatform content deal. The non-exclusive arrangement gives CBS first dibs on new EQAL productions that it can use on TV, online and on mobiles, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Also, EQAL can work with CBS producers to extend their TV series to the Internet and/or mobile.

"This is a huge opportunity for us. It's incredibly exciting how you can take existing TV, make it interactive and create communities around it," EQAL CEO Miles Beckett said in the report.

The NBA has licensed Gameloft to create and publish two mobile basketball games.

Due out this month, NBA Smash! is an arcade-style two-on-two street basketball game that pits actual NBA players against each other. The game has an advanced mode that lets players create their own hoopsters, build teams and face off against the NBA teams.

The second game, a five-on-five simulation-style game, will tip off in September, just in time for the start of the 2008-09 season. The as-yet-unnamed game will deliver "an authentic NBA experience for mobile platforms." It features all 30 teams and all their players, a full 80-game season and even some NBA All-Star events.

Both games will be available on all major carrier decks.

FlyTunes, which operates a mobile radio network for the iPhone and iPod Touch, has upgraded its service with video and audio podcasts, a customizable channel guide, a new user interface and 200 additional channels. The network now has more than 350 music, talk, video and podcast channels.

The new interface is designed to make it easier to find channels, and the channel displays include more detailed information including text-message links. There's also a MyGuide feature that lets users program the selection list to only display favorite channels or genres.

FlyTunes is a free service. Sign up is at www.FlyTunes.fm.

At the Mobile Advertising Degree conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Stephanie Bauer Marshall, head of mobile advertising at Verizon Wireless, said that mobile banner ads are, on average, as effective for brand recall as a 30-second TV commercial, MediaPost reports.

Marshall's statement is based on research the carrier commissioned from IAG. According to MediaPost, Marshall was "blown away" by the data, despite knowing that banner ads deliver the best mobile advertising results.

Mobile banners also deliver a much higher click-through rate than their online counterparts, she said (2% vs. 0.3%). However, Marshall noted, more advertisers are moving away from merely click-throughs and turning towards additional success measurement techniques.

According to AdAge, Time Inc. plans to introduce its reworked Health.com portal this coming Monday, delivering one of its priorities for the year and "enhancing its offering in a content area it considers part of its core business alongside news, sports, entertainment and home."

Time.com has a strong mobile presence at mobile.time.com. While the company hasn't said anything, this could also lead the way to the first real mobile Web site for health and medical matters. Current desktop-based stalwarts like WebMD, Yahoo Health, Revolution Health, and AOL Body all lack significant mobile presences. That's particularly surprising in the case of the otherwise wireless-friendly Yahoo and AOL portals.

MocoNews.net reports that the London-based Mobile Entertainment Forum is launching a mobile social networking exploration initiative, that will hopefully determine ways to generate revenues, discover new business models and establish greater consumer protection on cell phones.

The organization said 60 percent of its members identified social networking as a top priority, and a 2006 survey with Informa, forecasted that mobile communities and user-generated content would be worth $13.2 billion by 2011 worldwide, according to the report. MEF said it "will develop best practices for different geographies to ensure members meet local regulatory standards."

In each of five regions—U.S., France, India, Italy and the UK—three MEF members will study social networking and generate individual plans. MocoNews said that since in typical cases, social networking sites start out online and then eventually move to the mobile side, it will be interesting to see what this organization comes up with.

If you ever wondered what your favorites B- and C-List celebrities choose as their ringtones, now's your chance to find out. AT&T has come out with the Ringtone A-List, a new Web site that, yes, shows what's on the cell phones of today’s hot actors, musicians and athletes.

These stars who opened their phones for the site include Lauren Conrad, Whitney Port and Audrina Partridge from MTV reality show "The Hills," members of rock band Panic at the Disco and professional bull rider Justin McBride.

AT&T will update the list of celebs every month and, of course, make it easy for fans to preview and purchase the ringtones.