Anybody else feel like maybe Ping is the beginning of the end (or, perhaps, closer to the end of the end) for MySpace?

It seems like the only people still hanging on to the MySpace pages are musicians; I know I truck over there occasionally to pull a track for the JFP radio show in order to promote local artists. I'd much prefer to pay $1 for a clean sounding track.

I suppose uploading a few songs in MySpace is easier than self publishing to iTunes but given that the latter isn't impossible, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see many musicians hopping on this bandwagon -- and MySpace, finally, dying.

The new Blackberry has some nice features, including a touch-screen interface and a slider to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. For folks who prefer to leave iPhone/Android-style on-screen keyboards to their teenagers, the Blackberry "Torch" (model 9600) offers some solid Crackberry Cred.

Exclusive to AT&T, the Blackberry sports the new Blackberry 6 operating system, which features a new WebKit browser, more social networking integration (Twitter, Facebook), easier SMS and MMS messaging, a built-in RSS reader for headlines... and an overall update to the aging Blackberry look-and-feel. There's also a new media sync feature that should make the Blackberry easier to sync with Windows Media Player and iTunes.

The Torch hardware offers a 5-megapixel camera, supports 3G and Wi-Fi and a $199 pricetag with a 2-year AT&T contract; Note that, since it's AT&, there's no all-you-can-eat data plan -- the Torch uses the same data plan as the iPhone -- AT&T's new tiered $15 (200 MB) and $25 (2 GB) pricing. (RIM's folks noted that because Blackberry compresses data from its servers, you may get more downloads over the limited plan.)

So..the scoop? I like it... I'll want to play with one, but the idea of a best-of-both-worlds touchscreen+Blackberry keyboard is appealing. The oddest thing about this from a competitive POV is the fact that it's only available on AT&T -- which is the biggest gripe that American consumers have about the iPhone. If you want to compete with iPhone, be on another (any other!) carrier.

In other words, this probably won't matter to me until there's a CDMA version...six months? 12? And, by then, I probably won't be as likely to jump.