With BlackBerry 7 Smartphones beginning to hit the market, I can't help but feel we're gaining some momentum again on the RIMPIRE STRIKES BACK front.

Loyal BlackBerry super fans are obviously stoked about the new lineup. These are by far the sweetest BlackBerry Smartphones to date (enter to win your choice of a new BB7 phone here!). Be sure to check out the video above from the recent BlackBerry 7 Fan Night to see what super fans are loving about the Bold 9900/9930 and Torch 9850/9860/9810. Yours truly makes a brief appearance at 4 seconds in giving the 'ole Rick Flair Woooo!

But beyond the loyal fans, what has me really excited are the number of tweets, emails, forum posts, blog comments and calls I've been seeing and receiving from people who are currently on other platforms but are switching to BlackBerry to give the new phones a go. Some of these are ex-BlackBerry users giving up the iPhone 4s and Android phones they left BB for, while others are picking up BlackBerry for the first time. Looks like we have have some new BlackBerry fans emerging here!

One such fan is Matt Miller, over at ZDnet, who posted an article today titled Becoming a BlackBerry fan when it's not cool to do so. I'm not a fan of that article of course - seriously, I'm way cooler than any iPhone or Android fanboy I know, but the article is a great example that there's continued hope for RIM in the mobile space. Matt is a cross-platform guy, and has his pick of phones and tablets from every platform. And right now, BlackBerry is the one he's becoming a fan of:

I enjoy Android, but grow tired of low battery life, constant app updates, and all the different user experiences. iOS devices are great, but I am not a huge fan of the current application-focused UI... The funny thing is that I am now becoming a RIM BlackBerry fan - at a time when people seem to be writing off the company and device as past their prime. Let me explain why.

You'll want to jump over and read Matt's full post, but the short answer is that when it comes to a no-compromise mobile experience, in a world where people own both phones and tablets, the combination of BlackBerry Bold 9930 and BlackBerry PlayBook is a killer one. Welcome to the BlackBerry Fan Club Matt!

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