Cingular mixes in BlackBerry service

Research In Motion announced a pair of deals with cellular network operators on Wednesday. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said its monochrome-screen BlackBerry 6280 handheld device and its color-screen BlackBerry 7280 are available on Cingular Wireless' Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks. The 6280 costs $249, and the 7280 costs $299. Data plans start at $29.99 per month. The devices allow consumers to wirelessly access data such as e-mail, the Web and voice calls.

RIM also said that Orange France will offer BlackBerry service to customers in the second quarter as part of the European carrier's lineup for businesses. Orange also operates a GSM/GPRS network.