Odds are you weren't using this, but if you were, you were probably in for a little heartache and scrambling the last few days reconfiguring stuff. Verizon has shut down its SMTP Relay Service over the weekend, essentially a "plan B" outbound email server for cases where Verizon users wants to send email through their ISP's email accounts and were blocked from using the ISP's own server for one reason or another -- a fairly common practice. Thing is, the SMTP Relay Service dates back to a time when SMTP servers and free email accounts weren't a dime a dozen, so it kinda makes sense that Big Red would feel comfortable taking this beast offline right about now.

[Thanks, Zach]

Get ready for another big glitch in iPhone OS 3.0: it seems like the Spotlight search cache doesn't sync message status with the mail client, so you can still pull up old messages with Spotlight if you know the subject line. Yeah, that's not okay -- we just verified that the bug exists on our phones, using both POP and IMAP. We're not sure when the search cache finally deletes emails, but it doesn't appear to happen quickly: Matt Janssen, who discovered the bug, says he's been able to pull up emails three or four months old. We've heard whispers its fixed in iPhone OS 3.1, but until there's a confirmed fix we'll be using the Gmail web interface, thanks. Video after the break.

Just how bad do you want a bill in the snail mail? Companies big and small have been putting serious effort for some time into getting consumers to bypass their paper bills in favor of "e-bills," "eco-bills," "paperless statements," and all other manner of semi-trademarkable terms for the same thing: getting your passive-aggressive request for payment in your email inbox, saving a tree (and postage) in the process. Now, T-Mobile's taking it to the next level and charging a whopping buck fifty for getting your bill the old-fashioned way, which by our rough calculation significantly exceeds the bulk postage they're paying to mail it out. Of course, the effort is as much about being environmentally conscious as it is about covering T-Mobile's costs, but still -- we bet they'll make themselves a little extra coin every month out of this deal.

[Via Phone Scoop]

In case you haven't been apprised of the situation, your addiction to texting and email is ruining your relationship... with god. According to Vincent Nichols, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, modern friendships built around (or involving) heavy SMS volley, electronic mail correspondences, and social networking sites create "transient relationships" which put users at the risk of suicide. Yes, suicide. According to the British man of the cloth, using electronic communication to build friendships is causing humanity to lose "the ability to build interpersonal communication that's necessary for living together." Sure, it may sound like heavy FUD talk, but there is sense in some of his points. For instance, the Archbishop of Westminster believes that social networking sites encourage people to concentrate on their number of friends rather than build actual relationships, and they tend to view that number as a commodity. Anyone who's seen the growth of Facebook and MySpace shouldn't have trouble making that connection, but when it comes to SMS and email, your friendship has likely moved on, and lumping that kind of one-to-one communication in with the broad relationships of social networking sites seems like an unfair characterization. We put the question to our typically calm and even-keeled commenter community -- are we doomed, or what?

It's no secret that using Gmail on a BlackBerry is a painful experience -- since the built-in mail client has shamefully broken IMAP support, your only real choice is a variant of the same Java-based Gmail app that runs on ancient featurephones, and that rules out direct integration with either contacts or attachments. Yeah, it's sad, but hope is in the air, as RIM's apparently beta testing something called the "Enhanced Gmail Plug-in for BlackBerry," which promises to bring things up to speed. Features are said to include Conversation View, support for labels, stars, and archiving, and full mailbox search -- you know, Gmail. Of course, it would be even nicer if RIM would just sack up and bring proper IMAP support to the most famous messaging platform in the world, but we'll take what we can get.

[Via BerryReview]

It's one thing to bury something like developer mode -- a mode that the average Pre user will never need -- behind a cute-but-exhausting throwback Konami code, but it's quite another to hide useful stuff that way. A PreCentral tipster discovered that entering "RocknRollHax" on the keyboard (and yes, capitalization is important here) while in the email app enables the previously missing capability to use it in landscape mode; presumably Palm hid it from end users because they thought it was too buggy or weird for mainstream use, but it certainly works alright for us. Worst part is that the code needs to be re-entered each and every time the email app starts, so you'd better really want it -- but at least you don't have to root to get it.

We know you've been literally hanging on the edge of your seat waiting for this day to come, so it's our honor and privilege to announce that Lenovo and RIM's Constant Connect solution is now available. For those who managed to sleep right through February, the technology enables select ThinkPads to automatically pull down BlackBerry emails whenever it's within range, even if the laptop is completely off. There's no word on what it'll cost to have this added into your next corporate machine, but you can head past the break for a quick demonstration vid if you think you're interested.

Update: It's a $149 option from select business partners and through Lenovo.com.

We know Sprint's been eyeing the G1 and that it's getting Samsung's Android phone by June, but if mobile software vendor SEVEN has anything to do with it, we now know a bit more about the device's e-mail client as well. Sprint's already a fan of the company's other offerings, and we anticipate they had something to do with this new Android version. The app uses SEVEN's push tech to get your e-mail almost instantaneously -- something that offline-enabled mobile Gmail probably can't do. Planned support for calendars, social networking, and instant messaging make this all the more enticing. A rep from the outfit promises that we'll see partnerships on "more than just Sprint in 2009" and we definitely hope this thing trickles down to the Android Marketplace in due time. There're a bunch more shots over at the read link, so if you're interested be sure to check them out.

After two years in development, Lenovo Constant Connect is finally here. A groundbreaking new tie-up between Lenovo and RIM has led to the creation of a $150 54mm ExpressCard -- which slots into any ThinkPad from around Summer '08 onward -- and automatically pulls down any email sent to your BlackBerry via Bluetooth, even if the laptop is completely powered down. The idea here is to always have your most recent inbox available within eight seconds of opening your machine, and thanks to the card's dedicated Bluetooth radio and 500MB of inbuilt storage, it can pull down and send out emails so long as the card and your 'Berry are within 30 feet or so from one another. Aside from needing an ExpressCard slot, you'll also need a handset with OS 4.2 or higher. It's designed to work with Exchange, Outlook, POP and Gmail, with Lotus Notes support coming in 2H 2009; as for availability, the card will be available through Lenovo and its partners in early Q2 here in America, while those elsewhere in the world will have to wait until the latter half of the year. Full release and demo video is after the break.

Looking for a bit of BlackBerry love on your new (or old, as the case may be) HTC handset? Fret not -- so long as you're the proud owner of an HTC TyTN II, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro or Touch HD -- as your phone has just picked up BlackBerry Connect support. The read link directs you to a download where you can suck down the necessary bits and bytes and proceed to installation, but we'd make sure everything was backed up before forging ahead. Give it a go and report back, will ya?

[Via phonescoop]

Given its business-oriented roots, Nokia's Eseries took a pretty big hit to its credibility when it lost BlackBerry support with the release of the E66 and E71 last year -- support previous models had rocked out of the box. In a recent interview with Reuters, Tom Furlong, the company's head of messaging services (bet he gets a lot of texts) talked up its recent tie-ups with Microsoft and IBM for corporate email, saying the move precluded them from continuing support for BlackBerry as well -- though it's unclear if that's for contractual, political, or engineering manpower reasons. So the bad news is that BlackBerry support won't be coming from Espoo from here on out, but the great news is that RIM will apparently be picking up where Nokia left off. No timeline was given, but Furlong says its transatlantic buddy is "readying" support for S60, so who knows -- that sexy E71 might still be the ultimate mobile email machine after all.

[Via Symbian-Guru]

Our biggest gripe with the Peek email-only handheld has always been the incredibly annoying $19.95 per month data plan. If you jump in today, however, you can forget all about those recurring charges. It seems the suits at Peek have finally stumbled upon what could actually be a viable business model for this unique handset, as they're offering the unit up for $299.95 with data included for the life of the device. Unfortunately, the deal is a one-day only affair, but truthfully, we fully expect this option to become the norm in the not-too-distant future.

For Nokia handsets not quite fancy enough for Email, there's Mail on Ovi. The application, which was developed for low(er)-end S40 mobiles, is expected to give many individuals in developing nations their very first email address and internet identity. In theory, these people will use their phones to access email more than a PC, thus the newest public beta enables users to setup their accounts right on the handset with no PC required. There's a ridiculously long list of compatible handsets in the read link, so hop on down if you think you're interested.

After a several month-long beta, Nokia's souped-up email app -- appropriately called Email -- is getting booted out of Beta Labs and going gold as part of the Messaging suite. The company is touting that the final product includes tons of changes that came from feedback through the beta cycle, and it'll be going live first in Australia, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and Venezuela -- in other words, you good folks will now be paying for the opportunity to use it. The remainder of the world gets to keep using it for free until it's commercialized in their locale -- which, if you're in the US and Nokia Music is any indication, might be a long time off.

Peek's kinda-sorta email-only handheld is one of the more polarizing devices to hit this year. On one hand, anyone who cares that much about email in their pocket probably already owns an email-capable handset; on the other, those satisfied with their pay-as-you-go phone may seriously be interested in adding this to their arsenal. Regardless of your take on things, we figured you should know that it's available for "today only" at $49.95, clearly setting the bar for a Cyber Wednesday in years to come. 'Course, that $19.95 per month data requirement isn't going anywhere, but half a Benjamin might be worth it just to crack this sucker open and test your hacking skills.