BlackBerry held a webcast today regarding the upcoming launch of their Enterprise Server v4.1 SP5 software, which is due to hit the metaphorical shelves on February 29th.  As well as the predictable stability and 64-bit Windows compatibility updates, the system will introduce [TBG] rich-text and HTML email, embedded images and active hyperlinks, message search for email no longer stored on the BlackBerry itself but only on the remote server, and the ability to check contacts’ availability before scheduling appointments. 

Instant Messaging and presence management has also been improved, while there’s also a web-based Desktop Manager for tweaking individual and overall system settings.

The upgrade will be free for those with v4.1.0 or above, or cost $999 to upgrade from an earlier version than that (or come free with a new Technical Support Services Contract).  Brand new price is $3,999 per server, with 20 user licences.