It's Friday again, which means I'm here to walk you through all the stories in the mobile world that slipped through the cracks. This week we'll talk about a new sleek BlackBerry, how much it costs to lead Motorola, HTC and its German legal issues, and we'll say goodbye to an important player in the industry.Behold, The BlackBerry Niagara

The scamps at CrackBerry have gotten the first picture of the BlackBerry Niagara, and it looks very pretty. It appears to take the form and functionality of the BlackBerry Bold and combine it with the sleekness of the Curve 8900. If you've never seen either device, know that the Bold is one of the best handsets around for banging out messages. The keyboard makes typing a breeze, but I guess it can be seen as a tad chunky. The Curve 8900 on T-Mobile is the slimmest BlackBerry with a keyboard ever, and it would be my personal phone now if only it had 3G.

The Niagara is expected to come out later this year for Verizon Wireless, and it should be a really nice device for BlackBerry addicts. It will have most of the high-end features you'd expect from a smartphone except for Wi-Fi. More than likely, this is another Verizon decision that makes absolutely no sense, but I have to admit its EV-DO 3G is good enough for mobile Web activities most of the time. There's no word on pricing or a release window, but I'd say the middle of the year is a good bet.

How Much Do They Pay You To Run Moto?

How much did it cost Motorola to woo new CEO Sanjay Jha to head its ailing handset division? About $104 million, according to The Associated Press.

The total value of Jha's 2008 pay package was $104.4 million, according to calculations by The Associated Press.

That figure includes a base salary of $484,615 and $412,096 in perks such as personal use of the company aircraft, a chauffeur, relocation expenses and company 401(k) matches. But nearly all the rest of his pay package came in the form of restricted stock and options worth $103.5 million on the dates they were awarded to him.

Jha's exercise price is reportedly $9.82, and Motorola's stock is currently at $3.10, so he has a lot of work to do. The handset division has been so wretched, Motorola wants to spin it into a separate company so it doesn't poison the successful enterprise equipment business.

By most accounts, Jha is a good leader and organizational guy, but it's going to be very difficult to turn this ship around. You have to think the 7,000 job cuts over the last six months can't be good for moral either. Additionally, many were disappointed that Motorola was eerily quiet during this year's Mobile World Congress. We know it's working on a "funnerer" Android-powered handset, but there are very few details about it yet. It will be interesting to see what it shows off later this year, as the economic crisis accelerates the possibility that the company exits the handset business altogether.

HTC Hit With Patent Woes In Germany

If you were waiting with bated breath for an HTC Magic in Germany, you're probably going to have to wait a while because of a patent issue. IPCom (which doesn't have a Web site) said HTC is infringing on its mobile phone technology patents. The company did not elaborate on what exactly those patents are, but it also would apply to the T-Mobile G1. The courts have agreed with IPCom, and the company said it will stop HTC from selling these smartphones in the country unless some licensing deal is negotiated. It's too easy to just call IPCom a patent troll without significant evidence, and I expect some sort of deal to be worked out shortly. IPCom has also sued Nokia for more than $15 billion regarding similar patents, but no court decision has been made yet.

Sayonara, RCR Wireless

With the economy the way it is, it looks like I could be writing about the death of a publication every week. But it's with a heavy heart that I have to say goodbye to RCR Wireless, an excellent source for industry-focused mobile news for the last 25 years.

RCR Wireless News has suspended publication of its print and online products immediately and is closing operations. Unfortunately, the market for RCR's products has been hit particularly hard by the global financial meltdown.

"RCR Wireless News was passionately run by first-class people and it pains us to make this move but the economy gives us no other choice," said Crain Communications Chairman Keith E. Crain. To contact Crain, e-mail Colleen Robar at crobar@crain.com.

While it was not well-known in the consumer space, RCR was a well-respected publication that will leave a massive hole. The reporting and writing were always spot-on, fair, and full on insight. We'll definitely try to bump up our coverage of industry-focused news to make up for this loss.

Until Next Week …

It was another good week here at InformationWeek, and feel free to drop me a line at mperez@techweb.com. Also, follow this publication on Twitter here, and don't hesitate to tweet me if you'd like.