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Today comes news that the government agency has given a thumbs up to the first BlackBerry with a Wi-Fi component. It is widely thought that this RIM handheld is destined for T-Mobile, the American carrier with the largest Wi-Fi footprint in the U.S. and the first to offer a widespread dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular fixed-mobile convergence service, called Hotspot @Home, in this country.

It was only a few days ago that the approved what is likely the first mobile phone, the Samsung T639, destined for T-Mobile's upcoming 3G network.

The FCC site does not reveal much about the new BlackBerry, other than that it'll work on 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi networks, include microSD slot and support Bluetooth.

It isn't clear whether this device will be BlackBerry Curve-like or will feature a more traditional BlackBerry form factor, as with other BlackBerry 8800 series models.

RIM co-CEO Jim Basille announced RIM would release a Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry before the end of the year. Rumor has it that this could happen as soon as this fall.

Here are some rumored specs for the Wi-Fi BlackBerry not mentioned on the FCC site:

3.2 megapixel camera (or better)

Flash improvement and 6x digital zoom

3.5 mm Headset Jack

64MB of memory

Streaming media support

4.5 hours of talk time/17 days of standby

Windows Media DRM & MTP

Top and rear loudspeaker

Motion Lock

High speed USB

Improved build quality