1. Infrared port is not active (it's a dummy infrared cover, there's no infrared sensor in most BlackBerries)
2. Not sure, as I use my BlackBerry as a data-only device. A program called WebMessenger Alerts provides custom alerting rules which could provide you with the distintive ring feature.
3. On BlackberryOS 4.0 (coming November for Rogers, and a bit later for other carriers) you can do that. I am not sure about older BlackberryOS such as 3.7
4. Yes, there is at least one third party financial calculator available for BlackBerry now. kirson might be able to suggest others, but a search of
www.rimroad.com showed this:
http://www.rimroad.com/software/rim1...-rim-rim1.html
Also a stock options pricing calculator, if interested:
http://www.rimroad.com/software/rim1...-rim-rim1.html