RIM launches dual-mode BlackBerry 8820
298993
Research In Motion Ltd. announced its first dual-mode BlackBerry, which provides wireless voice and data access over both cellular and Wi-Fi wireless networks.
624669
(InfoWorld) - Research In Motion expects to start selling a BlackBerry with both cellular and Wi-Fi wireless capabilities, the company's CEO said Thursday. Speaking at the JP Morgan Technology Conference on Wednesday, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said such a converged BlackBerry should come out "in the back half of this year." RIM is behind its competitors in developing devices with both cellular and Wi-Fi. Motorola and NokiaÂ were both selling phones with Wi-Fi and cellular aimed at business users last year. RIM had recently hinted at forthcoming converged phones, but until Thursday, it hadn't said when they would ship. "Wi-Fi was overhyped," Balsillie said. "I was not a big believer in it for the first two or three years because it was hyped as something that would subsume everything, that you would get rid of your cell phone. We feel it's complementaryÂ to a cell phone." The BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) that companies use to deliver corporate e-mail to BlackBerry users already supports roaming for customers that may travel between multiple operators so the BES would treat Wi-Fi networks just like additional cellular networks, he said. That capability enables the handoff of data connections and voice calls between Wi-Fi and cellular networks as customers move. In addition, the BES "presupposes the airlink is insecure," and so encrypts all voice and data transmissions using either technology, he said. The BES already supports Wi-Fi connections because the BlackBerry 7270 has Wi-Fi. Many mobile operators, particularly those that aren't related to a landline service provider, have resisted FMC (fixed mobile convergence) because they can lose revenue by transferring calls from their cellular networks to a potential opponent's Wi-Fi network. But Balsillie said the operators are open to it. "Most of the carriers I've dealt with are supportive of FMC," he said. Also, he's finding that an increasing number of operators have both cellular and fixed-line networks, and those companies are looking for strategic ways to leverage both assets. Services like FMC can allow those operators to offer a value added service rather than simply offering a single bill.
490454
Those business users who can't make the leap to Apple's iPhone may be happy to hear that Research in Montion has unveiled a new BlackBerry model that offers quad-band GSM support and Wi-Fi connectivity in the company's thinnest form factor yet.
139206
RIM&#39;s new BlackBerry 7100t phone represents a radical departure from the company&#39;s text-centric roots. Research in Motion&#39;s BlackBerry e-mail devices have gathered a loyal (if relatively small) following, and
152772
The Symbian OS Series 80 platform is the latest system to get support for the BlackBerry Connect push server from Research In Motion (RIM).
80571
InfoWorld - Research in Motion (RIM), the company that first pushed e-mail over wireless, is teaming up with PeopleSoft to offer corporate users PeopleSoft Enterprise Sales for BlackBerry, a sales application with similar push technology.
622470
Research In Motion announced a new BlackBerry model Tuesday that will provide wireless voice and data access over both cellular and Wi-Fi networks.
305454
Research In Motion's (Nasdaq: RIMM) quad-band  BlackBerry 7100t with  PDA capabilities is a GSM/GPRS (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) cellular handset that can make and receive phone calls in more than 100 countries around the world.
110827
TechWeb - Though it&#39;s not the first Wi-Fi/cellular device to arrive on American shores, it is the first of the popular BlackBerry smartphones to offer both forms of connectivity.
518209
(InfoWorld) - The number of BlackBerry account holders reached 6.2 million at the beginning of September as Research In Motion reported revenue up 34 percent -- but market researcher IDC said trouble may lie ahead for the company. RIM warned of some problems on its own on Thursday. The Waterloo, Ontario, company became the latest to announce a review of its options-granting practices, and said it could restate earnings to reduce them by between $25 million and $45 million over the period since its public offering in 1997. The company also said its fiscal second quarter financial results, which it announced Thursday, will be considered preliminary until the results of the options probe are known. RIM's revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 2 rose to $658.5 million, from $490.1 million during the same quarter last year. Net profit was $140.8 million. Approximately 72 percent of its revenue came from handhelds, 19 percent for service, 6 percent for software, and 3 percent for other revenue, RIM said. The company added 705,000Â new BlackBerry subscriber accountsÂ in the quarter. RIM expects even strongerÂ subscriber growthÂ in the current quarter, which ends Dec. 2. The company forecast it would add 800,000 accounts, taking it to 7 million subscribers. Market researcher IDC, however, rained on RIM's strong announcement. In a report titled "Attack of the BlackBerry Clones", IDC said the popular handheld faces growing competition "in a relatively untapped market, converged mobile devices for the enterprise." As that market grows to 63 million units per year by 2010 from just 7.3 million last year, the BlackBerry's overall share will decline, according to IDC. While RIM has set the standard in the industry, Microsoft is coming on strong through partnerships withÂ Motorola, Palm, and others. As the market for converged mobile devices grows, IDC expects Windows Mobile handhelds to grab an increasing share of the pie, for a 32.3 percent share of the market by 2010. Nokia is another major rival to watch out for in the future, since it is already offering an end-to-end solution of its own, IDC said. "Several BlackBerry clones have previously attempted to challenge RIM's reign in the enterprise market, but this is a more formidable strike," said Sean Ryan, research analyst for IDC's Mobile Markets, in a statement. "The timing is right for a more powerful attack against RIM's BlackBerry as competitive forces converge." Â
595419
(InfoWorld) - Research In Motion has finally announcedÂ the BlackBerry 8800, the multimedia business handset whose details RIM leaked following Apple's iPhone announcement, apparently to offset the company's sliding stock price. The 8800 is RIM's most developed effort to date to combine theÂ Pearl 8100'sÂ consumer-oriented features in a package similar to the business-oriented 8700. In practice that means features such as integrated GPS, a 2.4-inch color screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, a high-capacity battery, and trackball navigation in a case wider (and slightly thinner) than the Pearl and noticeably thinner than the 8700. The QWERTY keyboard is designed to improve upon the Pearl's use of a numeric keypad with SureType, but the keys are a bit more cramped than those of the 8700, initial reviewers said. There are said to be models available with or without a camera. The built-in GPS can be used with included navigation software for an extra monthly fee. It has voice-activated dialing, a speakerphone, Bluetooth 2.0, a media player, and a microSD memory card slot, with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and Wi-Fi. So far, Orange, Vodafone, and T-Mobile have all announced rollout plans for the device in Europe, while AT&T has an exclusive launch deal in the U.S. RIM's Competition The handset may be an improvement over previous BlackBerry models, but RIM now has other kinds of competition to worry about, particularly in the user-interface department. The company is rumored to be working on a complete interface overhaul with the BlackBerry 9000 series, but in the meantime Microsoft has launched Windows Mobile 6, and touch-screen phones areÂ on the way from Apple, Samsung (the Ultra Smart F700, announced ahead of 3GSM), and LG (the KE850 Prada phone). There are also other handsets such asÂ Samsung's BlackJackÂ that fall into a similar price bracket to the 8800 but offer 3G networking, something lacking in RIM's models. Push e-mail and GPS are also no longer unusual in higher-end handsets. "This handset will be extremely appealing to mobile professionals who have demanding work and social lives," said Charmaine Eggberry, RIM EMEA vice president and managing director, in a statement.
212752
European users are expected to be some of the first to get their fingers on BlackBerry handsets featuring a new keyboard technology that promises streamlined typing functionality on compact, converged devices.
644575
The upcoming BlackBerry 8820 with support for cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity is intriguing, but it won't have much of an impact on enterprises, experts claim.
519387
RIM announces a series of updates for its BlackBerry platform.
226063
In light of the recent string of outages of RIM's e-mail system for BlackBerry users, Vodafone UK has announced that it will be using a third party's solution to prevent future BlackBerry outages, and package it as a premium service.
26842
NEW YORK -- BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. today unveiled a new version of its top-end e-mail phone for business users, replacing the signature side navigation wheel with a front trackball that first appeared last year on the consumer-oriented BlackBerry Pearl.
13149
Research In Motion, aka RIM, and T-Mobile USA recently launched the latest and perhaps greatest of the GSM BlackBerry line of mobile phone communicators, the 7100t.