RIM to offer Blackberry apps on Windows devices
Email services whatever the handset.
By John Blau, IDG News Service | Published: 14:01, 23 April 2007
RIM is to launch software that will enable BlackBerry wireless applications to run on smartphones from rival handset makers.
The company said it would offer the software later this year, initially for a select number of devices running the newest version of the Microsoft operating system for mobile devices, Windows Mobile 6.0.
The new software targets businesses that want to provide their employees with a wider selection of handsets, and also consumers who don't want to switch handsets to access the BlackBerry service. It will appear as an icon on the screen of the Mobile Windows device. When clicked, it will load BlackBerry applications, with the familiar user interface of a BlackBerry smart phone, and users can easily toggle between the two platforms, according to RIM.
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The devices will connect to BlackBerry servers for email, instant messaging, calendar and address book applications via the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) or the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS).
This will not be the first time that RIM has attempted to put its software on other manufacturers' devices.
Through its BlackBerry Connect programme, RIM has been offering access to its wireless email services on devices manufactured by Nokia and Treo. But the service is focused mostly on providing access to BlackBerry email through the devices' existing applications.
