By Al Sacco
CIO.com
February 25, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - It’s no surprise that BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) has up its sleeve a successor to the popular BlackBerry Tour 9630 smartphone; images and details on the as-of-yet unannounced device, codenamed “Essex,” hit the Web late last year.

This new BlackBerry, initially thought to be the “BlackBerry 9650″ or “Tour2,” is an upgraded version of the original Tour 9630, and it replaces the first device’s problematic trackball with RIM’s new optical trackpad. It also will reportedly sport Wi-Fi and a beefed-up processor.

And today is looks as though that new Tour just may be RIM’s next BlackBerry Bold 96xx/97xx smartphone…and I think that’s a much better idea than releasing another BlackBerry Tour. I’ll get to an explanation shortly, but first, some background.

I started hearing rumblings about the Tour2 being officially named “Bold” a number of weeks ago from BlackBerry-sources on Twitter. (There are currently two models of BlackBerry Bold: the BlackBerry Bold 9000 and the Bold 9700.) At first, I blew the rumors off like dust on my smartphone’s LCD. Why, I thought, would RIM want to further confuse BlackBerry users by introducing the Tour name and then doing away with it so quickly? (The original Tour was released in the United States last July.)

But sure enough, those same rumors kept popping up. I began to consider reasons why it might make sense for RIM to add this new device to its Bold lineup. And everything clicked into place.

I’ve written about RIM’s confusing device naming-conventions before–think: Curve 83xx, Curve 85xx and Curve 89xx. And I even blasted the title “Tour” as soon as it became known it would be the name of RIM’s 9630 device.

But despite RIM’s strange device-naming strategy, it’s actually quite simple to look at any of the company’s “new” handhelds and determine which model-line they belong to. That’s due to one single device characteristic: The BlackBerry keyboard.

All BlackBerry Curve devices have the exact same keyboard-style regardless of their model numbers; every BlackBerry Pearl handheld has the same style keyboard; RIM’s Storm and Storm2 devices both use on-screen “SurePress” keyboards; and RIM’s two Bold devices both have very similar, “fretted” keyboards.

And that’s not all, the Curve keyboard appears only on BlackBerry Curve devices; the Pearl’s SureType keyboard is currently available only on BlackBerry Pearls; and SurePress is exclusive to the BlackBerry Storm…for now.

But the BlackBerry Tour is the exception to this rule; the original BlackBerry Tour also uses a Bold keyboard…and for this reason it probably should have been called a BlackBerry Bold from the start.

Remember, rumors are just rumors at this point–it’s not official that this new device will be a Bold. I can still see some sense in keeping the Tour name. It could spare some initial confusion since the BlackBerry Tour and the new BlackBerry “9650″ are practically identical, minus the Wi-Fi and trackpad. But it in my opinion, it would be a wise move on RIM’s part to do away with the one inconsistency in its device lineup by restricting Bold-style keyboards to Bold devices.

Calling the new device the BlackBerry Bold 96xx/97xx could also assuage some of the inevitable complaints that are sure to come from BlackBerry Tour 9630 users who’ll be displeased a revamped Tour was released so shortly after the original. RIM and its carrier partners would likely market the product as completely new device instead of a mere Tour upgrade…even thought that’s really all it is.

It’s true that releasing a device that looks almost identical to the BlackBerry Tour 9630 would cause a bit of initial confusion, especially for gadget-geeks or folks like me who pay close attention to the BlackBerry world and all its minutiae. But in reality, most “average” people really couldn’t care less what the new BlackBerry is called. That’s why it would be smart for RIM to get all its ducks in a row now, before it builds any more awareness of the Bold brand.

Bottom line: The easiest way for “normal” people to identify RIM’s devices right now is by keyboard style. The device names are all consistent except for the Tour, which has the Bold keyboard. And RIM could clear up that minor inconsistency by scrapping the Tour name.

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By Al Sacco
CIO (US)
February 17, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - It’s a big day for BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM); The Canadian-handset-maker today made a couple of significant announcements in Barcelona, Spain, at this year’s Mobile World Congress, including the introduction of a new version of its industry-lauded BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) software, BES Express.

BES Express is aimed at small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that want to take advantage of RIM’s wireless BlackBerry mail and calendar syncing services, as well as its basic security safeguards, but don’t want to–or can’t–pay for RIM’s full BES offering.

BES Express will be available “soon” for free, according to RIM. All that’s required to employ the service is a BlackBerry device with an Internet-enabled data plan. The full version of RIM’s BES starts at about $4000 for a 20-user license, plus the costs of enterprise data plans for all devices on the server.

The product will initially work only with Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2007 and 2003 and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 and 2003. In other words, organizations with IBM Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise or any other non-Microsoft platforms are out of luck for now.

Here’s a list of BES Express features, from RIM:

* Wirelessly synchronize their email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks

* Manage email folders and search email on the mail server remotely

* Book meetings and appointments, check availability and forward calendar attachments

* Set an out-of-office reply

* Edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files using Documents To Go
* Access files stored on the company network

* Use mobile applications to access business systems behind the firewall

So what are the main differences between the full BES and BES Express, besides the cost and Microsoft-only support?

Well, BES Express is designed for organizations that don’t exactly need the highest level of security, so IT administrators have less control over specific users/devices and which IT policies affect them–BES Express has some 35 IT control policies compared to the full BES’s roughly 405 options.

BES Express also doesn’t offer the same “high-availability” features found in the full BES, i.e., organizations using BES Express won’t have access to the same tools for preventing and recovering from BlackBerry downtime. And Full BES users have access to additional utilities for monitoring and managing BlackBerry infrastructure. (For a detailed chart comparing RIM’s various BlackBerry enterprise services, visit BlackBerry.com.)

While the announcement seems to be aimed mostly at SMBs, larger organizations could also benefit, according to BES-monitoring-software-maker BoxTone.

“The average enterprise has some 10 percent to 20 percent penetration of mobile connected devices,” says Brian C. Reed, BoxTone’s chief marketing officer. “We believe this will swell to some 70 percent to 80 percent of employees will have mobile-connected devices in the next three to four years. And we all know that the user is pushing to connect their own devices while the company isn’t ready to buy devices for everyone. ”

Reed says companies will need a low-cost, secure and reliable way to connect employee-purchased, or employee-liable devices, and the free BES Express could provide significant help.

“RIM has just eliminated the ‘you’re more expensive’ claim that some have made, which removes another barrier to massive growth,” Reed says. “[N]ow the large enterprise can use premium [full] BES for key departments that require heavy duty functionality and for other departments and users that just need basic connectivity, they can roll out BES Express.”

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By Matt Hamblen
Computerworld (US)
February 17, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Early reaction to the refreshed Windows Phone 7 Series operating system boiled down mostly to: “Microsoft desperately needed to do something.”

And, analysts said, whether the update is a successful one for Microsoft depends on the answere to a variety of ‘what if’ questions.

The ‘what if’ questions cited by several analysts center around whether Microsoft can get its new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 Series (WP7), noticed in an increasingly crowded market that includes powerhouse products like Nokia’s Symbian and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry along with highly regarded upcoming OS’s like Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android.

“Microsoft had to take aggressive action as its Windows Mobile OS was dying a rapid death in the market,” noted Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. “The changes it has made [with Windows Phone 7 Series] might get it some notice, although the field is much more crowded now that it once was and notice will be harder to get.”

The new operating system comes as Microsoft has suffered declines in the mobile operating system business.

WP7 OS features several user interface improvements, including the concept of “hubs” that groups functions such as “games” or “office.” The “games” hub will be synchronized with the Microsoft Xbox live online community, while the “music+video” hub syncs with the company’s desktop Zune jukebox and music store software.

Such “hub” features are a clear play for the consumer market, which has analysts worried that the strategy could leave Microsoft’s traditional core audience of enterprise users and developers in the dust.

“The change will not endear Microsoft to its existing base of corporate users who will have to redesign and redeploy their [mobile] apps if they are to utilize this new platform,” Gold wrote in a note. “We don’t think Microsoft can count on many enterprises making such a transition/upgrade. Most organizations will stay with older Windows Mobile versions, especially those with ruggedized devices.”

Then, Gold said, the suppliers of handhelds using older Microsoft software find a competing OS more attractive than WP7. Gold suggested that enterprise IT shops and users start looking at potential “end of life” strategies for existing Windows Mobile devices.

Gartner Inc. analyst Ken Dulaney called WP7 “a good start” for Microsoft, but raised ‘what if’s’ like “will they have great hardware?” and “Will they be able to hit the right price points?”

Dulaney raised similar questions, noting that Microsoft has not clearly delineated the future for its current mobile OS, Windows Mobile 6.5. “Will WM 6.5 eventually be subsumed into WP7, leaving 6.5 users out on a limb for a few years?” Dulaney asked.

Will Stofega, an analyst at IDC, said Microsoft might be able to wean users slowly off WM 6.5 and prior versions.

Success of the new WM7 will depend heavily on how manufacturers adopt and deploy WM7, Stofega said.

But Stofega’s big ‘what if’ question for WM7, as oblique as it sounds, is” “will it inspire confidence?” A lot of market confidence in WM7 will stem from how quickly Microsoft delivers the software, and how quickly it is deployed by manufacturers, he added.

“What they don’t want to do is piss off people,” which was apparently Stofega’s reference to how Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer last fall told investors that Microsoft had “screwed up with Windows Mobile.”

One subject that left analysts scratching their heads is how WM7 fits with the reported Microsoft Project Pink Turtle Phone . That product, according to blog citations of documents at the Federal Communications Commission, will be a slider-designed phone with a physical Qwerty keyboard being built by Sharp for Verizon Wireless in the U.S. to be released sometime in the spring.

“They still have not reconciled Pink and WM 6.5 in this [announcement],” Dulaney said. “Where does Pink fit?”

Stofega said Pink is a code word for an “alleged Microsoft device” but added that it really could be at the moment a creation by “bloggers just trying to stir up things.”

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By Tom Kaneshige
CIO.com
February 15, 2010

FRAMINGHAM - Most iPhone owners really don’t care about security, according to a new survey by ESET, an anti-malware software vendor.

“We don’t see in-depth defense among smarphone users,” James Abrams, director of technical education at ESET, told CIO.com amidst a throng of iPhone owners milling around on the Macworld Expo showroom floor in San Francisco.

It’s likely these iPhone owners won’t take security seriously until the iPhone has a Toyota moment, when a simmering problem finally bubbles over and splatters them right in the public eye. “It wouldn’t surprise me if that moment is still a couple years off,” Abrams said.

ESET commissioned a survey of a more than 1,000 smartphone owners-35 percent iPhone, 32 percent Blackberry, and the rest a mix-and released its findings yesterday. The key finding: a majority of people don’t take security seriously.

Among iPhone and Blackberry users, 55 percent don’t lock their smartphone. Some 40 percent of all smartphone users said they’re concerned with malicious software infecting their device, while only one in four said they actually use antivirus software, including iPhone owners.

Can iPhone owners even run anti-virus software? “None of the iPhone users should have reported that they are using antivirus as Apple will not approve such software for the iPhone, even though Apple has had to pull spyware off of their App Store,” Abrams wrote in his blog. Such is the fallacy of surveys.

Nevertheless, Abrams worries that unsuspecting iPhone owners will have their day of reckoning perhaps in two years. Why so long? He figures hackers are lying in wait, ready to exploit the iPhone.

Hackers might be waiting for Apple to unlock the iPhone for different networks. Or they want iPhones to get into more people’s hands. Perhaps they’re waiting for a banking iPhone app that they can target. “Hackers don’t target for fun,” Abrams said, comparing them to the guy who created a worm for jailbroken iPhones as a joke.

Mobile online banking attracts hackers, Abrams said. The ESET survey found one in four users make purchases using their smartphones. Nearly one in three accesses banking websites or apps. “Combined with access to email and social networking accounts is what makes the devices attractive to hackers and other criminals,” Abrams wrote.

“It is the adoption of commerce that will create the irresistible opportunity for those with malicious intent,” he said.

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By Mikael Ricknäs
IDG News Service (Stockholm Bureau)
February 4, 2010

STOCKHOLM - Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has launched the Aspen, a smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen, running the latest version of Windows Mobile.

Its Sony Ericsson’s first Blackberry look-alike since 2007, filling a gap in the company’s portfolio that has been a problem for it in recent years, according to Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. QWERTY keyboards have proved popular among both younger people and business users, thanks to the increased popularity of social networking, instant messaging and e-mail on mobile phones, she said.

The phone has a 2.4-inch touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera and support for A-GPS (Assisted-GPS). It surfs the Internet using Wi-Fi or HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access), and is part of the GreenHeart range, Sony Ericsson’s label for its more environmentally friendly products.

It is one of the first phones to use version 6.5.3 of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system. That version features improved web performance with faster web page load times, according to Peter Wissinger, business group leader for Windows Mobile in the Nordic countries.

Microsoft has also made the latest version of Windows Mobile more suited to touch-screen phones, enlarging the icons and adding support for capacitive touchscreens and recognition of multitouch gestures, Wissinger said.

However, Aspen buyers won’t be able to take advantage of all of those improvements, since the smartphone has a resistive touchscreen that Sony Ericsson has not enabled multitouch gestures, a company spokesman said.

Pricing hasn’t been announced, but the Aspen will start shipping during the second quarter.

Both Sony Ericsson and Microsoft are expected to launch more interesting products at Mobile World Congress. Cozza hopes to see Sony Ericsson unveil more phones running Android at the show, and to hear the company talk more about its future platform strategy, she said.

Microsoft is widely expected to demonstrate Windows Mobile 7, the next version of the operating system, at Mobile World Congress, but Wissinger declined to comment on the company’s plans for the show.

However, Gartner’s Cozza said Windows Mobile has been losing market share, and Microsoft will need to do something drastic to start attracting consumers.

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By Stephen Lawson
IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)
October 20, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - AT&T on Monday made another grab for business mobile users, introducing two more hosted applications built on its Mobile Enterprise Applications Platform.

Like other mobile operators and vendors, the second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. is targeting enterprises as a growth opportunity. Along with paving the way for machine-to-machine applications that could provide a steady stream of data usage for years to come, AT&T and others are trying to get businesses to integrate smartphones more deeply in their business operations. Last week, Samsung Electronics America introduced a cloud-based service that can adapt Oracle databases and other applications within enterprises for use on mobile phones.

AT&T introduced MEAP in September 2008 as a platform on which enterprises could develop, deploy and manage applications that extended back-end systems to mobile devices. It uses middleware from Antenna Software that lets enterprises configure an application once to work with BlackBerries, Windows Mobile devices and iPhones, minimizing the work involved in reaching all the devices, said Igor Glubochansky, a director in AT&T’s mobility product management organization. MEAP includes three basic types of capabilities — sales force and field force automation and IT support — as building blocks for other services. The back-end systems it can support include Oracle, SAP and custom in-house applications.

In addition to the applications created by individual enterprises, which can be run in-house or hosted by AT&T, the carrier has identified certain vertical-market uses for mobile that are fairly similar from one organization to the next, Glubochansky said. For these “repeatable” use cases, AT&T can build ready-made applications, he said. A MEAP pharmaceutical sales application has been available for several months already.

On Monday, the carrier introduced AT&T MEAP: Merchandising for the Consumer Goods Industry and AT&T MEAP: Maintenance and Repair for Hospitality. Both are hosted by AT&T and designed to run on Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices. The iPhone isn’t often used by workers in these fields, Glubochansky said.

The merchandising application is designed for workers who deliver products, especially foods and beverages, and monitor how those goods are selling and are displayed and promoted in each store. The mobile software lets them submit forms and reports instantly on a smartphone instead of filling out paper forms and turning them in at the end of the day, so supplies can be replenished and billed for more quickly, Glubochansky said.

The mobile application for hospitality is designed to help maintenance workers at large hotels and other facilities communicate quickly about their ongoing tasks and urgent situations that require a response. It allows them to access and update work orders and service requests in real time, automatically escalate incidents and receive alerts when staff members don’t respond. Although some of AT&T’s smartphones include push-to-talk capability, the application doesn’t make use of it, Glubochansky said.

The hosted applications are available now. Because it sells them to each business customer on a case-by-case basis, the carrier doesn’t have listed prices for the offerings. AT&T has identified other common applications for certain industries and is planning more of such prepared applications, according to Glubochansky. Manufacturing is one area with some potential, he said.

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By Mike Elgan
Computerworld (US)
October 12, 2009

FRAMINGHAM - JD Power has announced that the Apple’s iPhone ranked No. 1 in customer satisfaction for “smartphones in business,” beating out LG and BlackBerry.

But wait, everybody knows the iPhone is a consumer device, and not ready for business. It’s insecure! It has no keyboard! It has no back-end support! How can this be?

The JD Power results should force us to recognize a new reality: There’s no such thing as a business phone anymore.

The business-employee divide

In every office, factory or other workplace, every piece of equipment exists somewhere on a scale, with a device that “benefits only company” at one extreme and “benefits only employee” at the other.

Company servers, PCs, and landline phones are clearly business equipment, as they’re selected, provisioned, installed, and serviced by the company or service contractor for business purposes only. The user has no claims on these devices.

Eyeglasses, clothing, jewelry, wristwatches, heart pace-makers, hearing aids, wallets and other personal devices are the personal property of each employee. The company has no rights over or claims to any of them.

Where does a cell phone fit?

In ancient times (the 1980s and 1990s), cell phones were rare and expensive. If a company wanted executives or sales people to have cell phones, they had to be provisioned. As phones gained more capabilities and began resembling PCs, IT departments treated them as such. Like PCs, phones were (and still are) purchases based on company criteria, and for company purposes of security, data and application access and serviceability.

The industry has responded with all kinds of back-end solutions to facilitate corporate objectives. Companies like Palm, RIM and Microsoft and many others have developed phones, server software and other products designed to support the notion that a phone is a business tool to be provisioned and supported like a PC.

A study called “The Device Dilemma,” commissioned by Good Technology and published last month, found that more than one-quarter of enterprises have already experienced “security breaches due to employees bringing unauthorized devices.”

Nearly half of IT decision makers “would allow users to choose their own devices if they could be assured of security and configuration.” The survey found that nearly 80% of companies saw a rise in the number of staff wanting to “bring their own devices into the workplace,” the overwhelming majority of which specified iPhones.

The phrasing of and responses to these questions reveals a shockingly outdated view about the relationship between a company, an employee and the cell phone in every employee’s pocket.

Do companies have a mechanism for strip-searching employees as they come to work? Full-body scans? Thugs frisking staff in the lobby?

On what planet do employees carry personal cell phones to work only when the IT department “allows” it?

Meanwhile, back on Earth

While all this activity was going on inside IT departments and in the industry, powerful changes were simultaneously taking place in the culture at large: Cell phones have become part of us. They have become profoundly personal.

A survey released this week by Samsung Telecommunications America found that about 3 in 10 Americans would rather give up sex than cell phones for a year, if forced to make a choice. (Women said this more than men. Go figure.)

I’ve written previously about the extreme connection people now form with their cell phones. The point is that people view cell phones in the same category as their clothing or other personal items, not as company equipment that their employer’s IT department allows or doesn’t allow.

Phones like the iPhone are strengthening the phenomenon. The user-friendly interface and amazing App Store create enormously powerful emotional bonds between human and gadget. They also radically accelerate the speed with which cell phones themselves evolve new capabilities.

As a result of this new reality, IT departments would be well advised to abandoned antiquated notions about what a cell phone is, who owns it, who chooses it and how it will be used by employees while they’re sitting at their desks.

IT departments should immediately get on board with the new reality about cell phones. Specifically:

* Nearly every employee carries a personal cell phone, which is increasingly likely to support Wi-Fi Internet connectivity, applications and end-user data storage.
* There is no sure way to predict what the capabilities of phones 6 months from now will acquire.
* Purchasing phones for employees is often a losing strategy. Many employees won’t carry, charge, share the number for or use company cell phones.
* Supporting every major brand of user-purchased phones with backend encryption, security and data access capability is a needless cost and time-sink for many companies.
* Company data stored on phones is a risk no matter what. Phones are lost, stolen, synchronized and shared, and data residing on local storage is vulnerable.
* The psychological wall between work and personal time is gone. People work at home, and do personal tasks at work. You can create user policies and train until you’re blue in the face, but users will still use their cell phones to socialize, play, browse and shop from the office.
* Social networks cross all barriers. Employees have access all the time. Twitter requires only SMS. Facebook is accessible on phones.

It’s time to stop fighting against the cultural tidal wave of cell phone obsession, against the hockey-stick growth curve in cell phone capabilities and against the growing complexity of security, data, devices and the Internet.

It’s time to zero-base the entire problem.

Let’s all understand that cell phones are part of the employee’s body — inseparable and on the other side of the company-employee boundary. They have powerful capabilities now, and unpredictable capabilities in the future. They will evolve faster than your IT infrastructure.

Sure, vertical-use gadgets with cell phone capabilities are necessary and valuable. And some companies will still have very good reasons to do things the old fashioned way, provisioning phones and supporting them under a client-server model.

But for most companies, and nearly all employees, there is simply no such thing as a business cell phone.

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By Zack Stern
PC World (US)
October 7, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - You probably run Office and other software directly from a PC hard drive. But server-side tools can put any Windows application into the cloud, keeping virtual instances of your applications ready at any time. This nimble system lets you log into your software from any PC–and even smartphones–expanding the places you can work, allowing for quicker setup, and often saving money on software costs.

Citrix makes a few of these server- and client-side tools that to virtualize any Windows application. Medium- and large-sized businesses likely have the infrastructure and IT staff to support this process, letting companies install XenApp, the cornerstone of Citrix’s virtual application process.

Citrix says that the software will essentially support any Windows application, although companies might be limited by licensing issues, since you typically buy software for each desktop system. Microsoft sells monthly licenses for its applications, but you should check with other mission-critical companies if you’re pondering this process.

On the PC client side, you’ll download Citrix Receiver, with main versions available for Windows and Mac operating systems. Citrix offers a Linux version, but the company says that it lags behind the other editions, since there’s less demand for that tool. After several minutes of download and installation–especially the first time you go through the process on a client PC–you’ll be able to run remotely hosted applications.

An iPhone version adds another way to work, with editions also being developed for BlackBerry, Android, and other devices. The free iPhone client software formats applications for the iPhone screen and encrypts the session just like the PC clients. Both kinds of clients also keep data stored on the server side, adding an additional security measure in case you lose your laptop or smartphone.

You’ll likely need a dedicated IT staff to support these tools in-house. And by managing applications on their end, they’ll save work in deploying software to all of your client systems. But even with your own server costs, you might save money–especially in the short-term–by leasing application licenses instead of paying a lot up-front

Several third-party hosts use these Citrix tools, giving the same flexibility and mobility to smaller companies. Depending on your needs, prices roughly run about $70/month per user for a suite of applications. Check out ClubDrive and Nasstar for a couple options.

By running virtual applications, businesses can scale costs up and down, even letting workers tap into software from a menagerie of devices. Not counting the extra value in this remote access, your total costs could be higher in the long-term, although you’ll skip high up-front fees per each client. But depending on your situation, the initial savings and a manageable, monthly cost could make virtual applications worthwhile.

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By Dan Moren
Macworld.com
October 5, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - It’s been a long time coming, but after promises, previews, and unexpected leaks, BlackBerry officially released the desktop Mac client for its popular smartphone platform on Friday.
Prior to this application, Mac BlackBerry owners had to rely on third-party software such as Mark/Space’s The Missing Sync for BlackBerry, or PocketMac for BlackBerry, which RIM had included along with its handsets.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac allows users to sync their contacts, calendar, notes, and to-do data between their Macs and BlackBerrys as well as installing and managing applications for the phone. On the Mac side, data can sync with iCal, Address Book, Mail, or any other applications that use Mac OS X’s SyncServices, such as Microsoft Entourage.

In addition, BlackBerry owners can also make encrypted backups of their devices and update the BlackBerry system software when new versions are available. And if you live in a household that has as many BlackBerrys as I have iPods, then no worries: BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac allows you to sync multiple devices with the same Mac.

Among the most interesting features of BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac is that it lets you sync your music and playlists from iTunes. Your mind might immediately conjure images of Palm and its cat-and-mouse games with Apple. How did RIM succeed where Palm failed?

The key here seems to be that RIM doesn’t try to inject support for the BlackBerry into iTunes or have its devices pretend to be something they’re not. Rather, BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac just references the iTunes library stored on your hard disk and shows you your list of playlists in its own application–something Palm could no doubt have done as well, had it been willing to spend the time. In fact, RIM released BlackBerry Media Sync, allowing Mac and PC users to sync with iTunes and other media software, in December of last year.
BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac is a free download and requires Mac OS X 10.5.5 or later, a BlackBerry running version 4.2 software or higher, and at least iTunes 7.2.

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By Galen Gruman
InfoWorld (US)
October 5, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - Gone are the days that smartphones — the BlackBerry, for all intents and purposes — were a mark of the user being an executive or business traveler.

Today, smartphones are now bought mainly by individual consumers and used for mostly personal needs, according to a new survey of more than 1,000 users by the consultancy CFI Group. Given that the smartphone audience is now consumers using it mainly for personal use, CFI’s survey not surprisingly showed that the Apple iPhone has the best level of customer satisfaction, at 83 percent. Google’s Android platform and the Palm Pre tied for second place at 77 percent, followed by the Research in Motion BlackBerry at 73 percent, the defunct Palm Treo at 70 percent, and devices using Nokia’s Symbian OS and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile coming in last at 66 percent.

The survey also showed that, in addition to being the best in satisfaction, the iPhone has the most loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations: 92 percent of current iPhone respondents said they have their ideal phone, 90 percent have recommended the phone, and 35 percent said they purchased their phone because of a recommendation. Also, the iPhone is the most popular alternative to any other smartphone.

The study found that Android and the Pre scored well because they share several traits with the iPhone: the ability to deliver consumer-oriented activities like apps, an easy Web-browsing experience, and multimedia playback. Business-oriented smartphones, like Treo and early generation BlackBerrys, are falling behind, whereas “generic” smartphones that run Symbian and Windows Mobile are not even on the radar, according to CFI Group.

Ironically, the U.S. national carrier with the fewest smartphone options, T-Mobile, has the top satisfaction score among carriers, at 79 percent. Verizon tied for the top satisfaction spot with a 79 percent score as well. Sprint, the exclusive provider of the Pre, came in second at 74 percent, while AT&T — which boasts an exclusive deal to carry the iPhone — came in at 73 percent among non-iPhone users and at just 66 percent among iPhone users.

CFI Group noted this lack of correlation between the popularity of the device and the popularity of the carrier service. Furthermore, CFI noted that the carrier with the largest number of sophisticated smartphones (such as the iPhone and BlackBerry Bold) — AT&T — had the worst customer satisfaction levels. And customers who switched to AT&T (mainly to get the iPhone) were much less satisfied than existing AT&T customers. Conversely, although Verizon tied for top customer satisfaction as a carrier, its users rated it least satisfactory for its smartphone options, at 38 percent.

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By Al Sacco
CIO.com
July 31, 2009

FRAMINGHAM - Experiencing problems with that new BlackBerry Tour? Is your tried-and-true Curve 8300 acting up on ya? Have no fear; you don’t necessarily have a “lemon” on your hands. BlackBerry devices, and smartphones in general, can be a “finicky” bunch of gadgets. But thankfully, there are some quick fixes for common problems, many of which I’ve covered on CIO.com before in my BlackBerry Bible.

However, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) was kind enough to post its own set of 10 BlackBerry smartphone troubleshooting tips and tricks earlier this month. While there’s nothing groundbreaking–like I said, I’ve covered most of the material before–any and all CrackBerry addicts will benefit from a quick refresher of the basics

What follows is RIM’s recent list of BlackBerry troubleshooting tips, along with comments of my own, where necessary or relevant.

1) Check Wireless Signal Strength RIM suggested checking on your wireless signal strength if you’re experiencing issues, to ensure you’re in a coverage area. Obviously, if you don’t see any coverage bars on your BlackBerry home screen or there’s an out of service (SOS) icon, you dont have wireless coverage. And that’s problem.

Another quick way to check your wireless signal strength is via a BlackBerry keyboard shortcut. Just hold down your BlackBerry’s ALT key and type the letters N, M, L, L. Your home screen will then show your wireless signal strength in Dbms. If your signal strength isn’t within the -40 to -100 Dbms range, you’re not in an adequate wireless coverage area. (Note: This shortcut only works on BlackBerry smartphones with full QWERTY keyboards.)

2) Pull Your Battery or “Hard Reset” RIM’s second troubleshooting tip is to simply remove and replace your BlackBerry’s battery. Doing so is as simple as removing the device’s battery cover and popping out the power pack, with the edge of a credit card or other prying tool. This is referred to as a BlackBerry “hard reset.” For more on the difference between hard and soft BlackBerry resets, read “Hard v. Soft Resets, and When to Perform Each.”

3) Check Wireless Network Settings BlackBerry users experiencing wireless coverage or data transfer issues should ensure that their network settings are correct, RIM says. To do open up the Manage Connections menu via your BlackBerry home screen. The Mobile Network option should have checked box next to it to signify connectivity. Next, scroll down to Mobile Network Options and make sure Data Services are enabled and the Mobile Network and Network Mode are set to the appropriate carrier and network options.

4) Register Your BlackBerry the Wireless Network RIM also suggests registering your BlackBerry with your wireless network if problems arise. Registering a BlackBerry device running RIM’s handheld software v4.1 or higher is simple. Just open your BlackBerry Options menu via your home screen, click Advanced Options and then Host Routing Table. On the following screen, tap your BlackBerry Menu key and choose Register Now. You’ll then receive a network notification message to let you know your device has been registered.

5) Check your BlackBerry’s Connection to a Computer If you’re having issues working with RIM’s BlackBerry Desktop Manager software, you should ensure that your device connects properly to your machine, according to RIM. To determine whether or not your device is connected to BlackBerry Desktop Manager, open up the program’s Options menu and hit Connection Settings. You should see your device’s unique BlackBerry PIN number in the on-screen connection field. If not, click the Detect button. If your device is successfully connected, the program will tell you your device has been located. Still experiencing Desktop Manager issues? Visit RIM’s site for more troubleshooting suggestions.

6) Confirm BlackBerry Can Receive E-Mail One way to see whether or not you’re experiencing BlackBerry mail delivery latency or other problems is to simply send yourself a test message from an e-mail account that’s not associated with your device, RIM says. If you send the message and it appears on your BlackBerry, you can receive e-mail. If the message arrives, but it’s delayed, you’re very likely experiencing some sort of latency. Solutions for e-mail reception problems vary greatly depending on a number of user-specific factors, including whether or not the BlackBerry is on corporate BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) or a consumer-oriented BlackBerry Internet Service account. If you cannot receive e-mail, try registering your handheld with the network (see step four) and resending your service books (refer to step eight.) If you’re on a BES, you may have to contact your BlackBerry administrator for further assistance.

7) Confirm BlackBerry Can Send E-Mail, PIN Messages (BlackBerry Messenger) RIM also suggests checking your outgoing mail delivery if you’re having BlackBerry issues. Do so by first sending an e-mail message from your BlackBerry device to a mail account associated with your BlackBerry. (It’s okay to use the same account to send and receive the message.) If you receive the message, you can send e-mail. Secondly, you should confirm that you can send and receive BlackBerry Messenger and PIN messages. To do so, send a PIN message from your BlackBerry to yourself by opening up your Messages folder, hitting Menu and choosing Compose PIN. Type in your BlackBerry PIN and hit send. If you receive the message, you can send PIN messages. Solutions for e-mail problems vary greatly depending on a number of user-specific factors, including whether or not the BlackBerry is on corporate BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) or a consumer-oriented BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) account. If you’re on a BES, you may have to contact your BlackBerry administrator for further assistance.

Resend BlackBerry Service Books If you’re having mail or messaging issues, or any other BlackBerry performance problems, you should resend your device’s service books, RIM says. Service books communicate with your network’s BlackBerry infrastructure, specifying which services should be available and how they should function. There are three ways to resend your BlackBerry service books:
1) You can send the service books directly from your handheld;
2) you can log into your carrier’s (BIS) page and send them from there; and finally,
3) you can call on your carrier’s customer service reps to do the job for you. For instructions on each option, visit RIM’s website.

9) Launch the BlackBerry “Help” App Each and every new BlackBerry ships with a “Help” application and associated home screen icon, and RIM says this is one of the quickest and easiest ways to solve basic BlackBerry issues. To utilize the option, click the Help icon on your BlackBerry’s home screen and click Troubleshooting on the following page. You can also access the BlackBerry Help menu from within certain native BlackBerry apps, by hitting your Menu while an app’s open and choosing Help.

10) Visit BlackBerry Technical Solutions Center RIM posts bundles of information, in the form of “knowledge base” articles, to its BlackBerry Technical Solutions Center. The online destination is one of, if not the, best places on the Web to find solutions to advanced BlackBerry problems. It’s also a great resource for learning more about your handheld. RIM suggests visiting the BlackBerry Technical Solutions Center whenever you encounter a BlackBerry-related issue you can’t easily solve–and I do, too.

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By Tom Noda
Computerworld Philippines

Research In Motion (RIM) recently released in the Philippines the BlackBerry Storm, the first touch-screen BlackBerry smartphone. Unlike other smartphones, Storm bears a corporate and landscape style. Its unique SurePress touch-screen depresses ever so slightly when the screen is pressed, enhancing the touch interface for both typing and navigation. Although it has no Wi-Fi element, Storm is HSPA compatible. RIM described Storm as an ideal choice for both consumers and business customers who are looking for a versatile and fashionable smartphone. With its satellite navigation capabilities, Storm has easy access to social networking, email and messaging capabilities. It has a 3.25-inch “clickable” touch-screen with 480 x 360 resolution at 184 pixels per inch. Storm also comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera that has auto flash and auto focus image with 2x digital zoom, as well as a microSD/SDHC expandable memory card slot that supports up to 16 GB of additional storage per card while an 8GB microSDHC card comes preinstalled. The BlackBerry Storm is expected to be available from Globe Telecom and Smart Communications, Inc in May.

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