Monday, May 12, 2008

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RIM's 'Bold' Caters To Symbol-Conscious Road Warriors

The BlackBerry Bold (Model 9000), the newest smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM), made its debut today, claiming to be the first device to support global tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks. But CrackBerry addicts will have to wait until sometime this summer for delivery.

The phone, positioned to take a direct shot at Apple's iPhone, also comes with integrated GPS and Wi-Fi plus a rich set of multimedia capabilities.

Touting as "a symbol of accomplishment and aspiration," the BlackBerry Bold "represents a tremendous step forward in business-grade smartphones and lives up to its name with incredible speed, power and functionality, all wrapped in a beautiful and confident design," says Mike Lazaridis, RIM's president and co-CEO.

Here's what the Bold can do: The BlackBerry Bold's support for tri-band HSDPA and enterprise-grade Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g) networks, and its next-gen 624 MHz mobile processor facilitate fast downloading of e-mail attachments, streaming video or Web pages. It also includes 128 MB Flash memory plus 1 GB on-board storage memory as well as a microSD/SDHC memory card slot. Users also can download Word, Excel or PowerPoint files and edit them using the preloaded DataViz Documents to Go suite.

As far as the phone's display is concerned, the smartphone's half-VGA (480x320 resolution) color LCD is fused to the undersurface of the lens. A new "Push Button Setup" is included, reportedly making it faster for users to connect to protected wireless networks that require a sign on process. And through its integrated GPS, the BlackBerry Bold can pinpoint its exact location, supporting applications like BlackBerry Maps and other location-based applications or services.

For voice applications, the Bold includes such premium phone features as Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD); and Bluetooth 2.0, with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits (including car kits that adhere to the Bluetooth Remote SIM Access Profile) and other Bluetooth peripherals.

Like all BlackBerry smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold works with BlackBerry Enterprise Server that supports IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments, as well as BlackBerry Professional Software for small businesses.

In other RIM news today, the company is partnering with Thomson Reuters to launch the BlackBerry Partners Fund, a $150 million venture capital fund aimed at investing in mobile applications and services for the BlackBerry and other mobile platforms.

"While we do not view the Bold as revolutionary, we do expect the device to successfully extend the BlackBerry franchise as well as its shelf space," wrote Matthew Thornton, a telecom analyst at Avian Securities LLC, in a research note this morning. "We expect the Bold to reach stores in the July timeframe with a price point likely in the $249.99 to $299.99 price range (with service contract), at least initially. We expect AT&T to have initial exclusivity in the U.S. market. As has been typical for RIM, the device is likely to launch at CDMA carriers after the initial GSM rollout."

The BlackBerry Partners Fund reportedly will focus on applications and services for the BlackBerry platform and other mobile platforms including mobile commerce (payments, advertising, retailing and banking), vertical and horizontal enterprise applications, communications, social networking, location-based applications and services (navigation and mapping), media and entertainment, and lifestyle and personal-productivity applications.

"The BlackBerry Partners Fund will focus on evaluating companies in all regions of the world and investing in the long-term success of those that demonstrate market leadership and unique differentiation," comments John Albright, managing partner at JLA Ventures, who will also assume the role of co-managing partner of the fund. "Whether it's access to corporate data or the latest craze in mobile entertainment, we want to fund companies that are forerunners in driving adoption and further enriching the mobile experience."

Agnostic to both stage and balance sheet, the partners say the BlackBerry Partners Fund "will not restrict the development of mobile applications and services to any single mobile platform or any specific industry segment." The fund will be co-managed by JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners.

"The mobile world has evolved well-beyond phone calls and simple messaging to require more empowering and liberating solutions that connect people to everything that matters most to them, wherever and whenever they want," says Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-CEO. "RIM, RBC and Thomson Reuters share the common belief that mobile applications and services will propel the industry forward, and the BlackBerry Partners Fund is being formed to help fuel innovation and activity in the mobile ecosystem."

Adds Devin Wenig, CEO/Markets Division at Thomson Reuters. "Thomson Reuters is committed to supporting the development of next generation mobile applications that will provide our professional and business customers with anywhere, anytime capabilities. The ability to make business critical decisions with intelligent information available on mobile devices will give our customers a clear competitive advantage."

And in more RIM news, Microsoft announced this morning an agreement to provide Microsoft Windows Live services on BlackBerry smartphones, and service is set to start sometime this summer.

The integration will allow BlackBerry subs who use Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger on their smartphones "to benefit from the BlackBerry platform architecture with the ability to communicate in real-time using push technology, and offering an exceptional mobile communications experience" just by entering their Windows Live e-mail addresses and passwords once.

Among other features, Windows Live Hotmail for BlackBerry will allow customers to:

>>Use BlackBerry "push" technology for automatic message delivery and message synchronization

>>Use a dedicated inbox for Windows Live Hotmail messages, automatically delivered to the smartphone.

>>Display HTML e-mail with the ability to view graphics, Web links and contact photos in e-mail

Windows Live Messenger for BlackBerry will allow customers to:

>>Send instant messages and join group chats

>>Set status and see the presence of friends and colleagues within Windows Live Messenger or their contact cards

>>Customize status messages

>>Save conversations

>>Showcase their Display Picture (avatar)

>>end and receive pictures and files

>>Use more than 60 emoticons

"Over 430 million people around the world rely on Windows Live to stay in touch," says Brian Arbogast, vice president/Mobile Services at Microsoft. "Our collaboration with RIM will enable BlackBerry smartphone customers to take full advantage of Windows Live, whether at work or on the go."