[Via Symbian-Guru.com]

I guess that this isn’t exactly what Nokia said, but, they did stop supporting BlackBerry Connect and even said that RIM is now a competitor.

RIM are a competitor and have done a reasonable job in a space that is traditionally ours, so it’s no great surprise that we see this as an opportunity to give consumers a proper choice on what email solution they want.

Now, I know that Nokia is a giant handset manufacturer, especially outside of the United States, however, this move all but ensures that they will never again sell a device to a business user in the U.S. that works for a company that has standardized on BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

[Source]

As part of a newly-created team, you’ll influence the development and design of BlackBerry software,” the listing reads. “This is a very confidential brand new team and a senior position within RIM so I can’t provide too many details. I guess you can figure out what it might be about though.

I guess there are a couple of ways you could go with this. RIM is definitely working on a touch screen BlackBerry. Maybe they are looking for someone with expertise on the iPhone’s interface. The issue I see here is that it will take them years to come up with something as good as the iPhone’s interface and as I’ve said before, RIM cannot out Apple Apple.

The other thought is that RIM is looking for an iPhone developer to actually develop software for the iPhone. The question here is what BlackBerry software could RIM possibly want to run on the iPhone? I’ve got two words for you…

BlackBerry Connect…

A lot of people are going to say that BlackBerry Connect has really never taken off. I believe, however, that this was not because of a shortcoming in BlackBerry Connect. There has been, in my opinion, no device readily available in the United States that truly could even compete with the BlackBerry on a hardware stand point. Why buy an inferior device that could get email like a BlackBerry when the device you truly want is a BlackBerry in the first place?

This was pretty much the case until the iPhone shipped last June. Needless to say, the iPhone is doing pretty well with consumers that would not have nor would they ever be interested in a BlackBerry. Many of these very consumers, however, work for corporations that would be more than happy to try to squeeze more productivity out of them by allowing them to get corporate email on their personal device especially if the company can leverage the investment in BES that they’ve already made and the employee is the one funding the device.

BlackBerry Connect on an iPhone addresses so many of the IT concerns that Apple will face as they try to move in on RIM’s turf. They way I see it, BlackBerry Connect on an iPhone would be a win/win for both Research in Motion and Apple.

What do you think?

Is it just me, or, does this sound an awful lot like BlackBerry Connect?

I know that BlackBerry Connect focuses primarily on allowing thrid-party devices to synch email, calendar, and contacts with BES and that this new BlackBerry virtualization software will allow many other BlackBerry applications to run on Windows Mobile 6 devices as well. The big question for me, however, is if BlackBerry Connect never really caught on offering the main applications everyone used a BlackBerry for, will BlackBerry virtualization catch on offering some of the lesser used BlackBerry applications in addition.

The BlackBerry Connect program enables the mob-e-mail leader’s push e-mail and data access solutions to work with non-Blackberry devices. BlackBerry Connect 4.0 adds the ability to generate an encryption key wirelessly, wireless activation of a device in the enterprise, AES in addition to Triple Data Encryption Standard (DES), Dutch and Brazilian Portuguese language support, and the ablity to erase and disable a BlackBerry-enabled device

BlackBerry Connect 4.0, Nokia E90

BlackBerry Connect on HTC handsets supports push-based wireless email access, wireless email reconciliation and attachment viewing in conjunction with both BlackBerry® Enterprise Server and BlackBerry® Internet Service.

 
BlackBerry Connect hasn’t really “caught on” so much in the United States where actual BlackBerry devices reign supreme. In other countries, however, where their are more options for smartphones , BlackBerry Connect seems to be a viable alternative for consumers and business users alike who want the push based email via BlackBerry Enterprise Server, but don’t want to use an actual BlackBerry device.

HTC

Digicel will initially offer the BlackBerry Connect service in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dutch Caribbean islands. Digicel plans, however, to expand BlackBerry Connect to all 22 of the companies markets.

BlackBerry Connect, Digicel, Sony Ericsson P990

The Sony Ericsson P990 with BlackBerry Connect allows customers to choose and enjoy the phone’s comprehensive features and stylish design together with RIM’s popular BlackBerry services. Supported BlackBerry features include push-based wireless email access, wireless email reconciliation and attachment viewing through BlackBerry® Enterprise Server and BlackBerry® Internet Service.

Read the full press release…

Digicel, Sony Ericsson P990

 
The BlackBerry Pearl may have a bit of competition from another new release from T-Mobile. The Samsung t719, a SureType keyboard toting, BlackBerry Connect running, digital picture taking, flip phone is available for $199.99 on their website.

The T719 will also feature a rotating, 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, Voice command dialing, and run on T-Mobile’s high-speed EDGE network.

Read more…

Samsung t719, T-Mobile, BlackBerry Connect, SureType

The availability of BlackBerry Connect on the Palm Treo 650 represents a marriage of two very popular wireless offerings that now gives Cingular customers more choice, said Michael Woodward, executive director, mobile professional solutions, for Cingular Wireless. Businesses can now leverage their existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server while giving employees a powerful, new wireless device option.

BlackBerry Connect for the Treo 650 includes the following features:

• Push Corporate Email delivers messages automatically — and wirelessly — to the Treo 650s inbox. Changes to the inbox, including read/unread status and deletion, can be automatically synchronized between the users email account and the Treo 650.
• Wireless Calendar Synchronization keeps the Treo 650s built-in Calendar up to date remotely, allowing users to receive, accept or decline meeting requests on the go.
• Attachment Viewing lets users view Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents in original format.
• Remote Address Lookup (RAL) allows users to search their corporate directory wirelessly for email addresses without the need to download every name to the Treo 650.
• Enables centralized device management, including support for IT policies such as over-the-air device disablement and password device lock, as well as end-to-end security with Triple DES encryption.

Read the full Press Release…

BlackBerry Connect, Palm Treo 650, Cingular