The Canadian Press

MONTREAL

The BlackBerry mobile communications device is hard to beat in the corporate world, where it got its start, but it’s expected have a tougher time winning the hearts of consumers who are being wooed by Apple’s iPhone and other smartphones.

While there’s an opportunity for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion to fill a void in Canada while the iPhone isn’t yet available, Apple’s phone is a real threat, says tech analyst Jesse Hirsh.

He adds the BlackBerry is still cool but it’s no longer “uber-cool.”

“Technology fetishists are discarding their BlackBerrys and they all drive to the States and buy an iPhone and look on the Internet for how to hack into them and they are all running iPhones,” said Hirsh, who runs a tech advice website.

The consumer marketplace is “incredibly competitive” and if the BlackBerry doesn’t live up to its brand’s billing, consumers will make the switch to other smart phones, he said.

Hirsh also said the Apple’s touch-screen technology is pushing ahead of the BlackBerry’s trackwheel and the more innovative trackball on the consumer-oriented Pearl smartphone and some newer models of the BlackBerry, which revolutionized wireless e-mail with features such as a full QWERTY-style keyboard for rapid two-thumbed typing.

“Research In Motion — they have absolutely been threatened by the iPhone and the design revolution that the iPhone has introduced in both the touchscreen and the way that the device is used,” Hirsh said.

Alan Sawyer, who runs Two Solitudes Consulting, said consumers may just shrug off the BlackBerry’s capacity for providing e-mail security.

That is, however, a key selling point for many business customers and especially for the U.S. defence establishment and police forces that are major users of the Canadian-invented devices.

“You will never see, in my opinion, Research In Motion get the sort of market share in the consumer world that it has traditionally been able to garner in the corporate world,” said Sawyer, a media strategist in Toronto.

It won’t even be close to RIM’s corporate dominance, especially if the iPhone becomes available in Canada, Sawyer said.

“That’s going to take a big chunk of that share probably,” he said, but added the BlackBerry Pearl model does put RIM on a competitive footing with the iPhone and other smartphones.

Smartphones are wireless phones that allow users to make calls, send e-mails and surf the Internet, for example. They also have keyboards for inputting text but are generally more limited than the BlackBerrys.

The Pearl, first introduced in September 2006, was the first RIM product to include consumer-friendly features such as a camera and MP3 player. It came out about half a year before Apple’s iPhone became available in the United States.

A recent upgrade to the BlackBerry wireless system appears to have been the cause of a three-hour service disruption on Monday that affected millions of users in North America.

Research In Motion, based in Waterloo, has said the routine upgrade was part of its efforts to increase system capacity for increased growth.

“They probably still have one of the most, if not the most secure way of getting e-mail around when it’s working,” Sawyer said.

“On the corporate side, I think there will be slow erosion of the market share, but the market (size) is going to keep growing.”

For consumers, Hirsh said Internet search engine Google has introduced a mobile phone and many cellphone makers including Nokia and Samsung also offer smartphones, and some of them are cheaper.

Japan’s HTC offers handsets that look and act like BlackBerrys that use Windows Mobile software, he said.

“Nokia is the world’s largest mobile company. They dominate Europe, Asia and the African markets. They have devices that I feel are far superior to BlackBerrys.”

Tech expert Elias Makos believes the BlackBerry is still dominant in the business world because computer technicians are reluctant to abandon them and RIM’s system. (The latest RIM outage and the next will take care of that)

“I really don’t think that RIM has shown anything that’s going to lead me to believe they’re going to be a success in the consumer market,” said Makos, a technical instructor at Concordia University’s journalism department.

Makos said RIM will have to make some improvements to win big among consumers.

This thread is about RIM’s touchscreen device in response to the iPhone, It’s been over a year now…. Not quick enough RIM…. A quick glance at each device speaks volumes.

SAP’s first generation of the iPhone software will load business contacts, information on sales prospects and account data onto the device, Stutz said.

Stutz said SAP decided to introduce the iPhone software ahead of programs for other devices at the request of its sales people, saying they prefer using iPhones to the other devices.

Apple iPhone and BlackBerry Coopetition
Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 1:10 PM – by John Martellaro
http://www.ipodobserver.com/story/32133
There are problems, however, with RIM’s public posture. Apple won’t be standing still. All the attention is on Apple. RIM only has a short window in time to measure up to the iPhone design or face serious image problems. Apple could expand into, say, Best Buy, and expand the device as a platform and its capabilities faster than competitors, [thanks to Mac OS X in the iPhone.]
The author, Jeremy MacNealy, sees the iPhone as a serious threat to the BlackBerry, despite the coopetition factor, and, despite RIM’s temporary happiness with the rising tide of smartphones, they’re going to have to react very quickly to avoid becoming the victim of obsolescence in very new kind of race.

It’s been over a year now…. Not quick enough RIM…. A quick glance at each device speaks volumes.

Nokia Adds Touch Screen Interface to S60……
A Research in Motion (RIM) patent application points to the possibility of a touchscreen BlackBerry in the near future……
LG’s Touch-Screen Voyager…..

All jumping on the bandwagon, but there is none which will come close the the revolutionary iPhone.

You’re off your rocker.

Not sure both are needed although having both one can make a valid argument. IMO I find my iPhone does everything my Pearl does and then some. It’s good to be able to form a valid opinion instead of throwing a fit and posting FUD like a child every time someone posts something bluehorseshoe doesn’t agree with.