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RIM Makes Bold Step Towards iPhone
13 May, 2008
RIM introduced its answer to the iPhone’s move into the enterprise space in a Bold way. The Bold is RIM’s first 3G phone. The Bold hopes to stem the pending iPhone enterprise tide, by introducing similar features and a new style and design. It sets up what will be an interesting and pitched battle for RIM’s historical base – enterprise wireless customers. The new Bold will be exclusive to AT&T for a short while in North America and will offer tri-band HSDPA high-speed access, integrated GPS, Wi-Fi access, a faster processor, and 1 GB of onboard memory. The Bold is expected to launch sometime this Summer.
The Bold also attempts to provide an alternative to the iPhone’s rich multimedia heritage. Some key multimedia features include:
- on-the-go web browsing experience with desktop-style depiction
- a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, built-in flash and 5x digital zoom
- a media player which can display pictures and slideshows quickly and play movies in full screen mode
- audio can be played over the handset’s dual speakers in stereo sound, and when using wired headphones or external speakers, the media player gives the user an equalizer with 11 preset filters
- includes the Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry as well as Roxio Photosuite 9 LE, which makes it easy to enhance pictures
- synchronization of iTunes digital music collections through the new BlackBerry Media Sync application
In addition to Apple’s move on the enterprise sector, they are also rumored to be close to launching a 3G iPhone soon. Early indications are that the Bold will provide some competitive cover for RIM against the iPhone, especially considering their embedded customer base and superior email functionality. But Apple has the touchscreen, marketing prowess, cool factor, and an almost cult like following. Add 3G capability to that mix, and the iPhone will certainly be a contender to fear. Stay tuned.
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Featured Article
Clearwire Outlines 4G World Domination Plans
12 Jun, 2008
Clearwire is feeling quite confident these days. The emerging WiMAX provider held an investor conference and outlined their plan for 4G domination. We're "building the communications company of the future, today," says Clearwire CEO Ben Wolf. Clearwire chief strategy officer Scott Richardson calls it "the second coming of the Internet." It was quite the WiMAX pep rally. Clearwire executives say they intend to build a seamless nationwide 4G network way ahead of their competitors, namely Verizon and AT&T.
From a powerpointware perspective, the strategy looks real impressive. Clearwire intends to offer a five product suite of services which will include residential voice and broadband, mobile voice and broadband, and mobile entertainment. They intend to leverage their investor partners considerably, gaining access to tens of millions of existing subscriber relationships immediately. With their cable company partners, they intend to extend the cable entertainment experience "into the palms of consumer's hands." They intend to utilize Google's Android platform for a suite of "compelling" mobile applications. Intel will contribute by powering millions of end user devices and do for WiMAX what it did for Wi-Fi, in effect bringing it to the mainstream. Wolf says that the average consumer's total household spend on communications, ranging from $109-$258, is up for grabs, and they intend to capture as much of it as possible.
RIM will be fine
I don't see corporate IT departments embracing the iphone over the blackberry. They have too much invested in the blackberry to take on the headaches of integrating the iphone. RIM will be fine.