What's one of the recipes to success in electronic products? To start, take an identifiable market with a clear need. Then, mix in a good portion of creativity, a unique innovative approach, and some fresh new intellectual property. Next, roll out a product so simple and easy to use that you never need to flip through a manual. Finally, garnish it with an addictive quality that also serves our neverending desire for instant gratification and, voila, you can serve up an unbeatable standout product.
Such steps were followed in the creation of the BlackBerry. You've no doubt seen a BlackBerry or may even have one yourself. If not, you've heard about them. It's the ultimate communications appliance for the mobile warrior. Developed by Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, the BlackBerry started life as an e-mail-only device. Today, though, it's an e-mail terminal plus a cell phone and a PDA.
What's the big deal with the BlackBerry? You can get e-mail on many packet-based cell phones, some coming with PDA functions. But none handles e-mail better than the BlackBerry. With its full but miniature QWERTY keyboard, color screen, and unique "push" e-mail approach, the BlackBerry makes most other cell phones look like yesteryear's technology. In its twentieth year, RIM continues its success with a wide range of BlackBerries designed to support many different wireless carriers.
WHAT MAKES IT A BLACKBERRY?
The first BlackBerry arrived on the market in 1998. It came with its characteristic full keyboard plus a black and white LCD screen. It was an e-mail-only product that held one advantage over everyone else—push technology. Pull technology, its opposite, involves logging onto a site and downloading e-mail. With push technology, the e-mail is automatically and continuously routed to the BlackBerry. So when you turn it on, it's all there to see immediately. No further action is required. It's updated automatically as new messages are received, and it's always on.
Today's BlackBerry models include a cell phone and some PDA functions, plus a color screen. Both GSM/GPRS and CDMA2000 technology BlackBerries are available from carriers like AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon, and many others outside the U.S.
Typical of the newer models is the BlackBerry 7200 series (Fig. 1). This model is for those whose wireless carriers use the GSM/GPRS system. Different model numbers designate products for the different carriers, such as AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile. One key feature of the 7200 is that it offers full international roaming anywhere the GSM/GPRS systems exist.
The 7200 series features voice, always-on push wireless e-mail, SMS, a full-featured organizer with a calendar, an address book, an alarm clock, PC synchronization software, and a WAP text-only browser for Internet access. It has a backlit QWERTY keyboard and a 240- by 160-pixel display supporting 65k colors. A USB cable handles the charging and PC connection. A thumb-operated track wheel selects icons and functions. The rechargeable lithium battery offers four hours of talk time and 10 days of standby time. Memory is 16-Mbyte flash and 2-Mbyte SRAM. And of course, there's the wireless modem. The unit supports Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), an open standard that can handle specially developed applications.
1,000,000+ USERS
Early this year, RIM passed the 1 million-user mark with BlackBerry. Being a unique technology and product with virtually no competition, it should not come as a surprise. What may surprise some is how the BlackBerry lives up to its hype. As those who use it have discovered, the BlackBerry is a true business productivity tool.
Corporate execs and managers, government and military officers, and the financial and legal communities regularly use the BlackBerry. For those who dislike taking their laptops with them on trips, the BlackBerry provides a small but powerful way to keep up with the one thing we dread when returning from a trip: tons of e-mails. With a phone and e-mail terminal in one package, it's no wonder it has become the weapon of choice by many executives and road warriors.
Executives really love the BlackBerry because they don't have to lug a laptop with them. Laptops still have a geeky image that many execs want to avoid. Yet they do want and need to stay in touch by phone and e-mail, so the pocket-sized BlackBerry has become their solution.
The legal industry is a major user of the BlackBerry. Many big law firms have adopted BlackBerry for full communications among partners as well as to maintain continuous contact with clients during crisis periods. While you can't use a cell phone in the courtroom or a meeting, you can send the silent SMS or e-mail message that may save the day.
Another big BlackBerry user is the financial industry. It's a way to keep in touch with the markets and clients, and it leads to enhanced overall productivity. Government officials also take advantage of BlackBerry. It has become the tool of choice for senators, congressmen, and their staffs, keeping them in touch on critical committee meetings and votes where cell phones are banned. The Department of Defense and other U.S. agencies regularly use BlackBerry because it's safe and encrypted. State and local governments, including police and sheriff departments, are also significant users of BlackBerry. Pharmaceutical and real-estate industries have gone BlackBerry, too, discovering the ease of use and versatility that brings improved communications and productivity. The ability to be responsive improves competitiveness, strengthening the bottom line.
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