Leak: RIM ex-CEO would have let Android, iPhone use BIS

01604updated 08:15 am EDT, Fri April 13, 2012 RIM would have used BIS servers for basic data

RIM's former co-CEO Jim Balsillie had proposed using BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) servers to provide data for non-BlackBerry hardware shortly before he resigned his position, new leaks uncovered on Friday. The method outlined to Reuters would have let carriers offer Android and iPhone devices with cheaper data plans that limited Internet access to chat (possibly BlackBerry Messenger) and social networks, much like entry BlackBerry plans do today. RIM would presumably have made money from leasing access to carriers eager to get more smartphone customers and offload some of their bandwidth needs.The company was supposedly "well along the path," having written software to enable the feature on Apple and Google platforms.

Talks with carriers, however, supposedly created a rift. Soon-to-be CEO Thorsten Heins reportedly disagreed with Balsillie's strategy, which included talks with AT&T, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile), France Telecom (Orange), Telefonica (O2), and Vodafone. Instead, he put all his hopes on future BlackBerry 10 hardware due later in the year.

The strategy switch would have shifted RIM into becoming more of a services company and effectively conceding that the smartphone market was no longer the BlackBerry's to lead. Its early frontrunner position was gradually lost in the wake of the iPhone and saw RIM only slowly acknowledge that it needed to catch up, with slow hardware updates and odd touchscreen models giving few signs that it understood the competitive threat. Heins has said that RIM didn't anticipate the Bring Your Own Device movement among corporate buyers and, to keep RIM in the limelight, has helped unveil Mobile Fusion to manage Android, iOS, and BlackBerry devices all at once.

By Electronista Staff

printemail(4)

TAGS :  

iPhone, industry, Verizon, Orange, O2, AT&T, Android, BlackBerry, T-Mobile, RIM, mobile phones, Telefonica, France Telecom, Apple, BlackBerry 10, Mobile Fusion, BlackBerry Internet Service, Deutsche Telecom

Share the Article

FacebookTwitterDeliousSlash DotDiggRelated ArticlesRIM says BlackBerry 10 on track, hints cheap Curves soonRumors: BBM seen on iOS/Android, BlackBerry PlayBook 4G soonCanada would not stop RIM sale to outsidersGoogle CEO: Steve Jobs' Android fury was 'for show'RIM pushes analyst meeting until after BlackBerry 10 shipsATF Bureau to follow NOAA, ditch Blackberries for iPhonesSprint CEO says iPhone users more loyal, use less dataRecent ArticlesValve veteran details wearable computing projectReport: Apple considered investing in Sharp for LCD techNokia posts Lumia 900 data fix bug three days earlyCanon warns of EOS 5D Mark III bug skewing exposureRumors: BBM seen on iOS/Android, BlackBerry PlayBook 4G soonAT&T, Reebok, Intel to release branded Spotify appsApple denies product with Starck, yacht more likely insteadPanasonic Eluga ships in GermanyLenovo to ship ThinkPad L430, L530 notebooks in JuneNext Xbox rumored to have 16-core processorSamsung says Windows Phone 8 devices due late 2012

Other Articles

toggle

Previous Comments

Comment buried. ShowJust wondering

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2012

View the Original article