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Jason Stamper's Blog
BlackBerry Bold: RIM’s iPhone killer?
May 12, 2008
The latest device from Research in Motion has more than a passing resemblance to the Apple iPhone, with the obvious addition of a QWERTY keyboard. But does it have what it takes to attack Apple's successful iPhone?
For my money, this is RIM’s attempt at an iPhone killer. It’s not just the QWERTY keyboard that is designed to burst Apple’s smartphone bubble (the iPhone allows text entry via its touch-sensitive screen, but many business users will still prefer a proper keyboard, albeit a small one).
The BlackBerry Bold, scheduled for availability in “summer”, also features tri-band HSDPA, support for Wi-Fi networks, integrated GPS and desktop-style web pages. With the ability to talk on the phone while still sending and receiving email, accessing the web, or even editing Word, Excel or PowerPoint files, this is a serious phone aimed squarely at business users.
A recent Blackberry convert myself, I quickly realized that a Blackberry is more than the sum of its parts: it is more than a phone with email, web and other applications. As RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis has told me on more than one occasion, it is RIM’s integration of all the various hardware and software elements (atop RIM’s own Java operating system) that sets it apart from rival smartphone platforms.
So while consumers may still opt for the Apple iPhone, for the business market the BlackBerry Bold should be a pretty effective iPhone killer.
Comments
I have an iPhone and the keyboard is surprisingly easy to use. The small size of the screen on this new Blackberry is a big negative.
Personally, i think RIM should have gone with the touch screen instead of losing screen real estate.
With iPhones moving towards the Enterprise it could prove to be a big mistake.
Jason comments] Thanks for the comment, Rob. However I believe that a larger screen is more important for consumers after mutimedia than for business users, for whom the QWERTY is probably better than a touch screen that you get greasy when you type on it? That said, the Bold does have multimedia capabilities to keep the business users happy with the possibility of music and movies, albeit on a smaller screen than the iPhone.
The new 3G iPhone is due next week and my personal view is that with the connectivity options this will have into Exchange etc it will start to seriously eat into the domain that Rim have enjoyed for a number of years. Rim have become complacent and they are now scrabbling to catch up - if the iPhone is a success, as I think it will be, they are in trouble.
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