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Research In Motion
RIM has taken a lot of flak from CNET and others for its decision to pair the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with a BlackBerry smartphone (via the BlackBerry Bridge software) to access native e-mail, contacts, and calendar features as well as a 3G data connection.
Today, RIM released a video aimed at the business crowd (see below). It shows how connecting the two devices preserves the corporate security features for which RIM is known. Pairing a BlackBerry smartphone with a BlackBerry PlayBook essentially extends the smartphone’s account to the tablet. E-mail management appears nearly instant on the video, and we’re told that the secured, encrypted content disappears after the devices unpair.
IT policy isn’t exciting by most definitions, but for a company that has built its name on keeping content away from prying eyes better than its competitors, RIM cannot afford to ignore the business segment.
That said, it seems that RIM’s problem isn’t going to be convincing existing corporate partners of the PlayBook’s information security. It’s this: with the Bridge tethering software in place, RIM will have to toil even harder to position its PlayBook as a consumer tablet that everyone should want and buy.
CNET will continue to keep a close eye on the BlackBerry PlayBook’s development. We’ll also be attending a RIM panel on developer tools later this week. Keep reading for news on the PlayBook tablet.
