Introduction
Blackberry is an electronic two-way pager wireless device that is handheld and has existed since 1999. Its introduction in the market by research in motion industry based in Canada was mainly focused on e-mail so as to deliver data to other wireless information networks of phone companies and therefore offering convergent services for the other devices. It was also meant to supports messaging through texts, faxing through internets as well as web browsing. Today, a software known as ‘blackberry connect’ enables non-blackberry devices like pal Treo to have e-mail services. (Simmons, 2004)
Cause/Origin
Blackberry device which acts both as a telephone and also as a device to organize, browse e-mails as well as receiving instant messages was initially introduced by RIM based in Canada. It was introduced as a solution to business people as well as consumers in the whole world who needed to stay connected throughout their travels no matter the locations in which they are in. Before the introduction of the blackberry device, consumers had to acquire both a wireless mail box and a corporate mail box but blackberry resolved the problem by allowing consumers to use a single mailbox. The device was used together with a network operation center based in Canada which enabled retrieval of e-mail by triple DES encryption and then forwarding to the blackberry device. (Maxim, 2002)
Effect for the blackberry
The introduction of the blackberry device has enabled business men as well as employees to keep in touch with each other regularly regardless of their location in the world. Today it is not just for business alone but also for family members and friends because it can too be a fun where individuals can always communicate and operate chat software in a better way compared with other wireless and handheld devices. Although majority of handheld devices connects to e-mail, blackberry stands out than all of them because it is not proprietary and therefore it is cheaper to operate. (Maxim, 2002)
Apart from the device being cheap to operate it has a series of other advantages over other wireless handheld devices such as longer battery life where one can run massager software for more than 90 hours consecutively while the device is not tethered and its screen on but its backlight turned off. It also has the ability to store all the data for more than a week even if its battery is yanked. All its data is recorded in the flash ROM and therefore the user does not require making backups as it is normally the case with palm.
The security details are high for the blackberry because its connection uses a 128-bit encryption which requires an application to be signed by the user before being accessed. The user can also deactivate the device incase it is stolen because it has capability of being remote controlled. With the introduction of the blackberry, preventing viruses/ spyware has become easier because it requires signing RIM ahead of the application and accessing the database. It is always connected and unlike most wireless devices that have to be connected manually especially if it has been on standby for long or if it had been turned off. (Simmons, 2004)
Conclusion
The introduction of the blackberry devices has provided a major breakthrough in the communication industry making it cheaper and faster to consumers. All the blackberry devices are equipped with all the features to connect consumers on a regular basis.
Simmons C. (2004): How to do everything with your blackberry: Ventura publishers.
Maxim M. (2002): wireless security: RSA press.