Tag: RIM

BlackBerry Internet Service is a hit with T-Mobile

Trends are clearly indicating a device with data (connectivity) is just as precious as a device with voice for many different reasons!

T-Mobile customers in the US are trading up from ordinary phones to the BlackBerry pearl. The BlackBerry Internet Service is a primary driver of this trend. It allows users to receive their personal e-mail instantaneously on their handhelds. It is very easy to setup and works well with GMail, Yahoo! and other free e-mail providers.

How repeatable is this trend in India? Yesterday, as I walked with the crowds in Mumbai, I could not help notice the number of folks who were carrying data-enabled handsets, for example – the Nokia 6030, 6230 and so on. I promise more on that later. It looks like there is a sizeable customer segment just waiting for the right spark to flip the demand for mobile data services.

At the Dadar ST bus stand – vendors (street) were selling cheap versions of mobile FM receivers with headsets. This is an oh-so obvious prediction – Mobile Entertainment, Television, Movies will be the next big wave to carry mobile data services into India. Perhaps not e-mail.

Bollywood films are now a click-away.

Regional content to drive rural mobile market.

3G GSM Summit Held in Mumbai with a Focus on Ecosystem around Mobile Value Added Services.

BlackBerry pearl proves consumers want smartphones – Fast Company.

T-Mobile has this to report about it’s BlackBerry Pearl users:

  • Nearly 3 out of 4 T-Mobile customers who upgraded to a BlackBerry Pearl traded up from a regular phone, rather than another converged device.
  • The majority of T-Mobile customers using the BlackBerry Pearl are using it for personal e-mail rather than staying connected to corporate servers.
  • Approximately 80% of all T-Mobile Blackberry Pearl customers to date have signed up for BlackBerry Internet Service only, to take advantage of personal e-mail accounts like gmail, Yahoo! mail, etc. (rather than Blackberry Enterprise Service for corporate e-mail).
  • 96% of T-Mobile Pearl customers send personal e-mail from their device weekly.

More trends on Sukshma.

TeamOn.com

Some time this year, the plug was finally pulled on the web service TeamOn.com. The service was backed by web startup TeamOn systems and a competitive, fast-paced team in its peak years 1999 – 2002. I joined them fresh out of college as a software developer with an overseas, outsourced team. TeamOn was acquired by RIM in August 2002, on the downside of the dot com blow out.

Do forgive the sentiment, this post is in remembrance. TeamOn was my first taste of startup life, business, and technology.

TeamOn had an e-mail aggregator way back in 2000 – users could aggregate their hotmail, AOL, MSN, CS2000, RPA, POP3, IMAP e-mail all in one teamon account. GMail has that feature in place now under “Get mail from other accounts”.

TeamOn had a hosted e-mail solution in place. You could have teamOn receive, store and send all e-mail for a domain you owned.

TeamOn also had virtual folders, conversations, document store and a bunch of other pretty cool features.

Here is a screenshot of a pretty old version.