PALMSOURCE DEVELOPER SEMINAR, SAN MATEO, Calif., May 6 2003 PalmSource,
Inc., provider of the world's most popular operating system for
handhelds and smartphones, and the Palm OS subsidiary of Palm,
Inc, and Research In Motion (RIM), the leading developer of wireless
enterprise solutions, today announced they will work together
to market and promote the BlackBerry Connect solution to Palm
OS licensees to enable secure, push-based email and data connectivity
for wireless Palm Powered handhelds and smartphones.
As the enterprise becomes increasingly mobile, demand for easily
deployable, wireless solutions that immediately increase productivity
and reduce IT costs continue to grow. Mobile professionals and
IT departments require reliable and secure access to corporate
data from their wireless device and the ease of integration with
existing back-end resources. Through RIM's BlackBerry Connect
licensing program, Palm OS licensees will be offered RIM's software
solution for Palm Powered handhelds and smartphones, that will
enable behind-the-firewall, enterprise-ready BlackBerry email
and corporate data connectivity.
"The BlackBerry connectivity architecture and infrastructure
has been certified by leading wireless carriers around the world
and BlackBerry Enterprise Server has been deployed in more than
ten thousand companies and government organizations," said
Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO at Research In Motion. "Together
with PalmSource, we will enable carriers and customers to leverage
their existing investments and deliver the BlackBerry wireless
experience to new users of Palm Powered wireless devices."
"We are pleased to partner with RIM to deliver an industry-leading
robust, secure wireless email and corporate data solution for
Palm Powered mobile devices," said David Nagel, president
and chief executive officer for PalmSource. "BlackBerry Connect
for Palm Powered devices will widen the choices of wireless messaging
solutions for Palm OS licensees in order to better meet the needs
of our enterprise customers."
BlackBerry Connect on Palm OS will deliver a powerful combination
for Palm Powered mobile devices to execute on enterprise customer
requirements for enhanced flexibility, security and manageability,
uncompromised power and ease of use, and low training, support
and maintenance costs. Palm OS has achieved a leading position
in the enterprise because it offers a low total cost of ownership
(TCO), while also supporting the largest base of mobile software
worldwide.
BlackBerry is a leading wireless enterprise platform that has
been widely deployed to provide mobile access to information.
BlackBerry Enterprise Server supports both Microsoft Exchange
and IBM Lotus Domino environments with single mailbox integration
and provides IT departments with centralized administration, end-to-end
security (using Triple DES encryption), multi-network support
and a powerful development platform. RIM's BlackBerry Connect
licensing program enables mobile device manufacturers to equip
their handsets with the same reliable, secure and push-based BlackBerry
wireless data experience.