A BlackBerry by any other name

Regular readers know that I am in constant field trials with new mobile devices. Right now, my bag contains a BlackBerry 7230, a Nokia 6620 phone, and a PalmOne Treo 600 PDA. All three devices ostensibly do the same things — phone, messaging, and personal information management — but they take radically different and inconsistently effective approaches to each function. I have yet to find a single device that makes the other two unnecessary.

Thanks to Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry handheld messaging device, I’ve got a decent shot at bagging the competent unified handheld of my dreams. It won’t have a BlackBerry logo on it, but where its messaging capabilities are concerned, neither I nor my wireless carrier will be able to tell it isn’t a BlackBerry.

Indeed, if RIM has its way, BlackBerry Connect software will make every mobile device act like a BlackBerry. To understand how this could come about, consider the mix of handhelds I carry now. They have only two qualities in common: T-Mobile and Java. T-Mobile is my personal carrier preference for reasons of stability, coverage, maturity, quick adoption of new devices, and suitability for the work I do. There are many carriers that support the BlackBerry, each with unique plans.

Java’s role in this is substantial. Each of my three devices has its own flavor of Java. The BlackBerry is truly unique, running more of a customized, scaled-down desktop Java than the standardized J2ME.

Now Sun Microsystems has distributed an extensive update to mobile Java called J2ME Wireless Toolkit 2.0. This update, usually referred to as MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) 2.0, equips Java-enabled phones with programmability that rivals the BlackBerry’s but with the added benefit of cross-vendor standardization. It will only be a matter of time before device makers create their own push messaging technology using Sun’s new mobile Java.

RIM headed this off at the pass with a brilliant and unexpected strategy: a program called BlackBerry Connect that licenses BlackBerry’s push messaging technology to competing device makers. With these inexpensive licenses and development assistance from RIM, major manufacturers, including Nokia and PalmOne, can hop onto carriers’ existing BlackBerry infrastructure. A new release of BlackBerry Enterprise Server connects BlackBerry and licensed devices to Exchange and Notes servers.

BlackBerry Connect is a significant advance for many reasons. It frees device makers from having to develop their own secure, instantaneous messaging technology from scratch. It also relieves RIM of the burden of modernizing its devices to make them competitive as phones and PDAs.

Meanwhile, RIM cleans up. The BlackBerry Connect program effectively forces all carriers to pick up BlackBerry’s messaging infrastructure. It makes BlackBerry Enterprise Server irresistible to enterprises that deploy mobile devices or support employees’ personal devices.

How well will BlackBerry Connect work? I can’t say; I don’t yet have a device that implements it. I give BlackBerry Connect excellent odds, however, because RIM’s Java programmers are the best in the mobile realm. RIM has pulled off a coup that benefits everyone. Sun should be shouting from the rooftop for having finally realized its dream of Java bringing together competing carriers and device makers.