According to Scotia Capital analyst Gus Papageorgiou, Research in Motion is working on a technology that would allow BlackBerry users to wirelessly transfer files between their handheld devices and their PCs. Though RIM has made no announcements, and a company spokeswoman said she wasn't aware of any such plans, Mr. Papageorgio says he has gathered information that makes him believe it is on the way.

If Papageorgiou (I like typing that name!) is correct, the application will be called "BlackBerry Home Server" and would function in a similar manner to RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server. According to Papageorgiou, "Anybody who has an MP3 player and a mobile phone is a target for this service." Papargeorgiou claims the technology could broaden the consumer market for BlackBerrys and would represent a strong counterattack to Apple's iPhone in the battle for smartphone market dominance.

With BlackBerry Home Server, users would install software on their PC which would have access to RIM's network operating center. In turn, RIM's operating center would connect to the user's BlackBerry. The software would allow the user to access and organize their PC's digital media direct from their BlackBerry - think mobile iTunes.

I have to say, the consumer-targeted application does sound great, but I want to know more details!! Conceptually, it reminds me a little of WICKSoft's PocketVPN software, except it will run through RIM's network and I would assume the user's media files would have to be stored on RIM's server. Since the average user doesn't leave their computer on 24/7, it leads me to believe that all of the the media stored on the user's PC would sync to RIM's servers, so that a copy of the files/information are saved there for always-available access by the BlackBerry. Bandwidth and speed sound like they could be a challenge too. With Canada's expensive data plans for example, it would not take long to run up insane excess data charges if wirelessly transfering media files became a everyday habit. And if it takes forever to access a file, will people adopt it? 

I look forward to learning more about BlackBerry Home Server as the details emerge... stay tuned! Thanks for pointing us to the story miberry!

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