After pounding the conference floor at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium and hiding out in the demo theatres reviewing the myriad solutions on display at this year’s impressive show, we just had to consider the cunningly simple Ring2 Conference Controller to be one of the Best Ideas of WES 2007. The application allows call leaders to take remote control of their conference calls to see and control who’s on the call, solving those every day conferencing nightmares that we all face. We sat down with Michael Hughes, Ring2’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO, to learn more…

What is Ring2?
Ring2 Conferencing is a pioneering audio-conferencing software and services company – offering the world’s first remote control of dial-in conference calls control from a mobile device.

What does Ring2 do?
Ring2 solves everyday problems and associated with business audio-conferencing, in the simplest possible way.

In the world of collaboration, basic dial in audio-conferencing is by far the dominant part of the market representing over 80% of revenues. Why? In talking with customers, we learned that users like the simplicity of sending out toll free numbers and access codes to participants with the confidence that people will be able to easily get on the call. Ease and simplicity is key, the fear of technical embarrassment is paramount. However, if you ask the same users about their experiences on conference calls, most have anecdotes about missing participants, unknown participants and the perennial problem of the person joining from a noisy environment who does not know how to mute their phone.

Ring2 keeps the simplicity and ease of dial in conferencing, but adds optional, easy-to-use remote control to help call leaders overcome the frustrations they face on conference calls each day. The core of Ring2’s service works just like traditional dial in conferencing where participants are sent a toll free number and a participant code so they can join the call and if the users so choose, they can use this basic functionality and nothing more. However, as soon as the first person joins a leader’s conference, Ring2 pushes a notification to the call leader’s BlackBerry letting them know that someone has joined their call. From there a single click allows the leader to ‘see’ dynamically who is on the call by name and then choose to join the call from any phone. During the call, new participants are identified to the call leader by name on their BlackBerry rather than a mysterious ‘boop’ and the leader can add missing participants from the BlackBerry address book or control individual legs to mute a noisy line or put a participant on hold for a private conversation.

The Ring2 Conference Controller gives call leaders visibility and control over their conference calls reducing stress and increasing security for all concerned.

What are the typical problems and headaches with business audio-conferencing?
These problems include:

• Who is on the call and who is missing in those first few minutes which are full of ‘boops?’
• Is anyone listening in who shouldn’t be?
• How can you be sure others have dropped off the call when you want a private side conversation?
• How do you add someone into the call?
• How do you mute the person in their car or the noisy airport?

Why remote control with a BlackBerry? Wouldn’t a desktop solution work just as well?
The call leader is only at their desk for approximately 30 percent of conferencing calls, and according to Wainhouse Research, approximately 40 percent of conference calls are made from good old-fashioned meeting rooms. Therefore, a desktop-based solution is not that useful for collaboration. Why not utilize the trusty BlackBerry that users will always have with them?

Why not just use a solution with richer collaboration capabilities?
User issues with audio-conferencing are not so much that they need richer collaboration capabilities, but rather that their voice calls are subject to basic everyday headaches of visibility and control that have been overlooked in the quest for feature-rich collaboration. One of the main barriers to adoption of a richer collaboration service is that users are scared of them. They are worried that they will make mistakes (on the desktop interfaces) while on their important conference calls.

On top of this, there is an adoption issue: why would a user who is used to going into a conference room and dialing into a call think to type in a URL, username and password to take control of the call? It is not a natural part of the way that people currently behave compounded by the fact that users often don’t have easy access to their PCs. As a result, utilization rates of broader collaboration solutions are very low, below 5% by most estimations, whereas Ring2 by pushing the pertinent information to the device that the user will most likely have with them at the exact time that they need this information is able to achieve a utilization rate in excess of 60%.

How does Ring2 overcome barriers to adoption?
First, Ring2 keeps the user interface super-simple (sequential questions that can be answered in seconds rather than multi-capable screen views). Next, Ring2 includes the fewest necessary features that solve real problems. It does not manifest capabilities of the technology for technology sake. Thirdly, in an enterprise environment, Ring2 believes in building the technology and service on what people use and are comfortable with today. Finally, by pushing the pertinent information to the user exactly when they need it, we ensure that the solution is not forgotten about in the fluster before joining a call. This is especially important as a service provider vs. a technology company. Service providers need fast adoption and mass usage to make money and can less afford evolution to a new technology.

Who are Ring2’s customers?
Ring2 customers operate in all sectors all around the world including law, banking, private equity, consulting, technology, media, recruitment and manufacturing, from multi-nationals to small businesses.

Thank you for your time and congratulations on being consider one of the Best Products at WES 2007.
Thanks very much, it’s a great honor for us and we appreciate you taking the time to learn more about what we do. See you next year!

Digby is a mobile commerce service that lets you shop for stuff right from your BlackBerry. Recently Dave Sikora, CEO of Digby, was kind enough to sit down for an interview…

Q: Do you intend to remain focused on brick and mortar stores for your catalog, or do you plan to open it up to sell software as well?

A: From the beginning we have remained focused on addressing the unique challenges of buying and selling physical goods and making mobile commerce of these goods easier for the user and the retailer will remain a core focus for us. Mobile commerce for software is very different than physical goods with its own unique set of challenges and requirements. We may add software in the future, but only when we feel that we can provide the user as great a mobile experience as we have been able to provide them for physical goods.

The secret of the BlackBerry’s success is security, according to RIM’s co-chief executive Jim Balsillie, but social networking is its future.

So apparently Jim was talking at a session on mobile services at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. He touted the security features of BlackBerry such as built-in firewalls and the ability to remotely lock and wipe devices as key to its adoption by the organization.

But the future, said Balsillie, lies in a B2B social-networking revolution that is coming. “Once social networking becomes a B2B phenomenon — not unlike IM and texting — I believe every single social-networking user will want a data plan,” he told the Mobile World Congress audience.

What are your thoughts? Is social networking the next revolution coming to mobile devices? In addition to being an essential communication tool, will the BlackBerry also become a critical social facilitator? Will social networking be just another facet of BlackBerry ownership, or will it join phone and email to become the 3rd killer mobile app?

Either way, you may want to check out Facebook for BlackBerry.

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

After many months of speculation, RIM today announced the BlackBerry 8800, the thinnest BlackBerry handset yet. The 8800 comes with a full QWERTY keyboard, built-in GPS, multimedia features and a microSD expandable memory slot.

From the Press Release:

The BlackBerry 8800 smartphone offers another winning combination of superior hardware, software and service embodied by an extremely elegant industrial design, said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “We spent a tremendous amount of effort refining the BlackBerry 8800, inside and out, and that effort will be evident to customers. From the premium finish to the vivid screen to the exceptional sound quality and the unmatched usability, the BlackBerry 8800 is a standout choice for mobile professionals.

The official device website is BlackBerry8800.com.

AT&T will be the first wireless carrier in North America to launch the BlackBerry 8800 when it begins offering it across its wireless retail and business channels on February 21. The BlackBerry 8800 from AT&T has an exclusive, premium, dark blue finish and AT&T uniquely supports Push To Talk (PTT) on the handset. This is the first AT&T handset that is GPS enabled.

The BlackBerry 8800 will be available in Canada exclusively at Rogers Wireless and is expected to be available in retail and business channels in March.

The BlackBerry 8800 Smartphone

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com on February 12, 2007

RIM has released a new free theme for the 83xx and 88xx series. It’s called “Scribble”, and if you have one of those devices, you can get it from mobile.blackberry.com. Just point your BlackBerry browser to that URL and look under the “What’s Hot” section.

The new theme invokes some nostalgic old memories of doodling on notebook paper while not listening in class. So now that you’re all grown up, you can gaze at the hand drawn icons of your BlackBerry while not listening in your business meeting.

Scribble Theme

Scribble Theme

 
## This Article Was Originally Published by AllBlackBerry.com  

Mozilla has been working on a mobile version of their Firefox browser. And now they have released initial designs of Mobile Firefox’s user interface. The design considers two classes of devices: touch screen enabled devices and devices where screen navigation is performed with a keyboard or similar.

Looking at the non-touchscreen devices, there are some interesting notes about how the UI will work..

Because non-touch screen mobile devices do not have a pointer device, navigating web applications can be troublesome. To correct this, we use a virtual cursor, controlled by the directional pad.

On long presses of the directional pad, the browser should begin smooth scrolling. After a set amount of time, the page should gradually zoom out to give the user a view of the entire layout and facilitate faster scrolling. This also in effect will gradually accelerate the scrolling. When the long press ends, the browser should begin gradually zooming back in on the element that the cursor is positioned over.

Mozilla is aiming to reproduce the look and feel and functionality consistency with Firefox 3.

You can find out more about the design at this link. No word yet on whether we’ll get it on the BlackBerry, but if you want your voice heard, this might be a good place to start.

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

RIM announced a series of updates for the BlackBerry platform that include enhanced messaging, new admin tools, and enhanced security.

Some of the more interesting improvements include:

Document Downloading and Editing - “Documents To Go” by DataViz will be integrated into the BlackBerry platform, enabling users to edit Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files directly on the BlackBerry.

Remote Search for Messages - Users will be able to search for and retrieve email messages from their email server even if the message is no longer stored on their BlackBerry.

Free-Busy Calendar Lookup - Users on the go will be able to check the availability of colleagues before sending a meeting request.

HTML and Rich Text Email Rendering - Users will be able to view HTML and rich text email messages with original formatting preserved including font colors and styles, embedded images, hyperlinks, tables, bullets and other formatting.

These new BlackBerry platform enhancements are scheduled to be phased in to new software releases during the first half of 2008 and will be showcased at Lotusphere this week. You can see the original press release with the full set of features here. And for more information visit www.blackberry.com/go/serverupdate.

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

Alltel began offering the SalesNow customer-relationship management app to BlackBerry users. SalesNow, which was developed by Interchange Solutions, is designed to help mobile workers track and manage their contacts, deals, activities, and e-mails. The type of information users can share includes weekly reports, team forecasts, and details of business deals.

SalesNow works with BlackBerry e-mail and automatically synchs up with a hosted SalesNow Web site, so any changes made on BlackBerrys are reflected in the app when users return to the office.

Alltel is offering the software for $25 a month for individual users and $40 a month for business users with qualifying data plans on BlackBerrys sold by the carrier. Go here for more information about SalesNow from Alltel.

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

SlingMedia announced a few days ago at CES 2008 (that’s the Consumer Electronics Show), that SlingPlayer Mobile is coming soon to the BlackBerry. And now it looks like they are gearing up for a beta program for the BlackBerry.

SlingMedia has a whole line of products now, but basically, they give you the ability to watch and control your home TV from an Internet computer or mobile device. So far, BlackBerry has been left out of that lineup, but that’s about to change in 2008.

To sign up for the beta program, visit here. Or to find out more about SlingMedia, visit their homepage and watch some of the movies. They’re very entertaining!

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

FranklinCovey announced it now includes applications for BlackBerry in its new release of PlanPlus for Microsoft Outlook v.5, the company’s planning and information management application.

PlanPlus™ for Microsoft® Outlook includes applications specifically designed for BlackBerry. Their web page says you can prioritize your tasks and keep daily notes all on your devices as well as synchronize data with the PlanPlus for Outlook desktop. Each application is included with your purchase of PlanPlus v.5 for Outlook.

The new PlanPlus applications for BlackBerry include the FranklinCovey Prioritized Task List, Master Task List and Daily Notes.

FranklinCovey with Applications for BlackBerry

PlanPlus for Outlook v.5 is compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista, Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007. 

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

Seidio just announced a new extended battery for the 8300 now available for pre-order. The 2600mAH battery is supposed to provide approximately 140% more capacity than the 1100mAH OEM battery that came with the BlackBerry 8300.

The battery extends the case by 5mm. The door is made from hard plastic with a smooth, rubberized finish, allowing scratch reduction of the door, as well as a better grip. The door has cutouts for the camera, flash, mirror, and an opening for the speaker.

You can check it out here.

## This Article Was Originally Published by AllBlackBerry.com   

Picasa for BlackBerry

Soon you’ll be able to snap pictures with your BlackBerry and immediately post them to your Picasa Web Album. A mobile version of the popular photo sharing service from Google will offer the same features and functions as the desktop version.

So from your BlackBerry, you can snap a picture, put it in the right album, tag it, and even adjust its size. Then post it with just a few quick clicks.

And if your BlackBerry has GPS, you can also geotag images so that people who look at your pictures can tell where they’re taken.

If you become a member of the BlackBerry Owners Lounge, you’ll be automatically notified when the product becomes available. Or you can just keep coming back here, because I’m sure we’ll mention it!

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

According to MarketWatch, RIM is expected to see its sales nearly double for the quarter ended Dec. 1. Net income is expected to surge by more than 60%, according to current Wall Street estimates.

By contrast, Palm Inc. is expected to swing to a loss for the quarter with a 10% drop in sales for the same period.

Jim Suva of Citigroup predicted in a report Monday that the difference in the two companies’ results “will be glaring.” He wrote that RIM is expected to post a strong quarter despite “recent macroeconomic fears” as well as weakness in the troubled financial-services sector — historically a big BlackBerry buyer.

Could be another sign that RIM’s push into the consumer market has really paid off.

RIM’s results for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 are due out on Thursday, December 20, 2007, with a conference call expected at 5 p.m. ET.

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

According to this article, RIM says it will boost its job count to 1,000 in Las Colinas. In March, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company began calling its Las Colinas office its defacto U.S. headquarters. It currently employs 104 people there.

During a joint news conference with the Greater Dallas Chamber, RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said the company is looking to fill professional services jobs, research and development positions and technical support jobs. The Texas job increases are part of Research in Motion’s strategy to expand across Latin America. Balsillie said the company is looking for bilingual employees.

## This Article Was Originally Published on AllBlackBerry.com

From time to time, regular readers of our site share their thoughts with us about various products. So we decided, why not give them a voice on our site as guest reviewers. Today’s review comes from long-time reader Suraj. Suraj recently tried out the latest Prima case for the BlackBerry Curve and was kind enough to share his impressions. Read on to see what he has to say…