It's a sad day for CrackBerry Nation. To say I was shocked when I saw word that one of our absolute all-time favorite Research In Motion employees, Mike Kirkup, tendered his resignation today would be an understatement.

If you've been a CrackBerry reader for a long time, you'll know Mike well as he's made a bunch of appearances on the site over the years (heck, he was the first RIM employee to ever get his own article tag!). An early proponent of treating BlackBerry as a platform, he has been one of the main faces of the BlackBerry Platform for almost a decade, first starting as a Security Software Developer before moving to the Developer Relations team (formerly ISV/SI Technical team) in 2004.

Since first meeting Mike a few years back, I've seen him progress from Manager to Director to Senior Director of Developer Relations as he's helped grow the BlackBerry developer community to 400k strong and spearhead, along with his team, three BlackBerry Developer Conferences. Always exuding passion whenever he's joined us on a podcast or video interview, Mike truly is a BlackBerry fan.

Wanting to get to the bottom of Mike's impending departure from the company, I reached out to him for an over the phone interview. Keep reading for our exclusive Q&A with Mike Kirkup as we find out why he's leaving, where he's going and whether or not he's lost faith in RIM.

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It was an action packed Monday and Tuesday in Orlando at BlackBerry World 2011, and things proved just as busy on Wednesday (lots of BB World posts in the hopper for us to get up). Following up our video look at how RIM plans to make TAT tools available to 3rd party developers, we sat down with Chris Smith and Mike Kirkup from RIM to do a deeper dive into the BlackBerry app development story.

The podcast clocks in at 38 minutes, and we cover a lot of topics here. We clear up some of the questions surrounding the myriad of development options available for the BlackBerry PlayBook, talk NDK for the PlayBook and also talk about Android app support for the PlayBook and what it means. There are a lot of great bits of info in this show, so definitely tune in whether you're a developer or just want to be on top of the BlackBerry game.

And stay tuned... we'll be recording our BlackBerry World 2011 recap podcast THIS FRIDAY with the whole CrackBerry crew, and we'll sound off on all of the news of week. In the meantime, enjoy this show. It's a good one! 

It wouldn't feel like CrackBerry was at Mobile World Congress unless we got a quick hello from RIM's Director of Developer Relations, Mike Kirkup. Check out the video above for his quick hello message (I always love how excited Mike is - I think he loves BlackBerry as much as I do!) and below you can watch the video Mike refers to, which is RIM's own hands-no demo of Need for Speed on the BlackBerry PlayBook. Awesome stuff!

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BlackBerry PlayBook. Seriously, every night since it got announced all I think about when going to bed at night is the BlackBerry PlayBook and that ohhh soooo sweeet looking QNX-based BlackBerry Tablet OS. It's exciting times in BlackBerry land.  I wants one. NOW.

Of course you know the CrackBerry team is excited for the PlayBook, and so are a ton of other bloggers in the tech space (see our bloggers reactions to the PlayBook video here). But how about Research In Motion itself? How about the foliks who will be working hard to help deliver the BlackBerry PlayBook to us all? We had a few sit downs with RIM execs and managers last week, and during the interviews were always sure to ask the PlayBook question. Check out the video above for two minutes of PlayBook excitement!

Following the WES 2010 Keynote (and just before we did our WES 2010 Solution Showcase Speed Tour) we put RIM's Mike Kirkup behind the big CrackBerry.tv camera to hear his quick reactions on the BlackBerry announcements of the show. In his role of Director of Developer Relations, it's easy to see that Mike is clearly excited for what's coming in BlackBerry 6, both for the consumer and what it will mean for developers. Check out the video above for Mike's remarks on BlackBerry 6 as well as BlackBerry MVS, the Pearl 3G and more!

Stay tuned for more... our next CrackBerry.tv video to air is an awesome compilation of Bloggers' reactions to WES 2010. 

WES 2010 is now over and the CrackBerry crew is back home recovering from a couple of crazy days. While the big news of the event has been covered on the site already -- BlackBerry 6, BlackBerry MVS, BlackBerry Pearl 3G and BlackBerry 9650 -- we still have a ton of WES posts coming your way over the next week. This year we kicked things up a notch and introduced CrackBerry.tv at the event. When our friend Ewan MacLeod wasn't reporting for his sites (MobileIndustryReview; MobileDeveloper.tv) he put on the official CrackBerry.tv shirt and hat and we put him to work behind the BIG camera. Leaving WES we have literally hours of raw footage that we'll be producing down into some sweet pieces you'll be able to find right here.

First up we have our BlackBerry Solutions Showcase CrackBerry Reality Tour.  I've been to four WES events now, and I've noticed the tradition that every year RIM's Founder and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis makes a tour of the Solutions Showcase, checking out the cool things BlackBerry partners are up to. Playing off that notion and with help from Mike Kirkup, RIM's Director of Developer Relations, we did up our own CrackBerry tour. It's 9m30s of non-stop action that puts you right there at WES.... grab a drink, sit back and hit play above. Enjoy the show!!

Following up on RIM's announcement of BES Express, demo of their WebKit browser and discussion on Super Apps yesterday in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2010, I had a chance to get some clarification and answers direct from RIM today. I haven't had a whole bunch of time to catch up on my RSS feeds and forum post reading since these stories broke, but from the little I have seen so far it seems there has been at least some confusion and questions (and even rumors) out there surrounding these topics.

I sat down with Rory O'Neill and Mike Kirkup of Research in Motion and in 18 minutes set the record straight and get some additional details as to what it all means for BlackBerry users. In case you missed our BlackBerry in Europe podcast back in November and don't know them yet, Rory is the Senior Director of Business Marketing in the EMEA region and Mike is the Director of Developer Relations. Huge thanks to them both for taking time out of their crazy schedule to talk to CrackBerry Nation.

Be sure to take a listen and let us know your thoughts in the comments. If you have any lingering questions that I missed and they didn't get addressed, let me know and I'll do my best to get the answers. Enjoy the show!

It turns out RIM's presence at Mobile World Congress is even bigger than I first thought. Over at the App Planet pavillion in Hall 7, RIM has another exhibit setup where their focus is on BlackBerry app development. I caught up with Mike Kirkup, Director of Developer Relations for RIM, who filled us in on the details of what's going. Check out the video above and this link for more details.

New BlackBerry Developer Blog Launched: Mike also let us know that they just re-launched their BlackBerry Developer Blog over at http://devblog.blackberry.com. Anybody developing or thinking about developing apps for BlackBerry needs to add this site to their RSS reader and check it out on a regular basis.

There is no doubt that the recently-held BlackBerry Developer Conference was a huge success for Research In Motion and BlackBerry developers around the world. A lot of new changes were announced at the event in San Francisco, California which open quite a few doors for all those out there looking to get involved or are already involved with BlackBerry development. The BlackBerry Developer Conference was RIM's time to show their dedication to the developer community and win back some of those who may have had doubts about the future of development for the BlackBerry platform.

Over at the BlackBerry developers blog, Mike Kirkup, Director for the Developer Relations program at Research In Motion has outlined all the developer accomplishments for everyone to have a look at. When outlined as Mike has done, it shows Research In Motion is listening, accepting feedback and putting that feedback into action with their developer community which is good for all involved. With excitement being restored, that means more and more ideas are formed by developers and with the tools given to them, the ideas become reality and end upon our BlackBerry smartphones. As end users, we can all appreciate that.

• Check Out The Full List Via The BlackBerry Developers Blog >>

Our pal Ewan over at MobileDeveloper.tv keeps pumping out the BlackBerry Alliance Summit video interviews on a daily basis. We're going to do a little roundup soon, but in the meantime I wanted to bring you this one asap that he posted interviewing Mike Kirkup.

Mike Kirkup is no stranger to the CrackBerry blogs, though this is his first time being here in video. As Director of Developer Relations for Research in Motion, we've now had the honor of having Mike join us on three CrackBerry podcasts (one, two, three), including our most recent one recorded at the same event this video was recorded. In this clip Mike talks a little bit about the recent BlackBerry Developer Conference and the big announcements made. Check it out!

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At the end of our Special Edition BlackBerry in Europe Podcast, the four of us in the room pulled out our BlackBerry Bold 9700s to compare our BlackBerry usage stats. Unfortunately, Rory 0'Neill (RIM's Senior Director Business Marketing, EMEA) didn't have the I Love BlackBerry app installed on his Bold 9700 at the time, but both Mike Kirkup (RIM's Director of Developer Relations) and Oliver Pilgerstorfer (RIM's PR Manager for the EMEA region) did.

Check out the video above to see the results of this impromptu competition first hand. Suffice to say, you definitely cannot say that RIM employees do not use the product they sell. Of the three of us, I came in last place with only 3 hours of average daily use. Shameful, I know. Though I did just install the app on my 9700 right before leaving for Europe the week before and while paying ridiculously high roaming fees abroad have intentionally been trying to use my device less than normal. Maybe on home soil I could have been right with Oliver and Mike. :)

But seriously... it's almost scary to look at everyday 'normal' usage stats like this. Think about it... there's 24 hours in a day. You sleep for hopefully 5 to 8 of them. Work backwards from there and to post up usage stats of 70 to 100 uses per day for a total of 3 to 4.5 hours of having your BlackBerry in hand, you're essentially reaching for your device at least once every 10 to 15 minutes and using it for 2 to 5 minutes at a time. What's even scarier (or maybe it's awesomer) is that I don't even think these kinds of stats are that out of the ordinary. For using my BlackBerry 80x per day for 3 hours per day total, I don't even really notice/feel that I'm using it all that much. Then there's our friend Bla1ze of course... I just asked him to send me a screencap of his I Love BlackBerry stats, which you can see below (note - he just reinstalled it after an OS upgrade so they're still counting up..but the daily stats column for all comparisons in this post are relevant). As you can see, at 7h30m per day spent on his BlackBerry, he's pretty much beyond help.

How does your BlackBerry use compare to this? Let us know in the comments!

• Download the I Love BlackBerry App for your BlackBerrry for Free! >> 

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The 2009 BlackBerry EMEA Alliance Summit is now over and the event once again was a great success. Speaking to many of the alliance members in attendance it was made clear to me that RIM has been listening and is doing their part to ensure those in the business of BlackBerry in the EMEA region are equipped with the tools and knowledge to be successful, and that events like the EMEA Summit help build those vital relationships.

Following up on our 2009 Innovation Awards, I caught up with Rory O'Neill and Mike Kirkup of Research in Motion Friday morning for a special edition CrackBerry Podcast. Rory is the Senior Director of Business Marketing in the EMEA region and Mike Kirkup is the Director of Developer Relationships (this is Mike's 3rd CrackBerry Podcast!). 

THIS IS A MUST LISTEN TO PODCAST for anybody wanting to learn more about BlackBerry in Europe. If you're a developer based in North America trying to conduct business over the pond, you'll want to listen. If you're in the business of BlackBerry and based in the EMEA (Europe - Middle East - Africa) region but are not an alliance member, you'll want to listen also. And for every CrackBerry addict who listens to our shows, you'll defintely want to tune in to get educated. HUGE thanks to Rory and Mike for taking the time to join ous on this one. Enjoy the show! 

* Note - we're still having some issues with our iTunes and standard podcast feed, so you may have to just download the mp3 directly at this link or listen in the player above (hopefully the player will work for you... it's being a bit wonky too). Thanks for the patience! * 

WES 2009 is officially over. We still have some posts from the show to come your way over the days ahead, but we wrapped up our live coverage with a BIG CrackBerry podcast. We have plenty of guests on this show, including a return from RIM's Manager of Developer relations, Mike Kirkup! This show is a marathon, so if you make it to the end be sure to drop a comment and let us know. We'll see you at WES 2010!!!

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Here it is CrackBerry Podcast listeners... THIS IS THE SPECIAL EDITION SHOW WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! It took us 32 episodes to make it happen, but in this show we hit two BIG milestones:

1. Craig and I record together in person!
2. We have an employee of Research in Motion on the show as a guest!!

We recorded this on Wednesday in a hotel room on the 43 floor of the Marriot Marquis in New York City (picture after the break)! Craig and I were in attendance that day for the BlackBerry Solutions for Business 2009 Press Preview (follow up article to come) where some awesome folks from RIM walked us through BES 5.0, MVS and more.

When the formal part of the day was done, Mike Kirkup, Manager of Developer Relations for Research in Motion, joined us for a CrackBerry Podcast! YOU WILL WANT TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE FOR ALL KINDS OF WICKED INFO. Over the course of an hour, we throw a lot of questions at Mike like Will we see Flash on a BlackBerry? and Will we be able to run apps off a memory card? and we even talk OS 5.0 and App Store details. We also hit Mike up with some more personal BlackBerry-use questions... and I'm happy to say Mike passed the CrackBerry test - he is as ADDICTED to his BlackBerry as all of us! This is a MUST LISTEN episode.

Huge thanks to Mike for joining us on the show, as well as Simon Sage from IntoMobile, who added to the Cracktastic fun. You're both welcome back anytime. Enjoy the show!!

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