|
Company: Research In Motion
Company Description: RIM is a leading designer of wireless solutions for the global mobile communications market. RIM's portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld™ product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements.
Nomination Category: Company, Office & Product Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best New Product or Service
Nomination Title: Research In Motion's BlackBerry 7230
Describe the nominated product or service: its functions, features, and benefits, and how it differs from competitive offerings. Include the date in 2002-03 on which the product or service was introduced to the marketplace (up to 500 words):
The BlackBerry 7230™ from Research In Motion (RIM) allows mobile professionals to easily manage all of their important communications and information in a single, integrated wireless handheld that delivers email, phone, SMS, Web browser and organizer applications, features a color screen and supports international roaming while maintaining superior battery life. The data and voice-enabled BlackBerry 7230 features:
• Phone, email, SMS, Web browser and organizer applications in a single,
wireless handheld
• High resolution 240x160 display supporting over 65,000 colors
• Java™ development platform based on open standards
• Full-featured connected organizer with PC synchronization
• Integrated attachment viewing supporting popular file formats
• Tri-band handheld (900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS wireless networks), allowing for international roaming between North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific
• Wireless extension of business and personal email accounts including: Microsoft
Outlook, Lotus Notes, and popular ISP email
• Wireless synchronization of messages and calendar appointments
• “Always On, Always Connected®” access to the carrier network with push-based wireless architecture: messages are delivered automatically to the handheld
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectivity for quick battery charging
• Portable, lightweight form factor with thumb-typing QWERTY keyboard
• Integrated speaker/microphone and built-in headset jack support phone
application
• Greater memory for application and data storage, featuring 16MB flash memory
plus 2MB SRAM
BlackBerry 7230 users are “truly mobile” and have the benefit of an “Always On,
Always Connected” wireless experience that frees mobile professionals from
carrying multiple devices while on the road. The BlackBerry 7230 quite simply
offers the best combined phone and email experience for people on the go. Its full
keyboard, color screen, exceptional battery life, sleek form factor and push-based
architecture differentiate it from competitive products. The BlackBerry 7230 also
offers the breadth of applications and superior data integration that make it the
most unique and comprehensive solution on the market. Whether utilized in an
enterprise setting or by an independent business owner, the BlackBerry 7230
creates a new standard for mobile productivity.
Several companies like Palm, Kyocera and Handspring offer a combined
phone/email/PDA device with certain variations, but none deliver the total package
that is BlackBerry. Mobile professionals demand a small form factor, superior
battery life, always-on connectivity, seamless integration, attachment viewing and
the flexibility of an open platform. The BlackBerry 7230 is the only device that
meets all of these requirements.
USA Today described the BlackBerry solution as "...so addictive that it's known
as the CrackBerry." BlackBerry technology has fundamentally altered the way
mobile professionals communicate, and the new BlackBerry 7230 is destined to
increase an already phenomenal customer following. While just introduced to the
market on August 11th, 2003, BlackBerry 7230 users can already attest to the
technology’s overall benefits. Customers have stated, “It is difficult to separate
work time and personal time these days…one blends into the other. BlackBerry
gives me flexibility to stay in control of time-sensitive demands. I can respond
while coaching on the baseball field. That helps give me back a bit of my personal
life and personal time from the office.”
List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. You may also include links to product photos, logos, etc. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
“Editor’s Choice: RIM BlackBerry 7230,” CNET News
http://reviews.cnet.com/4505-3128_7-30469709.html
“The all-in-one color BlackBerry,” MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.com/news/949399.asp?cp1=1
“Pocketful of Dreams,” Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0901/108.html
“BlackBerry 7230: Ripe for the Picking,” Business 2.0
http://www.business2.com/subscribers/articles/web/0,1653,52145,00.html
“A Colorful BlackBerry,” PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1265089,00.asp?kc=PCRSS02129TX1K0000530
“T-Mobile USA to start selling new version of BlackBerry,” The Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030811.wxrrimm0811/BNStory/Business
“World-Capable Color BlackBerry 7230 from RIM Arrives in United States -
Available Exclusively From T-Mobile USA”
http://www.rim.com/news/press/pr-11_08_2003.shtml
Digital Image of BlackBerry 7230
http://www.rim.com/news/kit/media/downloads/index.shtml#7200
BlackBerry 7230 Specifications
http://www.blackberry.com/products/blackberry7200/blackberry7230.shtml
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography of the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:
Mike Lazaridis
President and Co-CEO
Mike Lazaridis directs product strategy, research and development, product
development, and manufacturing. Mike has earned more than thirty patents and
dozens of industry and community awards for his innovations in wireless radio
technology and software.
Mike’s philanthropic involvements helped establish the Perimeter Institute for
Theoretical Physics in 2000. In its short history, Perimeter has established itself
as a leading centre for fundamental research. Mike was named Canada's Nation
Builder of the Year for 2002 by readers of The Globe and Mail. He holds an
honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and in June
2003 was named the University's 8th Chancellor.
|
