BlackBerry
smartphone manufacturer Research In Motion announced the debut of the
BlackBerry Management Center, a free online service for small to medium-size
businesses to centrally manage company- or employee-owned BlackBerry
smartphones in the cloud and protect business-related content stored on the
handsets. The service is designed for businesses with up to 100 BlackBerry
smartphones that access email services from an Internet service provider or
Web-based email services like Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo.
Small
businesses can use the service to:
- wirelessly back up BlackBerry smartphones
automatically on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to aid in the recovery of
lost business-related content stored on the handset;
- protect content on an
employee's lost or stolen BlackBerry smartphone by remotely locking it and, if
necessary, wiping the contents, including the microSD card;
- locate a lost
BlackBerry smartphone by remotely locking it, initiating a loud ring and
displaying a message on the home screen;
- easily restore the settings and
content on a new or replacement device; or
- reset a password.
"We
are pleased to introduce RIM's latest cloud service designed specifically for
small businesses," said Alan Panezic, vice president of enterprise product
management at RIM. "BlackBerry Management Center is a free service and an
effective way to centrally manage and support employees' BlackBerry smartphones
in the cloud."
In
other RIM news, Verizon Wireless announced the new BlackBerry Bold 9930
smartphone, which measures only 10.5 mm and is the first BlackBerry Bold to
integrate a touch display with a BlackBerry keyboard. BlackBerry Balance is
integrated in the BlackBerry 7 operating system, allowing customers to get the
full BlackBerry smartphone experience for both work and personal use. The
smartphone is available for $249.99 with a two-year customer agreement.
BlackBerry
Balance allows secure access to business information while preventing the
information from being copied into, sent from or used by personal applications.
An administrator can also remotely wipe business information from the device
while leaving personal information intact.
Other
features include a 2.8-inch touch-screen display, a 5-megapixel camera with
flash and 720p HD video recording capabilities, and a full backlit QWERTY
keyboard with trackpad navigation.
In
addition, the smartphone’s universal search capability now supports
voice-activated search, allowing customers to say what they want to find on
their device or the Web, and an updated Social Feeds app that has been extended
to capture updates from media, podcasts and more in one consolidated view. The
premium version of Documents To Go is now included at no additional cost,
offering customers enhanced document editing features, as well as a native PDF document
viewer.
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