If BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has to shut down its over-the-air e-mail service because of its legal battles with intellectual property-holding company NTP, the open-source wireless e-mail company Funambol may be able to keep BlackBerries working.
The latest beta version of the companys software for carriers and enterprises, Funambol 3, can push e-mail to many portable phone and e-mail devices, including BlackBerries.
Funambol, formerly Sync4j, is an open-source mobile application server that provides PIM (personal information manager), push e-mail, address book and calendar data synchronization, application provisioning, and device management for wireless devices and PCs.
/zimages/2/28571.gifClick hereto read more about how open standards could be an out for BlackBerry users if RIMs service shuts down.
The program suite is built on top of the OMA DS and DM (Open Mobile Alliance Data Synchronization and Device Management) protocols. These protocols are better known by their older name SyncML.
/zimages/2/28571.gifRead morehereabout what it takes to survive a BlackBerry blackout.
With this support, the company has stated that the program can work with any SyncML-compliant device and other devices such as the BlackBerry, Microsoft Windows Mobile devices, J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) devices and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)-enabled phones.
/zimages/2/28571.gifRead the full story on Linux-Watch: An open-source cure for BlackBerrys woes?