Yep you heard us right. We have the straight word coming from an inside source (call him Mr. Snap) that RIM knows who is leaking all their high-tech secrets. And they’re ok with it — for now. Step inside and we’ll tell you all about it.
Now, before we go any further we should let you know that it hasn’t been RIM’s plan all along to leak information on their new consumer devices through ‘moles’ like Boy Genius, Roc a Fella, et al. Mr. Snap tells us that he’s sure of this because of the high secrecy surrounding the Pearl’s scroll ball (as opposed to scroll wheel). Up until late July, RIM had not told even their closest partners about the scroll wheel/scroll ball switcheroo, and was still hiding its existence in development software and emulators even after Boy Genius made the leak. Also, Mr. Snap told us that RIM had been planning for some time a big announcement of their new device in September, either at CTIA or that September 6th event we really know nothing about. Intentionally leaking news of the Pearl would have only stolen their own thunder.
However, we can tell you that once RIM got word of the leak, they quickly found out where it was coming from (which honestly shouldn’t have been that hard to figure out for them, seeing as at the time there were very few Pearls out in the wild). Mr. Snap tells us that at least two people from RIM have confirmed that they know who Boy Genius is. This, apparently, was the point where RIM got smart.
Someone in the company supposedly made the argument that they should not smite Boy Genius and the other leakers with a vengeful fury, and instead see how it played out. If this doesn’t sound like a big deal, it is. RIM has been known for firing employees on the spot for taking beta devices with them while going out to Starbucks for a coffee, and have even gone so far as tracking leaked screen shots to the desk that they were taken from and computer they were uploaded to (some James Bond type stuff, I know, but apparently they were able to compare the desk’s wood grain or something…). So the fact that Boy Genius is still doing his thing and even has access to the stuff he’s showing us is testament to the fact that RIM has changed its policy.
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