The voice of the BlackBerry community.
SMS VCard Add-on is a BlackBerry app that enables your BlackBerry to receive, import and send contacts using the same SMS protocol as Nokia.
If you’re not familiar with the feature, with a Nokia device you can bring up a menu that allows you to send someone else’s contact information to a friend via SMS, MMS, Bluetooth and InfraRed. Note that only the Name, Phone and Email fields are sent due to SMS size restrictions.
On Wednesday, Microsoft and Nokia announced an alliance to bring enterprise software to smartphones. The move is an explicit targeting of RIM’s core business and dominance in the smartphone market.
The alliance looks good on paper with Microsoft Office representing the vast majority of office software, and Nokia representing the majority of global handsets. Nokia’s VP, Robert Andersson, has already started calling out RIM.
“This is giving some of our competitors — let’s spell it out, RIM — a run for their money,” said Nokia executive vice-president Robert Andersson, in a telephone interview. “I don’t think BlackBerry has seen the kind of competition we can provide them now.”
The alliance will make Microsoft Office readily available on Nokia devices and provide greater integration of Microsoft products into Nokia devices.
So what does this mean for BlackBerry? Well it isn’t obvious just yet. Microsoft products are already easily viewed on a BlackBerry, and there are a host of options for users creating, editing and sharing Microsoft products from their BlackBerry device. So far, the alliance is boasting that the Nokia E-Series will now be imbued with the following features:
The number of organizations that use the E-Series device is relatively small in North America and the above features are easily implemented in organizations that use BlackBerry. While there may be some cost savings on the software side for organizations, it isn’t enough incentive for an organization to change their entire device structure.
[Via]
It seems Nokia is on a downward spiral while the other major smartphone manufacturers are fast gaining market share. Nokia, the leader of global handset distribution, has dropped the most in market share over the the past 5 years.
Despite only selling 3% of the world’s mobile phones, Apple and RIM are dominating when it comes to profitability. Together, the two companies make up for 35% of the total industry’s operating profits. Analysts are saying that if RIM and Apple’s market share were to climb to 5%, it could translate to them owning roughly 58% of the total operating profits.
It just goes to show that we’re entering a new economy of mobile devices, where ubiquity isn’t enough. You have to be constantly innovating and offering not only hardware with new features, but a system of delivering innovative software to the customer. Nokia has the Ovi Store, but I doubt developers are seeing any significant revenue from it.
The software truly makes the hardware these days.
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It has always surprised me that RIM only has around 10% of the smartphone market share. Sometimes I think these numbers might be skewed for a few reasons:
1) How does the survey define a smartphone? I bet many of the models described as smartphones are not “smart” in the sense that BlackBerry users are used to.
2) It’s a global market share. I’m really only concerned with North America and Europe.
3) It’s a conspiracy and Bill Gates is at the center of it all.
During Q4 2008, Nokia’s overall market share fell from 50.9 percent to 40.8 percent and smartphone sales dipped a whopping 17 percent to 15.6 million units. During that same period, RIM doubled its market share, perhaps due to a void left by Nokia.
Where can RIM make big market share gains?
Consumer – If RIM keeps pumping out devices that will get the average user interested, they can make some serious market share gains. It’s about time that people put down their RAZR and pick up a device that is not only a status symbol, but a device that will change the way you feel about technology.
Enterprise – Just keep doing what you’re doing guys. A few more updates to BES, as well as a boost from the dev community, should really give RIM a device that every company will be required to use and abuse.
What would you like to see from RIM in the coming years?
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Recently, major mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Motorola and Samsung agreed to produce a standardized charger for the industry. The companies will be switching to mini USB, the same standard charger as the BlackBerry. I know exactly how that meeting went:
“Guys, we need a standard char…McDonnel! Pay attention, we’re having a meeting here.”
“Sorry sir, my BlackBerry died and I’m looking for the charger.”
“Here you go McDonnel. I borrowed this from Frank in HR.”
“Wait a minute…”
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Back in July we reported that Nokia was keeping RIM’s lagging BlackBerry Connect service off future Nokia devices. Word had now come from Nokia’s Tom Furlong, head of Nokia Messaging, that RIM is taking matters into its own hands.
However, Furlong also left us with this little statement, ‘We are in the interim period of time when we have dropped support ourselves, and Blackberry is readying support for their service on Nokia devices‘, meaning that enterprise S60 lovers will (hopefully) soon be able to enjoy BlackBerry services on their Eseries (and hopefully others) once again.
While we don’t have any way yet of confirming this, it’s safe to assume that what Furlong is talking about RIM’s forthcoming BlackBerry Application Suite, which will surely drive the last nail in BB Connect’s coffin.
|via Symbian-Guru|
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