BlackBerry Connect ominously missing from E66 and E71
As the new business-class torchbearers in Nokia's smartphone lineup, it only stands to reason that the new E66 and E71 would support BlackBerry connectivity out of the box. After all, the E61, E61i, E62, and E65 all did, thanks to RIM's BlackBerry Connect client and the sobering realization that just such a software package is the only way for some employees to get out of using a RIM device at their office. Alas, support for BlackBerry Connect has quietly been dropped from the gorgeous new devices -- and as much as we'd like to say otherwise, no amount of beauty is going to make up for being unable to grab the average user's corporate email. Users are upset, particularly those who upgraded from older models assuming that BBC support would be carried over, so RIM had better be cooking up an update if they want to avoid the grizzly scene that usually ensues when you fire up a bunch of people wearing formal business attire.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bostonirishguy @ Jul 28th 2008 2:50PM
It's not RIM that's to blame. This was Nokia's call.
jason @ Jul 29th 2008 9:19AM
Nokia's call, for sure. But, remember, there are huge licensing fees associated with BB Connect, not to mention that BBC licensees are always second-class citizens in RIM's eyes.
That's certainly RIM's prerogative, after all, it's their ball, they can make the rules. I think that's the key driver here. Why make a substandard experience on a fantastic device?
Consider this.. What do the vast majority of BES installations connect to? Exchange. So, put your IT Manager hat on for a minute. You've already got a site license for Exchange, and don't need to purchase additional seats, since mobile access is covered by your existing CALs. You've got a choice to make. You can continue paying tons of $$ each year for support on your BES installations, and pay $20-45 more per month for each user's data plan, or, there's an alternative. Install a single Exchange Server in your DMZ area, and let your users use freely available ActiveSync clients. BES licenses aren't cheap either. A 500 user license pack has a list price of $27,499. That kind of money doesn't come as easily in today's economy.
On Windows Mobile, it's part of the core OS, same for iPhone 2.0 and PalmOS. On S60 phones, there's the free Mail for Exchange client, or if you want some more advanced features, $50 gets you a single license for RoadSync (right now it's on sale for $30). There are also volume license deals for RoadSync. RoadSync also works on UIQ and most J2ME phones.
All of the ActiveSync solutions sync at a minimum your inbox, contacts, calendar entries and task items. Several of the clients sync your entire folder hierarchy as well.
Take a look at a company with 1,000 mobile email users. You've got upwards of $50k in BES license costs, plus annual support on it. You're paying $45-50 each month per user on top of voice plan for a BB Enterprise plan. That's another $45-50k each month, or another $540-600k per year in data use. Don't forget to add in annual BES maintenance too.
Flip over to the other side, ActiveSync. Your users can now use data plans like the AT&T MediaNet Unlimited at $15/month, or the PDA plan at $30/month. That gives you annualized data costs of $180-300k. Ok, Mr. IT manager, think you might get a raise with the $300-420k you just saved the company?
Of course, this fails to address device cost, but you'll note I didn't factor that in for either side. For customers with 1,000 users, carriers are willing to negotiate deep discounts on devices, of course. As an alternative, you can offer your users the option to buy a device from a pre-defined list, and offer them a reimbursement allowance.
You still have lots of centralized policy enforcement with ActiveSync, including remote wipe capabilities. Your users still get their email, you get a raise, and everyone's happy.
Robin @ Jul 28th 2008 4:06PM
With MS exchange, who needs Blackberry? The blackberry devices have the worst phones in the world. Perhaps it's time to move beyond crackberries....
Omagus @ Jul 28th 2008 4:29PM
Exactly. I've never used Blackberry on any of my S60 phones. I'd rather use Mail4Exchange which gives me the same things. And, oh by the way, is free.
Virtuous @ Jul 28th 2008 5:04PM
People that must have access to BES are better off with genuine Blackberries.
bostonirishguy @ Jul 28th 2008 5:06PM
My company doesn't support MFE. But I do use Seven.
Toledo Guy @ Jul 28th 2008 9:58PM
I love my E62, but hate the e-mail program. Cingular E62s come with Blackberry Connect and Xpress Mail. I didn't want to pay more per month just to use BC, so I opted just to use Xpress Mail. I'll probably be going back to a Blackberry when my contract is up later this year. Xpress Mail works when it wants to, sometimes I've been better off to uninstall and reinstall the program. AT&T always tells me that Xpress Mail is a 3rd party product, so lets just say that support is lacking. Too bad, because otherwise the device is great!
Toledo Guy @ Jul 28th 2008 9:58PM
I love my E62, but hate the e-mail program. Cingular E62s come with Blackberry Connect and Xpress Mail. I didn't want to pay more per month just to use BC, so I opted just to use Xpress Mail. I'll probably be going back to a Blackberry when my contract is up later this year. Xpress Mail works when it wants to, sometimes I've been better off to uninstall and reinstall the program. AT&T always tells me that Xpress Mail is a 3rd party product, so lets just say that support is lacking. Too bad, because otherwise the device is great!
Razor1973 @ Jul 29th 2008 1:27AM
BES and Xpress Mail are not the only choices you have for push e-mail on your E62. There is also IMAP IDLE (natively supported), Exchange (with free alternatives), Seven (with a free beta program that's lasted forever), Good and Visto.
Jason @ Jul 28th 2008 11:10PM
For what it's worth, "grizzly" is a type of bear; grisly is the scene described :)
boss-hogg @ Jul 29th 2008 11:07AM
did any of you try the nokia email beta client? email.nokia.com
christopher.schouten @ Jul 30th 2008 5:46AM
1) Some of us are forced to use BlackBerry and have no choice. In my company they haven't/won't enable Exchange ActiveSync.
2) In Europe there's no such thing as an unlimited international data plan. But there are unlimited international BlackBerry plans.
3) Many companies (like Expansys in Europe) were advertising that the E71 DOES have BlackBerry support. So I ordered it and ended up having to send it back after it actually didn't.
So count me in as one of the angry suits.