Research In Motion today announced a
series of updates for its market-leading BlackBerry® platform that
include enhanced messaging and collaboration, simpler management,
enhanced security and expanded application development support. These
updates will benefit users, IT groups and developers and will enable
organizations to increase mobility, productivity and return on
investment.

"RIM continues to expand the capabilities of the
multifaceted BlackBerry platform to allow an increasingly rich and
productive mobile experience for our customers," said Mike Lazaridis,
President and Co-CEO at RIM. "The software enhancements demonstrated
today will make BlackBerry smartphones more powerful than ever and even
easier to manage."

Enhanced Messaging and Collaboration
The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution is a complete, end-to-end wireless
platform that extends the benefits of an organization's messaging and
collaboration environment to mobile users. Updates to the BlackBerry
Enterprise Server and BlackBerry device software¹ will enable customers to further enhance usability and increase end-user productivity.

• www.blackberry.com/go/webdesktop [1].
• Over-the-Air Device Software Upgrades⁴–
  Organizations will be able to update a user's BlackBerry device
  software wirelessly, delivering a fast, cost-effective method for
  remotely supporting users and managing BlackBerry device software
  lifecycles.
• Expanded Systems Compatibility – BlackBerry
  Enterprise Server v4.1.5 is certified with Microsoft® Exchange 2007 SP1
  and supports IBM® Lotus® Domino® versions 7.03 and 8.0.

Enhanced Security
Security is a cornerstone of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution and
today there are over 400 IT policy settings and controls that an
administrator can set to centrally manage and enforce security
policies. Newly introduced IT policies further enhance the security and
control of a BlackBerry deployment⁵.

• Encrypted Attachment Viewing – Users will be able view attachments within encrypted PGP and S/MIME messages.
• Increased Control over GPS – Administrators will have the ability to control which applications access GPS functionality on BlackBerry smartphones.
• Increased Bluetooth® Controls –
  Administrators will have the ability to enable or disable certain
  Bluetooth profiles as well as set the allowable 'discoverable time'.

Expanded Application Development Support
RIM continues to expand the opportunities for software developers to
create innovative and powerful wireless applications that leverage the
inherent security, network efficiency, reliability and push
capabilities of the BlackBerry platform and take advantage of new
BlackBerry smartphone features. With the recent release of the
BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE) v4.3.0, new Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) have been added to the thousands
previously available, enabling developers to offer even more robust and
exciting business and lifestyle applications to the more than 12
million BlackBerry subscribers around the world. In addition, support
for the following Java Micro Edition APIs is also now available:

• JSR 205: Wireless Messaging 2.0 (MMS Support) –
  provides the ability to send and receive messages that include images,
  sound and video via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).
• JSR 211: Content Handler API (CHAPI) – allows applications to invoke other applications, including native BlackBerry applications, to handle specific content types.
• JSR 238: Internationalization –
  allows developers to easily create a single application for multiple
  languages and regions across the globe with proper location-specific
  language, time conventions, currencies, and number formats.
• JSR 172: Web Services – enables developers to quickly develop and deploy applications that act as web services clients.

These
new BlackBerry platform enhancements are scheduled to be phased in to
new software releases during the first half of 2008 and will be
showcased at Lotusphere this week. For more information please visit www.blackberry.com/go/serverupdate [2].

1) Requires BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1.5 and BlackBerry device software v4.5 or above.
2) Microsoft Office Word and PowerPoint files will be supported in
conjunction with BlackBerry device software v4.5 and Microsoft Excel
files will be supported in conjunction with a subsequent software
release expected later in the year.
3) Included in BlackBerry
Enterprise Server v4.1.5 for Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino,
and included in BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1.4 for GroupWise.
4) Requires BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1.4 and BlackBerry device software v4.5 or above.
5) Requires BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1.5 and BlackBerry device software v4.5 or above.

About Research In Motion (RIM)
Research
In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of
innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications
market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and
services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides
platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive
information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and
intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array
of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products
and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of
award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by
thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry®
wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheldâ„¢ product line, software
development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing
agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM
operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is
listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com [3] or www.blackberry.com [4].