Although the market is now awash with smartphones that combine advanced computing facilities with telephone functionality, the unit that really kicked off the craze was developed in the early 2000s by a Canadian firm called Research In Motion and called the BlackBerry.
Although the BlackBerry brand is now very
heavily associated with the smartphone, the first BlackBerry, introduced way back in 1999, was a PDA with a two way paging function.
However, it was not until 2002 that the BlackBerry smartphone was introduced, which is the product line that is most commonly associated with the brand today.
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BlackBerry smartphone can be used to send and receive phone calls, text messages, faxes and emails, as well as surfing the web and acting as a personal organiser.
Although there were already several devices on the market, most notably the popular Nokia 9000, that combined
a QWERTY keyboard with a mobile phone to give it full PDA functionality, the BlackBerry smartphone introduced a number of innovations which allowed it to steal a march on its rivals within the business market.
Perhaps the most unique feature of the BlackBerry was its push emailing function, which allowed users to access their works email account anywhere in the world, with complete and automatic server synchronisation.
The name BlackBerry is derived from its unique keyboard, whose bulbous black keys made the unit look somewhat like the aforementioned small foodstuff. The first models came with a side
mounted tracking wheel to allow navigation through the menu system, but later models came with a trackball, which allowed far more flexibility and ease of use, particularly for those used to working with a mouse.
Another feature on some models was Push-to-Talk, which allowed office style remote conversations to take place across much longer distances, in a similar fashion to an intercom system.
Companies who employ a lot of roaming staff found BlackBerries to be a perfect way to achieve office-style integration within a more flexible spatial framework. Keen executives and workaholics were delighted that they could now stay in touch and carry on working while on the move, and as a result the units became an increasingly popular sight on public transportation during office hours.
Emails can be written and replied to even when reception is lost, as all the email information is stored
inside the device, and any new information from the email server or the Blackberry is simply sent and received when reception is regained.
Another unique feature of the BlackBerry is the trilateration function, which acts kind of like a GPS device, but using the pattern of wireless signals
between transmitters to pinpoint locations. This was particularly handy if you needed to find a member of your workforce in a hurry, or for identifying the location of people you are trying to meet in a busy place such as an airport.
This article is originated from www.article-idea.com.
