“As a result of how Blackberry data is managed and stored, in their current form, certain Blackberry applications allow people to misuse the service, causing serious social, judicial and national security repercussions,” UAE regulator said.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Cathleen Harnick is obsessed with her BlackBerry.
That wouldn't be surprising if she worked in a corporate office or at an investment dealer, for example, because BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has long dominated the business professional market.
But Ms. Harnick, 23, works in a naturopathic clinic in Toronto and says she doesn't use her phone for anything related to her job. She relies on her BlackBerry solely for social purposes, particularly for chatting over the BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging service.
In her group of friends, texting is a thing of the past - "BBMing" is all the rage.
"I would get an iPhone because I think they're really cool, but I don't think I could give up BBM," Ms. Harnick said, adding that almost all her friends have BlackBerrys and use BBM.
Around the world, 25 million people use the BBM application, according to Research In Motion. That's more than half of the 46 million BlackBerry users globally. As of early May, BBM usage was up over 500 per cent in the last two years and had doubled in just 100 days, RIM executives said at a capital markets presentation last spring.
The Waterloo, Ont.,-based company is now trying to tap into the service's popularity to counteract the publicity Apple's iPhone garners. RIM recently launched a new set of North American television, Internet, and poster ads that tout BlackBerry Messenger, rather than the device itself.
The ads are not targeted at teenagers; they feature what seem to be people in their late twenties and thirties, a crowd not-so-distant from BlackBerry's professional users.
Ms. Harnick said chatting over BBM supplants phone conversations and is almost as good as seeing friends in person.
"It feels like you're having a real conversation with someone," she said.
Cat:e528746c-3414-401a-b14b-50247e3bdf01Forum:d0fa4e14-88d2-41f9-8a19-896bdff9544b
Tavis McCourt, an analyst at Morgan Keegan, noted RIM has seen significant growth in the American youth markets.
When teenagers are asked why they bought BlackBerrys, "Two years ago the answer was always 'My parents have a Verizon plan,'" Mr. McCourt said, referring to the iPhone's AT&T linkage. "Now, the answer is: 'I need this for BlackBerry Messenger.'"
He attributes BBM's growth to three things. First, the speed: BBM operates on RIM's "push" architecture, so message delivery is almost instantaneous. While there are other instant messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, they have a 15 or 20 second delay, making them feel much more like an e-mail conversation.
Secondly, BlackBerry's network is private. When a regular text message is sent, the recipient's number shows up on the phone bill. This might not seem like a pressing concern for older users who pay their own bills, but teenagers might not want their parents to know who they're talking to.
Thirdly, there is the cost. BBM operates on the BlackBerry data plan so there isn't a charge per message, and each is so small that it uses very little data. This isn't a big issue in North America, Mr. McCourt said, but it's very advantageous for someone who lives in France and goes to Germany and is suddenly paying 40 cents per text message.
Mr. McCourt, for one, is impressed by RIM's new ad campaign. "I'm just glad that they're marketing something about the phone, whereas the last three years it was this amorphous ad program" with people dancing around, he said.
|
Thinking of investing in RIM?
|