One of these days is none of these days - English proverb
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RIM selects Bing as its search engine
CANADIAN PHONE MAKER Research in Motion (RIM) will use Microsoft's Bing search engine as the default on its mobile devices.
The firm has had quite a busy few days. It has announced two new Bold handsets, a video chat application for its Playbook tablet and a Facebook application, and now it has chosen to top off its celebrations by announcing even closer ties to Microsoft.
The firm apparently sees this cosy relationship as a way to beat off competition from Apple and Google's Android, and welcomed shy and retiring Steve Ballmer to one of its stages to make the announcement.
On he bounded, according to Reuters, and announced that Bing will be "deeply integrated at the Blackberry operating system level".
The news was confirmed on a blog post by Bing director Matt Dahlin. "Central to this collaboration, Blackberry devices will use Bing as the preferred search provider in the browser, and Bing will be the default search and map application for new devices presented to mobile operators, both in the United States and internationally", he said.
"Also, effective today Bing will be the preferred search and maps applications with regular, featured placement and promotion in the BlackBerry App World carousel."
How users will react to this is as yet unknown. RIM already had suitable differentiation with its Blackberry devices, including the simple fact that they are made by neither Apple nor Microsoft.
Hopping into bed with Microsoft might erode this, depending on how firmly nailed its apps are to the Blackberry operating system and user interface, and whether prospective buyers see this as an advantage or a liability. µ
Tags: Microsoft
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If RIM can't see how playing with an know corporate leper can lead to trouble and lost sales, I personally will not do business with them.
I sent a letter asking them (RIM) about their reasoning (looking at how well other past and present "business partners" of Microsoft are doing). They did not reply (or maybe they are not "allowed" to under the terms of their Microsoft Business Partners Agreement).
...announced that Bing will be "deeply integrated at the Blackberry operating system level".
Wow that is quite a statement. Maybe RIM will force the QNX division to integrate Micr0$uck$ Internet Exploder into the QNX kernel so that BB users will be able to install the internet onto their Playbooks so that they would be able to browse the web and point and click and cut and paste and multitask and do all of the things that are so DIFFICULT if not IMPOSSIBLE to do w/ QNX or any other Operating System (O/S). RIM should simply go with the LoseDoze O/S and give the BB the FULL capability of all those things.