18 Mar Research in Motion Announce Collaboration with Microsoft

Research in Motion (RIM) h ave announced that they are teaming up with Microsoft to launch a new set of productivity and management services for handsets. The companies will release the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) for BlackBerry devices and it will be offered to US users with an RIM service plan for free. Previously it had required a $10 per month subscription. The move will provide Blackberry users with free access to the Microsoft Exchange Online platform but will also eventually be expanded into offering other services, such as Microsoft's Office 265 cloud applications platform, that will include such standards as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. RIM announced they will be launching a closed beta of the service during the summer and commented "We couldn't be more excited about this direction. "This latest addition to RIM's cloud-based services signals a new era of possibilities for enterprise customers."