BlackBerry push API goes after consumers

Research In Motion is injecting the power of its popular BlackBerry push technology into the consumer arena by letting third-party developers write applications that tap into it.

The BlackBerry swept the enterprise mobile market largely on the strength of push, which delivers e-mail messages and other content to the handset in the background as soon they arrive and can notify the user immediately. On Monday, RIM gave developers of consumer software a push API (application programming interface) for creating applications that could include Web-based e-mail and other tools.

RIM's move may hook many more mainstream consumers into mobile e-mail, according to Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy and research at Interpret.

"Push can be pretty revolutionary when it comes to e-mail," Gartenberg said. "It changes your whole experience." Push eliminates the hassles of moving to a good coverage area, opening an application to check for new messages and then waiting for them to get to the device, he said.

The company announced last October that it would expose its push APIs gradually over several quarters because of concerns about security. On Monday, RIM said developers who belong to the BlackBerry Alliance Program could use the API to build push capability into Java-based consumer applications. Java is the main platform used for BlackBerry applications.

Handmark, which offers the Pocket Express news and information service and other mobile services, expects the API to help it boost the use of its software. Most importantly, it will let Handmark show an update symbol with the application's icon on the main screen of the BlackBerry, said Ted Wugofski, the CTO and general manager for Pocket Express at Handmark. When a news story, stock price or sports score that interests a user shows up, the update symbol will appear.

"Removing barriers to using the application is extremely important," Wugofski said. With the proliferation of consumer smartphone applications, this issue is likely to grow. According to a study by Pinch Media earlier this year concerning the Apple iPhone's App Store, only 1 percent of users who buy a particular application become long-term users of it. Applications on the iPhone can't display an update alert until the user taps on them.

The new push capability could give RIM a much-needed weapon in its arsenal against rivals including the iPhone, Windows Mobile devices and the upcoming Palm Pre, Jupiter's Gartenberg said.

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