Thursday, February 09, 2006

RIM announces Blackberry workaround

RIM today unveiled a plan that it says will let its BlackBerry e-mail device work even if it loses a patent fight, and said the workaround will prevent a shutdown of service in the US.

The announcement has been made as the clock ticked to a February 24 court hearing on patent holding company NTP Inc.'s request for an injunction to halt BlackBerry's US service, RIM also said it was still willing to negotiate a deal.

RIM has stated that they have figured out a work around for all Blackberry devices on the market should an injunction come into place. The workaround alters the way e-mail messages are delivered and queued, but aparently "users will not see any changes in the way they use the BlackBerry device."

NTP has stated that Blackberry is just announcing this as a blackmailing tactic to get them to settle nefore the trial. Either way RIM's shares popped up nearly 5%, just proving how expensive this case really is for them.

No comments: