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May 28, 2007

Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry devices are largely expected to be available in a few months.

Last week, RIM (Research in Motion)'s co-CEO Jim Balsillie told an audience at the J.P. Morgan Technology Conference that RIM is working on a BlackBerry handset with both mobile and Wi-Fi wireless capabilities.

The new devices are slated to come out later in 2007.

So far, Motorola, Nokia and HTC all released Wi-Fi-enabled devices as early as 2006. Though RIM has been hinting at a Wi-Fi device in the works, the company had not made any definite announcements until last week at the conference.

"Wi-Fi was overhyped," Balsillie said. "I was not a big believer in it for the first two or three years because it was hyped as something that would subsume everything, that you would get rid of your cell phone."

He added "we feel it's complimentary of a mobile phone."

The BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) already supports roaming for customers travel between multiple operators, so the server will treat Wi-Fi networks just like additional cellular networks, he said.

That capability enables the handoff of data connections and voice calls between Wi-Fi and cellular networks as customers move.

Avi Greengart, analyst at Current Analysis, said RIM's apparent change of heart is not a reaction to T-Mobile USA's Wing, which launched earlier this week, or to the coming iPhone.

T-Mobile's Wi-Fi offering is designed to offer consumers access to data because the carrier doesn't yet have a 3G network, while the iPhone's intended market is high-end, multimedia-minded users.

Greengart said the Wi-Fi-laden Blackberry will be aimed primarily at RIM's enterprise customers who "want faster campus connectivity."

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Source: Wireless Week