According to CIO.com, an anonymous source says that Research In Motion, the Canadian company behind the Blackberry, will release a new set of tools to make the device harmonize with a Mac sometime in the first half of 2009.
The tools as said to “address a number of longstanding complaints from Mac users,” though details of the exact capabilities that RIM will bring to the table with its own software were not disclosed, according to ars technica. “We know that we don’t have an ideal solution for Mac users,” the RIM source stated. “It’s something that’s been on our radar since 2004, at least…” (And, we can only imagine, become a priority since the release of the competing iPhone.)
The Blackberry has always had a hard time appealing to the artistic-Mac-using types, typically finding itself in the pocket of a pin-striped suite…This is due to the fact that the only way Mac users have been able to scrounge up basic syncing features is through third-party applications from PocketMac and Mark/Space. Naturally, there were downfalls that included the inability to wipe the BlackBerry OS or perform necessary backup/restore of the device.
Therefore it is only good news (though still a rumor) that RIM is developing its own native software for the booming Mac community. Both companies will have the potential to profit. With Macs more open for business than ever, consumers will no longer have to choose between the two main devices. Now it is just up to Apple to continue to make the iPhone appeal to the business minded and Crackberry addicts alike.
