Hmm, considering that this will be a Blackberry add-on device, allowing certain information to be streamed to you wrist might actually make this a winner. Before I read the full story I thought what a joke, way ahead of its time, people want to have their important looking handheld Blackberry’s. They are not going to trade those in for a smaller wristwatch version that would most certainly lose a lot of their functionality as well as ease of use I’m sure. Obviously this will not be the case, just the next almost practical Bluetooth add-on for a cell phone. I could see even myself (although I don’t wear watches) looking at my wrist to see my latest text or email coming in. I would say my buddy Bradley would be first in line, but I don’t think he’d be willing to trade in that Rolex for it, lol. – Greg

October 19th, 2009

Can a BlackBerry watch succeed where SPOT watches failed?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 12:35 pm

I still have a few MSN Direct SPOT watches floating around at home, but find I rarely even wear a watch and just rely on my mobile phones for time and date information. Crackberry.com looks to have the first images and information on the upcoming BlackBerry Watch. This Bluetooth accessory will connect to your BlackBerry device and act as a viewable terminal for specific data. Much like the SPOT watches of old, it is designed to give you quick glanceable access to data without having to pull out your phone. Honestly though, does it really take that much effor to pull out your phone? If there is a piece of data you want to view more of or respond to then this watch actually introduces an unnecessary step in the process, right?

I suppose there could be a use case while driving where you could glance at your watch to see if any messages are urgent enough to warrant pulling over to stop and respond, but am still not sure that warrants an accessory like this. The SPOT watches required both the hardware and a monthly subscription and since this works via Bluetooth to your BlackBerry there will be no subscription service required. The price will have to be reasonable for people to pick this up, but I imagine there will be enough BlackBerry fans and tech geeks out there who will pick one up to justify the accessory.

Posted by Doug Hanchard @ October 19, 2009 @ 4:00 AM

Gangs know what encryption is. They are using it in force at the street level, let alone at the very top. Rim’s BlackBerries are the ultimate in security for them. Everything is secured and impossible to monitor by police.

The Vancouver Sun / Canada.com report interviewed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police:

It has become so popular among B.C. gang members that an internal RCMP) “threat assessment” on organized crime produced this year devotes an entire section to the device.

“It’s something we’ve seen increasing over the last three to four years,” Staff Sgt. Bruce Imrie, head of the RCMP’s Vancouver Integrated Technological Crime Unit, said in an interview. And that poses a big challenge for law enforcement, because encryption and security features make the devices much harder to wiretap than land lines or cellphones.

Rim’s Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) is one of the most sophisticated platforms for email and PIN messages. This system used to be the domain of big corporations. No longer. One of the reasons many financial brokerage institutions ban the use of PIN messages is because they can’t be tracked. In 2005 this was big news and was reported widely. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) banned its use. Organized crime picked up where the banks left off.

RCMP Insp. Gary Shinkaruk, head of biker gang investigations in B.C., said BlackBerries are “extremely common” among the criminals his unit investigates.“For a lot of groups, it’s standard practice,” he said.

The RCMP legendary motto maybe heading to the delete bin and may not be able to always get their man after all…