The Storm is a Netbook, says RIM founderThe BlackBerry devicesCNET Asia: We've seen some really exciting devices such as the Bold, Pearl Flip and the Storm from RIM in the last few months. Moving forward, what do you think will be the key feature to look out for in the BlackBerry smartphones? David J. Smith, senior director, CDMA Handhelds: It's a tough question to answer. The market is just expanding so much. I think if you look at the smartphone market as a percentage of the entire market, we've seen tremendous growth in the smartphone market. A lot of it comes down to communication. It's about voice communication, instant messaging, social networking and the ways people communicate. I guess the way I would answer your question is that we are always looking at the way people communicate. Web sites like Facebook, Flickr and YouTube have started to become a greater way of communication. For example, when I look at my children and watch how they communicate, I realize they will instant message and ask their friends to call them. The dynamics are changing, as compared to five or 10 years ago, no one would have sent someone an email to ask the recipient to return a call. What do you make of the whole hype around touchscreen smartphones? Smith: I think it's really exciting. What a touchscreen allows you to do is have a full-screen device. You are not taking up space with the keypad, yet at the same time, people love these [physical] keypads. I believe people like different things. Not everyone drives the same kind of car, wear the same kind of clothes and carry the same kind of mobile device. People will choose the devices they like, and if you look at what we are doing with the Pearl Flip, for example, we are creating different kinds of devices for people who have different needs and desires. Tags: Research In Motion Ltd., Smart Phone, Netbook, RIM BlackBerry, Sales |
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