UPDATED 14:40 EST / NOVEMBER 18 2010

A Business Focus for RIM, Google Voice

The PlayBook, which was planned for release for this September, faces delays around its arrival.  Meanwhile, many voices representing different sectors of businesses are acclaiming the RIM’s device, to integrate it in their business, spring-boarding off the smartphone that started it all.  We’re seeing financial, transport (Denver International Airport) and education (a school in Austin, Texas) sectors getting anxious over the PlayBook’s release. The delirium is triggered by the high level of security that the new device will offer, and the competitive price, in comparison to Apple’s alternative – the iPad.

On the customers list, TD Bank Financial Group placed the order so that PlayBook to be used by the bank’s clerks: executives and mortgages specialists, who are directly in charge with public relation.  In a Wall Street Journal report, Dave Codack, vice president at TB Bank, affirmed that “I actually got my hands on the first unit today, and will get demo devices in December.”

Depending on the result of the trial run, TD bank will confirm if they will replace the laptops with PlayBooks – amounting to around 1500 units. For Sun Life Financial, who also announced their interest for PlayBook, there is no official order quantity, and the officials left room for speculations declaring that “When the device is ready to ship, then we’ll negotiate—as with any supplier—the terms under which we’ll purchase them.”

RIM keeps its track as a trend setter, after introducing the first smartphone on the market, BlackBerry and now his proactive launch of PlayBook is one of the most expected actions for the Ontario based company. With BlackBerry, the strategy was smooth, as the developed OS is being run by Google’s Android and many other similar devices, but the case of PlayBook is different.  RIM has to act offensively toward Apple’s iPad.

There is also a focus on the business-orientated mobile application from Google too, which has big plans for Google Voice, integrating it more deeply into its existing Google Apps. With this, Google completes its range of over 60 applications with the addition of Google Voice, which enables users to initiate different types of calls. Google also announced the release of other different applications, many being categorized depending on the activity sector: business, education or government.


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