Despite the few applications, poor camera, and limited compatibility; its linguistic and friendly interface were marvelous.. Research in Motion (the server operator) insisted on their unconstrained control despite security threats in Tmes of Terror.. Abuse and misuse had come into houses and families.. restructuring their communications and relationships.. There are many legitimated reasons to stand against its phenomenon, where teens in GCC are extensively using BB more than the executives; whom the technology was meant to support.. Is it an underdeveloped or a global problem..? However, it is a BB Phenomenon..!
I shall not wonder if RIM and TRA come to a sort of understanding.. RIM will not afford losing such attractive market, and TRA understands the challenges associated with leading formal actions along the GCC.. I think they will meet some where..!
Anyway, it is a classic example on how Governments view, role and control.. Freedom in implementation is very limited, and very controlled as well..!!
Thankfully, I had given up mine couple of months ago..!!
Arabian Business: The device’s popularity quickly helped BlackBerry’s Canadian owner, Research In Motion (RIM), carve out a niche for itself; it now accounts for nearly a fifth of the global smartphone market and has secured nearly half a m...illion users in the UAE alone. Nearly half of the 45 million BlackBerry users worldwide regularly use the BlackBerry Messenger service, a free user-to-user instant text service. RIM had previously taken the lead over its international rivals and in the second quarter of the year it shipped 11.2 million BlackBerry smartphones, compared to the 8.4 million iPhones sold by its California-based rival. This helped the Canadian technology giant to increase its revenue for the second quarter of the year by 24 percent to $4.45bn. However, these results were below analysts’ estimations and Forbes has already forecast that Apple's iPhone will overtake RIM’s BlackBerry in the global smartphone market by 2011. Already Apple stated that around 80 percent of the Fortune 100 companies were testing usage of its iPhone.
The issue is that Blackberry has been in the market for more than 5 years and security, terrosim,fraud, etc...were always threats...why is it that only now RTA flagged security issue?
ReplyDeleteIt seems that security has become the scapegoat for every major decision to change people ways of life against commercial gains...This decision from RTA makes me wonder....who runs who? is Etisalat that runs RTA? or the otherway around?
Jehad Makhoul
I absolutely agree with Adil, case in point is the fact the nature of terrorism today is not area/location/region specific, indeed it has out grown its own limitations and is engulfing the very existence of human civilization, and technology far from begin a preventor has become a moderator. In todays world technology based orientation for any child is welcome, but the technology is sharply replacing text books, which is a serious trouble for all societies.
ReplyDeleteSingh Raj K
Washington: Yousuf Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States, has described the US State Department's comments on the UAE's announcement to suspend certain BlackBerry services from October 11 as "disappointing and contradict the US Government's own approach to telecommunications regulation".
ReplyDeletehttp://gulfnews.com/business/telecoms/us-comments-on-blackberry-ban-contradictory-uae-envoy-1.663248?localLinksEnabled=false&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20100308_GN_Newsletter_Morning_03_August&utm_content=&utm_term=Article%20click%20-%20TopStory+159049
I was not that far from correct predictions..!
ReplyDeleteReport: RIM Willing to Open Back Door for Foreign Security Agencies
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100803/rim-mulls-gulf-state-security-concessions/
Research In Motion and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement that will allow BlackBerry services to continue in the country after the government was given the ability to monitor messages, the Associated Press said today.
ReplyDeleteThe deal involves installing a server inside Saudi Arabia that will let authorities check BlackBerry users’ data, averting a ban on the service, the AP said, citing an unidentified Saudi regulatory official. Marisa Conway, a RIM spokeswoman in New York, declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News.
Pierre Ferragu, analyst, Sanford Bernstein, London, said: “This whole story was getting annoying for RIM only as it could end up pushing users to go for an alternative brand in order to avoid problems if the service were actually shut off."
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/594318-rim-saudi-arabia-reach-deal-to-continue-blackberry---report
RIM to hand over BlackBerry codes in KSA..
ReplyDeleteResearch in Motion has agreed to hand over access codes to give Saudi authorities access to individual BlackBerry devices, according to a report from Reuters.
Saudi Arabia was due to ban the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service on Friday, but the Communications and Information Telecommunications Commission (CITC), gave operators until Monday to test servers based with each of the three operators in the country that offers BlackBerry services.
http://www.itp.net/581391-rim-to-hand-over-blackberry-codes-in-ksa-reuters?tab=article