Openwave Names Mike Mulica as CEO | Openwave

Openwave Names Mike Mulica as CEO

REDWOOD CITY, CA - October 06, 2011 -- Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV) a global software innovator delivering all-Internet Protocol (all-IP) mediation and messaging solutions, today announced that Mike Mulica has been appointed as Openwave’s chief executive officer, effective October 6. Anne Brennan, who served as interim CEO, will continue in her role as Chief Financial Officer.

Mulica has been a leader in the wireless industry for many years and has extensive executive leadership experience in high-tech companies. In 2007 the World Economic Forum named him a Technology Pioneer, reflecting his 25 years in the technology and communications industry – including four years as a top sales executive with Openwave and its predecessor firm Phone.com.

“Mike is a proven leader with a track record of delivering strong financial performance and value to shareholders,” said Peter Feld, Openwave’s Chairman of the Board. “Both the Board and our management team firmly believe he has the leadership skills and industry expertise needed to oversee a successful turnaround at Openwave. We look forward to Mike’s leadership as we further our product strategy, continue to work to monetize our rich portfolio of intellectual property, and tightly control our costs to drive towards future profitability.”

Mr. Mulica served as an executive at Openwave’s predecessor firm Phone.com and at Openwave from 1999 to 2003. As a senior vice president at Phone.com, he helped lead the $9-billion acquisition of Software.com, which led to the formation of Openwave.

“I’m excited to re-join Openwave and to lead the company as we strive to deliver improved value to shareholders. My focus will be to quickly determine how Openwave’s product and intellectual property portfolio can help maximize its value to our customers, partners and the broader industry. We must continue to manage costs to drive towards future profitability and take advantage of the broad portfolio of intellectual property that is foundational to the mobile Internet,” said Mulica.

Prior to joining Openwave, Mulica served as President and Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at Synchronoss, a leading provider of transaction management, cloud enablement and mobile connectivity services for connected devices. He played a leading role at Synchronoss as it redesigned its product and go-to-market strategies, completed several acquisitions, as well as a $124 million public offering. The improving revenues and profitability helped increase the company’s market capitalization by $600 million during Mulica’s tenure. Mulica joined Synchronoss after the July 2010 acquisition of FusionOne, a leader in mobile content portability of which he was CEO.

Mulica also served as President and CEO of Bridgeport Networks, a leader in mobile-to-Voice-Over-IP. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business from Marquette University, and a Graduate Certificate in International Business from Copenhagen Business School.

CommScope Launches Global Energy Conservation Initiative for Wireless Industry

CommScope Launches Global Energy Conservation Initiative for Wireless Industry

As wireless networking companies push to become more environmentally friendly, CommScope, Inc., a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, has launched an energy conservation initiative that supports the industry’s global efforts in reducing power consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs.

“There’s no doubt that advanced technology and communications have impacted the way people live, work and play,” said Anil Trehan, vice president, Energy Solutions, CommScope. “As the demand for better, faster services increases, the industry must also focus on how to reduce its network power and fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse emissions, operating costs and capital expenditures. Taking all these factors into consideration, CommScope’s new initiative helps wireless operators lower their energy costs and provides them with an innovative and reliable way of powering cell sites. It also helps operators lessen their impact on the environment.”

It is estimated that the operation of telecommunications networks is responsible for 0.5 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. With the wireless industry’s heightened awareness of their networks’ environmental impact, operators are seeking ways to rapidly reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to a cleaner environment by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are being blamed as one of the potential causes of global climate change. This is why many operators have set goals to reduce their energy consumption by approximately 25 percent within the next 10 years.

“By partnering with CommScope, wireless operators have the ability to save an average of $5,000 per site, per year on energy consumption,” Trehan said. “In a 100-site network, that is an annual savings of $500,000. With more than one million cell sites around the world, operators can make significant reductions to their energy costs.”

To achieve many of these “green” goals, wireless operators can invest in clean and reliable backup power generators, remote shelter monitoring, amplifier upgrades, shelter cooling and hybrid cooling systems through CommScope’s new initiative.

Smart Performance Monitoring for Smartphones & Mobile Apps Worldwide - Keynote Announces Mobile Device Perspective 5.0

Smart Performance Monitoring for Smartphones & Mobile Apps Worldwide - Keynote Announces Mobile Device Perspective 5.0

SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct 05, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Keynote(R) Systems (NASDAQ: KEYN), the global leader in Internet and mobile cloud monitoring, today announced Keynote Mobile Device Perspective TM (MDP) 5.0, a single platform for both performance monitoring and remote troubleshooting of mobile apps on real smartphones, over live mobile networks.

New product enhancements in Keynote Mobile Device Perspective 5.0 include:

The ability to remotely connect and control live dedicated smartphones anywhere in the world: MDP 5.0 is the only real smartphone monitoring platform that enables users to leverage the same device for both monitoring and interactive trouble-shooting, all on live mobile operator networks worldwide. Keynote customers can remotely download mobile apps from app stores, upload pre-release apps directly from their desktops, interactively test their apps by performing touch screen gestures such as swipe and pinch, and rotate devices to trigger the accelerometer.

New scripting interface that is purpose-built for smartphones: MDP 5.0 includes self-service scripting allowing users to shorten the time needed to accurately test use cases. With point-and-click ease, scripting users can record each step of a test case and play them back any time. Users can record any touchscreen gesture and accelerometer event supported by the smartphone app and then store it in a shared script repository for cross-enterprise collaboration.

All the smarts you need for troubleshooting mobile applications. Intelligence comes standard: MDP 5.0 is built to support all the mobile application monitoring needs of IT and operations teams. The newly enhanced dashboard features one-click drill-down for detailed performance analysis along with an app screenshot from the device. MDP 5.0 also introduces a new video capture feature that makes collaboration much easier. And customizable Smart Alerts tell you when attention is required and also allow you to filter out unneeded information.

"Mobile and desktop platforms don't perform the same way when they run apps," says Carl Howe, research director at Yankee Group. "As consumers use smartphone apps more, mobile app providers need visibility into what users actually experience on those differing platforms. Mobile app monitoring and testing tools give them that visibility."

Users Across the Enterprise IT Spectrum

Users across the enterprise IT spectrum benefit from Mobile Device Perspective 5.0 features:

Network Operations Center and Customer Support Personnel - NOC teams need to ensure that their mobile apps are always available and meeting service level requirements. With MDP 5.0 they can monitor the end user experience and replicate mobile app issues in the field when they occur. NOC teams now have access to remote smartphones connected to live mobile operators so they can troubleshoot the issue and check its impact on other core applications and services.

Mobile Business Managers - For enterprise companies with dedicated mobile business units responsible for the start-to-end execution of their mobile strategy, Mobile Device Perspective 5.0 provides a platform to monitor and troubleshoot problems with their mobile applications on their target devices.

Mobile Enablers - Third party mobile enablers help companies transform regular web/rich media content and optimize it for a mobile channel. Mobile Device Perspective 5.0 provides them with access to mobile devices so they can quickly investigate technical support issues reported by their customers.

Operators/Device OEMs - Operators and device OEM certification teams responsible for certifying apps on real mobile devices now have a platform they can customize to meet their unique requirements.

"Smartphones have come to dominate the online experience and mobile subscribers expect their experience to be fast and flawless. How do companies keep up? Resorting to manual handset testing just won't cut it for operations teams who need well documented, repeatable results," said Vik Chaudhary, vice president of product management and corporate development at Keynote Systems.

MOBIbucks and Advanced Integrated Systems partner to provide First Mobile Money Platform for the Caribbean

MOBIbucks and Advanced Integrated Systems partner to provide First Mobile Money Platform for the Caribbean

Kingston, Jamaica and Louisville, KY, USA, October 5, 2011 – Jamaica-based transaction processing provider Advanced Integrated Systems and US-based mobile payments leader MOBIbucks, are set to roll out the first mobile money platform commencing with Jamaica, with plans to roll out in the Caribbean within the next twelve months. The platform allows users to carry out cashless transactions using their mobile phone number.

Called MOBIbucks, the new payment system is a patent-pending cashless and cardless solution that enables any consumer with any cell phone to have a mobile wallet, allowing them to make everyday purchases safely and securely, using only their phone number and PIN.

The MOBIbucks platform consolidated with AIS's proven strength in transaction processing and financial systems, creates an ideal opportunity for those seeking to enter the mobile money operations. Leveraging this robust platform which is interoperable with existing merchant and ABM infrastructure, mobile money operators will have access to an end to end banking, accounting, e- commerce, bill and loan payments and money transfer platform.

As Jamaica’s leading transaction processing provider, Advanced Integrated Systems handles payments for healthcare. medical claims, POS for banks, solutions for retail establishments and hotels, as well as other e-commerce businesses.

“We are always looking to integrate “best-of-breed” technologies to better address the needs of Jamaicans,” said Doug Halsall, OD, the CEO of Advanced Integrated Systems and the man who is credited with many technology “firsts” in Jamaica. “MOBIbucks is the perfect solution for Jamaica and the region. Unlike the U.S., where credit cards are the preferred method of payment, Jamaica is a cash society. MOBIbucks displaces cash and money transfer and gives users a mobile wallet. It will revolutionize the economic landscape for Caribbean consumers and facilitate transactions, making their lives easier.”

“The international momentum continues to build for MOBIbucks and the cashless, cardless alternative we bring to the mobile payments market,” said Jorge Fernandes, CEO of MOBIbucks. “We’re proud to partner with Advanced Integrated Systems, a leader in the development of the payments landscape in the region, to deliver a contemporary mobile payment platform that meets the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s consumers.”

Transforming the ubiquitous cellphone into a mobile wallet, MOBIbucks pioneered cardless and cashless purchases. Based on patent-pending technology, MOBIbucks is the only payment solution for making purchases using just a mobile phone number. The company’s mobile platform also includes a marketing and rewards solution that provides a merchandising tool to offer coupons, loyalty rewards, gift cards and online ordering.

Google Launches Our Mobile Planet At MMA Forum London

On October 6th, Google launched a new mobile consumer data resource at the Mobile Marketing Association Forum in London. The Our Mobile Planet website provides users with free access to the full set of data from the “Global Mobile Research: The Smartphone User & The Mobile Marketer” initiative conducted on behalf of Google by Ipsos GmbH in collaboration with the MMA.

“The site features a free interactive tool that puts valuable resources in the hands of marketers who want to better understand the mobile consumer,” said Michael Becker, MMA North American Managing Director. “Users can create custom charts that will help them to analyze smartphone consumer behavior and support data-driven decision making. We’re proud to have played a role in collecting that data.”

The study done in March and July 2011 by Ipsos GmbH in collaboration with the MMA, was conducted in 20 countries to provide insights into how people are using their mobile devices and five countries (France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US) to determine the readiness of businesses to engage consumers via mobile.

CommScope Launches Global Energy Conservation Initiative for Wireless Industry

CommScope Launches Global Energy Conservation Initiative for Wireless Industry

HICKORY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As wireless networking companies push to become more environmentally friendly, CommScope, Inc., a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, has launched an energy conservation initiative that supports the industry’s global efforts in reducing power consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs.

“There’s no doubt that advanced technology and communications have impacted the way people live, work and play,” said Anil Trehan, vice president, Energy Solutions, CommScope. “As the demand for better, faster services increases, the industry must also focus on how to reduce its network power and fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse emissions, operating costs and capital expenditures. Taking all these factors into consideration, CommScope’s new initiative helps wireless operators lower their energy costs and provides them with an innovative and reliable way of powering cell sites. It also helps operators lessen their impact on the environment.”

It is estimated that the operation of telecommunications networks is responsible for 0.5 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. With the wireless industry’s heightened awareness of their networks’ environmental impact, operators are seeking ways to rapidly reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to a cleaner environment by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are being blamed as one of the potential causes of global climate change. This is why many operators have set goals to reduce their energy consumption by approximately 25 percent within the next 10 years.

“By partnering with CommScope, wireless operators have the ability to save an average of $5,000 per site, per year on energy consumption,” Trehan said. “In a 100-site network, that is an annual savings of $500,000. With more than one million cell sites around the world, operators can make significant reductions to their energy costs.”

To achieve many of these “green” goals, wireless operators can invest in clean and reliable backup power generators, remote shelter monitoring, amplifier upgrades, shelter cooling and hybrid cooling systems through CommScope’s new initiative.

Siklu Signs Distribution Agreement with Connectronics

October 5th, Petah Tikva,IL, Siklu, a pioneer in the wireless backhaul market, has signed a distribution agreement with Connectronics, a leading wireless product distributor, for Siklu’s millimeter wave radio systems, which deliver unparalleled price-performance value.

The agreement is the latest for Siklu, which recently established a presence in North America and has begun offering in that market its carrier-grade millimeter wave Gigabit Ethernet radio solutions.

Under the agreement, Connectronics will offer Siklu’s EtherHaul millimeter wave E-band system to its network of value added resellers, system integrators, and Internet service providers.

The EtherHaul radio operates in the licensed E-Band spectrum, which is ideal for shorter-distance high-bandwidth connections. The truly innovative all-silicon design of EtherHaul enables a price point that is as low as one-third that of competitive systems.

Siklu’s systems are installed in numerous operator and enterprise networks across Europe and will be commercially available in the North American market in the fourth quarter of this year. EtherHaul’s first public showing in North America will be at the 4G World conference and Expo in Chicago October 24-27, where Siklu is in Booth #1531.

Enabling the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership, solutions from Siklu incorporate on-board networking capabilities and are ideal not only for mobile backhaul applications, but also Carrier Ethernet business services and enterprise and vertical needs.

“Siklu's EtherHaul system is a great product, and we anticipate significant demand for it among our customers,” said Rob Timm, President of Connectronics. “With its industry-leading price and its performance and value, it will be extremely attractive to our customers. We are definitely pleased to add EtherHaul to the broad range of wireless and connectivity products that Connectronics is known for.”

“We welcome this agreement with Connectronics, a well respected top tier distributor with a broad customer base,” said Ilan Moshe, who heads Siklu’s North American activities.

Moshe added, “We recognize the rapidly growing need for a solution such as EtherHaul in North America. For instance, mobile operators face a huge challenge in providing sufficient backhaul capacity for mobile broadband applications, particularly in congested urban areas. Enterprise campus communications and security installations face similar challenges, and our agreement with Connectronics will make it easier for them to implement our E-band solution.”

Mindspeed Announces Preliminary Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2011 Results

Mindspeed - Investors - Press Release

Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSPD), today announced preliminary results for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2011, which ended on September 30, 2011.

The company expects preliminary fiscal fourth quarter of 2011 revenue to be approximately $40.5 million. The company's previous outlook for fiscal fourth quarter revenues announced during the July 25, 2011 earnings conference call was a revenue range of $42.2 million to $43.9 million.

The company expects preliminary fiscal fourth quarter of 2011 non-GAAP gross margin percentage range and non-GAAP operating expenses to be consistent with the previous outlook announced during the July 25, 2011 earnings conference call.

"We experienced a weaker demand environment in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2011, primarily impacting our high-performance analog and legacy wide area networking business, as a result of weakening demand in the communications infrastructure market," said Raouf Y. Halim, chief executive officer of Mindspeed. "That said, we continue to believe that long-term growth for Mindspeed will be based on our strong design win pipeline for market leading solutions in key global networking initiatives, such as optical infrastructure and most significantly, our expansion into the 4G/LTE wireless market," added Mr. Halim.

Qualcomm Announces Leadership Change and Promotions

Qualcomm Announces Leadership Change and Promotions

SAN DIEGO – October 04, 2011 – Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that Steve Altman will become vice chairman, Steve Mollenkopf has been promoted to president & chief operating officer and Derek Aberle has been promoted to executive vice president & group president.

“I would like to congratulate all three gentlemen on their new positions and thank them for their many years of service to the Company. Their leadership has been instrumental in Qualcomm’s success and I look forward to working with them in their expanded roles,” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chairman & CEO of Qualcomm.

The changes will be effective November 12, 2011. In his new role, Altman will continue as a member of Qualcomm’s executive committee and provide direction and guidance on key initiatives across all areas of the business, as well as on overall vision and strategy. In his expanded role, Mollenkopf will oversee Qualcomm’s divisions, business operations, and market expansion and development areas. He also will continue in his role as president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT). Both Altman and Mollenkopf will continue to report to Dr. Jacobs. In addition to continuing to serve as president of the Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL) division, Aberle will oversee Qualcomm’s core services businesses, as well as the standards and global marketing activities. He will report directly to Mollenkopf.

Executive Bios

Over the past six years serving as Qualcomm president, and through his 22 years with the company, Steve Altman’s leadership and contributions have helped enable the Company’s successful growth, evolution and expansion. He has served as president of QTL and has been a member of the executive committee since 1992. Altman joined Qualcomm in 1989 and is the chief architect of the Company’s licensing business model. He graduated from Northern Arizona University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and received his Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1986.

Steve Mollenkopf’s outstanding technical and operational leadership, depth of business strategy and experience, strong focus on execution and exceptional customer focus make him ideally suited for the role of Qualcomm president & COO. He began his career at Qualcomm in 1994 as an engineer and joined the QCT team in 1999. Serving in various capacities within QCT, Mollenkopf’s technical and business leadership have been critical to the development and implementation of multiple industry-leading innovations. Mollenkopf holds two electrical engineering degrees, including a BSEE from Virginia Tech and an MSEE from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Derek Aberle has provided exceptional leadership and oversight for all activities associated with Qualcomm’s technology and IP licensing business, and, as a member of the executive committee, has helped to formulate and drive business strategies across the company. After representing Qualcomm as outside counsel for several years, Aberle joined Qualcomm in 2000. Prior to becoming president of QTL, he held several roles within QTL, including SVP & general manager. He has been instrumental to the success and growth of QTL, playing a leading role in structuring, negotiating and finalizing key license agreements with the Company’s leading licensees. Aberle holds a bachelor’s degree in business economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also holds a Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Mobeam Closes Initial Venture Round

CUPERTINO, Calif. – October 3, 2011 – Mobeam, inc. (www.mobeam.com) announced today that it has closed a $4.9 million Series A venture round, receiving funding from yet2Ventures, Samsung Ventures and Mitsui, together with other independent investors. Mobeam’s patented technology overcomes the technical barrier preventing mobile phones from interacting with the laser scanners used at retail locations around the world. Funds from this multimillion dollar funding round will be used to establish mobeam’s light based communications (LBC) technology as a new industry standard allowing mobile phones to interact with point of sale (POS) technology. Mobeam is also using these new funds to accelerate business development efforts with major consumer and retail brands for mobile couponing and other broad mobile commerce initiatives.

“Laser scanners are used in all major retail locations throughout the world, yet no current mobile technology can communicate with them, except for mobeam,” said Ben duPont, general partner of yet2Ventures. “Increasingly, mobile phones are the centerpiece of everyone’s daily lives, but in order to deliver a complete digital commerce experience they must communicate universally with scanners at point of sale. That’s the beauty of mobeam; ‘mobeaming’ a barcode works accurately and reliably every time, and it makes the technologies retailers already have far more useful while adding a new layer of intelligence gathering for retailers and brands.”

Due to the way mobile handset screens are constructed, even the most vibrantly displayed barcode cannot be read by the commonly used laser scanners found at point of sale in most retailers. Mobeam technology affordably adapts existing mobile technology to already deployed retail POS infrastructure, opening the door to a wide range of previously impossible mobile commerce programs and services.

Mobeam’s patented light based communication (LBC) technology utilizes LED technology already used on the vast majority of handsets to transform barcodes into a beam of light that every laser scanner can read. This technology makes it possible, for the first time, for a phone to present a coupon that can be easily and conveniently scanned and redeemed, without the need for retailers to upgrade their technology. Beyond mobile couponing, mobeam’s technology brings applications such as mobile ticketing and other mobile content enabled services to the next level.

“Mobeam’s technology addresses virtually every POS environment,” said Chris Sellers, CEO of mobeam. “Not only is mobeam the only way to use light to interact with a laser scanner, our technology can also simultaneously display 2D images and initiate NFC transmission, making it possible for retailers, brands and device manufacturers to rethink mobile commerce. Mobeam is solving a significant problem for consumers, brands, retailers and every other player along the retail value chain. The potential for mobeam’s light based communications technology – from mobile couponing to ticketing to mobile content – promises to be a tremendous industry game changer.”

RIM to Host BlackBerry DevCon Americas 2011

Waterloo, ON - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) will host BlackBerry® DevCon Americas (www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas) from October 18 to 20, 2011 in San Francisco, California. New and existing BlackBerry® application developers will get an opportunity to interact and learn from RIM and community experts about the latest development technologies for the BlackBerry® platform.

BlackBerry DevCon Americas provides an excellent opportunity for mobile developers to interact with BlackBerry platform experts and gain insight into trends in mobile development, the future of the BlackBerry platform and helpful tips for building with BlackBerry tools. Attendees will discover the opportunity that exists on the BlackBerry platform and learn about the potential to build differentiated apps that appeal to a growing audience of BlackBerry smartphone and tablet users.

Sessions

BlackBerry DevCon Americas will feature over 100 sessions and offer attendees a variety of industry and BlackBerry platform related content. Birds of a Feather sessions, the Ask the Experts area and collaborative roundtables will offer attendees the chance to connect with BlackBerry platform experts one-on-one.

Attendees will also be able to take advantage of the interactive instructor-led sessions that are designed to help them get hands-on experience with the latest technology including: WebKit and BlackBerry® HTML5 WebWorks™ Platform Development for both smartphones and tablet; Java® Development for BlackBerry® 7 OS; BlackBerry® PlayBook™ Tablet OS Development - Native SDK, Adobe® AIR®, Adobe® Flash® and BlackBerry tools for Android; BlackBerry Platform Services; BBM™ Social Platform and more.

View the Session Catalog at www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/session-catalog

New this year at BlackBerry DevCon is a series of sessions focused on helping Latin American developers be successful and learn more about developing for the BlackBerry platform. There are 14 sessions that will be available in Spanish and attendees will also have the opportunity to hear directly from companies active in the Latin American developer community. In the Ask the Experts area, RIM experts dedicated to the Latin America region will also be on hand.

Find out more about the available Spanish Sessions at: www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/event-info/latam-developers

Community Speakers

Some of the best community developers, key partners and industry experts will gather to lead sessions at BlackBerry DevCon Americas. Technical experts and innovators from Adobe®, Xtreme Labs, Penrillian, Magmic (a game-developer dynamo responsible for Rubik's® Cube, The New York Times® Crosswords, THKLive and Ka-Glom), Universal Mind, Assanka, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and many more will be on hand to share their mobile app development experiences and insights.

BlackBerry DevCon Americas attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from visionary game designer and futurist, Jane McGonigal on Wednesday October 19 at 11:30am PT for her presentation on how epic missions, wins and collaborative problem-solving in gaming can be used to find solutions in the real world. Inspired attendees will be able to apply this new way of thinking to ultimately improve their applications. Also, as part of her second session on Wednesday October 19 at 1:30pm PT, Ms. McGonigal will hear pitches from pre-selected application developers and give immediate feedback into how to improve their apps.

Find out more about the Developer Community Speakers at www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/content/speakers/community

App Express

Android and web developers will be able to visit the App Express area at BlackBerry DevCon Americas. Here they will have the opportunity to either quickly port their existing Android app to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, or transform an existing web application into a full-fledged app for both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry smartphones. Once done, the app can be submitted to BlackBerry App World™. Experts from RIM's development team and BlackBerry App World team will be available at the App Express area to provide assistance. App Express opens on Monday, October 17 and runs through Thursday, October 20.

Find out more about the App Express area at www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/content/app-express

Community Events

Through a series of community events at BlackBerry DevCon Americas, attendees will be able to connect and collaborate with the best of the BlackBerry development community:

Developer Hackathons where developers attending BlackBerry DevCon are invited to show off their skills during two three-hour marathon hack events on Wednesday October 19, 2011, starting at 7pm. Find out more at: www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/collaboration-events/hackathon

Developer Roundtables where attendees will participate in a series of interactive roundtable discussions that focus on the latest BlackBerry technologies - BlackBerry 7 OS, BlackBerry HTML5 WebWorks Platform, Adobe AIR, and many of today's platform services. These sessions are for idea and knowledge sharing, and are great opportunities to network and work with the developer community. Find out more at: www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/collaboration-events/roundtables

Birds of a Feather Sessions where attendees will have the opportunity to speak with industry experts regarding any questions or concerns they may have. Find out more at: www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/collaboration-events/bof-sessions

BlackBerry® Partners Fund Developer Challenge is a global competition, and this year includes the categories: Most Innovative WebWorks App, Best Adobe Flash/AIR app and Most Addictive social app using the BBM Social Platform. All winners will be recognized at BlackBerry DevCon Americas. More information on the BlackBerry Partners Fund Developer Challenge, including complete rules, guidelines, competitions, awards and prize packages, is available at www.blackberrypartnersfund.com/challenge.

RIM Mobilizes Microsoft SharePoint on BlackBerry

Waterloo, ON - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) announced today the BlackBerry® Client for Microsoft SharePoint, delivering the most advanced mobile SharePoint solution on the market. The BlackBerry Client app provides a deeply integrated and intuitive mobile experience for users together with the market-leading manageability and security of BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, providing a secure and cost-effective solution for businesses and government organizations.

“Our enterprise and government customers asked us to bring a highly refined mobile experience to SharePoint and we are delivering that today with the BlackBerry Client for Microsoft SharePoint,” said Alan Panezic, Vice President, Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion.

Connectivity between BlackBerry® smartphones and SharePoint servers is made possible with the market-leading BlackBerry® Enterprise Server software. The complete solution features:

Client app integration with core BlackBerry features and functions such as email, calendar, browser, and Universal Search providing an intuitive user experience

Check-out, check-in, and versioning of files reflected on the SharePoint server

Microsoft Office document editing using Documents To Go® (pre-installed on BlackBerry smartphones) to download, create, revise and upload documents

Access to Blogs, Wikis and Lists and the ability to update from a BlackBerry smartphone

Content searches across multiple SharePoint sites from a BlackBerry smartphone

In addition to user benefits, the complete solution also comes with many benefits for organizations and their IT departments. Application management and over-the-air provisioning of the Client app is made easy for IT departments with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server. The DataSmart™ efficiency of the BlackBerry solution transmits more data with less monthly data plan usage, allowing organizations to consider smaller or more budget-friendly plans. And CIOs will welcome the fact that confidential company information is being transmitted securely over the wireless network between BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry smartphones.

“In a world of continuous connectivity, businesses and governments require products, services and information faster and more reliably than ever before,” said Victor Garcia, Chief Technology Officer at HP Canada. “The BlackBerry Client for Microsoft SharePoint helps to address the needs of today’s mobile workforce with new tools and mobile applications to enable collaboration and productivity.”

A number of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies plan to roll out the BlackBerry Client for Microsoft SharePoint in the coming weeks.

RIM and Tech Data Announce Distribution Agreement for BlackBerry Solutions Targeted at Small to Mid-Sized Businesses in the U.S.

Waterloo, Ontario and Clearwater, Florida – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ: TECD) today announced a new agreement that enables Tech Data to distribute BlackBerry® devices, software and technical support services to its channel of over 60,000 value-added resellers in the United States. The agreement also allows Tech Data to support the end-to-end sale of BlackBerry solutions for small to mid-sized businesses through Tech Data’s new TDMobility offering operated by ActivateIT, a Tech Data and Brightstar Corp. joint venture company.

“This agreement opens up new channels for BlackBerry solutions targeted at small to mid-sized businesses in the U.S.,” said Derek Peper, Vice President, Enterprise Sales and Strategic Partnerships at Research In Motion. “RIM is also pleased to support the innovative TDMobility offering through this new relationship with Tech Data – an offering that supports the end-to-end sale of BlackBerry solutions, from devices and software through to training and technical support. This is a great win for RIM, Tech Data, Brightstar, the reseller community, our carrier partners and, most importantly, our business customers.”

Bringing together two of the world’s largest technology distribution companies, Tech Data and Brightstar, gives TDMobility tremendous size and a wide-ranging set of skills. Tech Data's existing operations allow TDMobility to simplify the entire mobility transaction for resellers, while providing access to state-of-the-art mobile devices, a streamlined activation process with leading mobile carriers, and a commission structure that can improve profitability and cash flow for resellers. Completing the solution, TDMobility enables resellers to create a recurring revenue stream by taking advantage of ActivateIT’s Cell Manage platform to help resellers simplify their customers’ deployments by offering consolidated billing.

“RIM is a strategic vendor partner for our launch of TDMobility into the channel, and ActivateIT is key to making the complete solution possible,” said Joe Quaglia, Senior Vice President of U.S. Marketing at Tech Data. “We formed a strategic alliance with Brightstar to enable just this kind of offering and we’re excited to offer our reseller customers the opportunity to increase their footprint in the channel by making complete, end-to-end BlackBerry solutions more easily available.”

“We’re always looking at the best way to serve our customers,” said Charles Kriete, President of ActivateIT. “Understanding what the marketplace needs is important, but it is our relationship with both RIM and Tech Data that is making this solution possible.”

Tech Data’s reseller customers can offer BlackBerry software, technical support and other services to their clients starting today. BlackBerry device distribution and activation are also offered today through TDMobility for select partners, with general availability planned for later this year.

Pervasip Releases Android Internet Calling App To The Google Android Market

Pervasip's wholly owned subsidiary, VoX Communications, a leading provider of wholesale Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services and cloud based computing, has announced that it has launched a mobile VoIP app for use on all Android mobile phones and Android tablets.

Pervasip's Chief Information Officer, Mark Richards, noted, "We are very excited about delivering a mobile VoIP app via Google's incredibly popular Android Market. We believe that this venue will give us significant exposure, as this app will be available to over 100 million Android smart phones globally and provide unlimited calls and text to other VoX users globally for as little as $4.95 a month."

A VoX subscriber can subscribe entirely on the phone and choose a U.S. phone number without leaving the interface, which makes the sign up process more elegant than many competitors. The mobile VoIP plans start at $4.95, which is a low cost of entry for a high quality and reliable VoIP service offering. VoX also offers 500 minutes for $9.95, and $29.95 for unlimited calling to the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

Richards continued, "The application is very sophisticated and has some interesting features that give us an advantage over other VoIP apps. For instance, VoX becomes available in the phone's primary dialer with a single touch and you do not have to sign in every time, as the Skype app requires. With our app you can also set it to automatically register with VoX when Wi-Fi is turned on, or keep it registered for 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi. We believe that we can add video calling to this product by the end of the year. This enhancement will enable video calling between an Android phone and an Ojo Vision video phone. As a nimble development technology company, we intend to produce a tablet video app that brings superior video calling to the Android Market."

"We have the ability to easily update plans offered, and we intend to be creative with target audiences that are looking for fixed blocks of calls for a fixed dollar amount rather than charging a monthly fee for services that people don't always use. This new interface enables us to tailor the plans offered so that we could even offer a $1 plan that only depletes a consumer's cash balance when calls are made. We intend to offer similar creative calling plans to those offered recently by Vonage and also intend to offer them at competitive prices," added Richards.