RIM’s biggest BlackBerry show of the year is now officially on and the the keynote is gonna kick things off. We aren’t expecting anything big (like the a device announcement), but will probably have some cool stuff for enterprise and admins. Woop! Show’s starting. Time to liveblog.
8:44 – Mike Lazaridis talks up BlackBerry’s birthday, success and growth.
8:47 – Mike intros BES 5.0. Web-based console, end-users get remote access, e-mail flags and folders. Same ol’.
8:52 – Beta testers give their testimonials. Glowing all around – high availability, failover, easy upgrade, solid security.
8:56 – Mike talking about making BlackBerry an all-in-one connection back home while staying secure. Now talking about Chalk Media. Hmm… I’m listening… Dang, moved on to Mobile Voice System. Was hoping maybe there was some announcement with Chalk there. Podcast software bundled with OS might have been cool.
9:00 – Wireless Presentation Solution for projecting PowerPoints gets mentioned. Would like to have seen more of it, though.
9:03 – Mike goes off stage. More peppy video testimonials.
9:06 – IBM Lotus Software GM Bob Picciano takes the stage. Talks up their enterprise collaboration software.
9:11 – We’re building a smarter planet, apparently. I dunno, still seems pretty dumb to me. Chewing through 9 predictions for collaboration shifts. 1: Everyone needs universal access to collaboration.
9:13 – Prediction number two: Messaging becomes an integrated platform, like building into BlackBerry. Number three: managing through human networks, not hierarchies.
9:15 – Number four: Telephony becomes voice collaboration. Basically, more than just talking – click to collaborate. Number five: Desktop productivity tools can save enterprise a bunch of money. BES 5.0 supports OpenOffice and Lotus Symphony. The French dude just raspberried the Bob, totally unimpressed. Heh.
9:18 – Number six: Transform SMBs into global trading partners. Managed services work well for them. Linux emerges onto the corporate desktop. Huh, eeeeenteresting. Open Collaboration Client Solution offers low cost Linux-based options.
9:21 – Number eight: Proliferation of cloud computing, LotusLive is their main offer on that front.
9:25 – New product… Alloy by IBM and SAP gives users reports management, travel management, leave management, a bunch of other stuff.
9:29 – P.S.: The Wi-Fi here sucks. Cisco’s Laurent Philonenko takes the stage also talking up collaboration. “We are now oblivious of location. … We work everywhere.” Click to join is apparently a big deal. “Have you tried joining a conference while driving on a freeway? If not, don’t.”
9:37 – “Data has overwhelmed voice in a very big way.” IP telephony is letting us do some new things with voice. Demo time. Getting a text messaging while you’re on a voice call – the texter doesn’t call because they see their contact’s current status. Cool, I guess?
9:43 – Wow. Reserve conference room and detect resources like projector and Wi-Fi from the phone. That’s really cool, actually. Shows the conference room on a map, just click it on your device for options.
9:48 – Cisco’s off. More peppy videos.
9:50 – Eric Haseltine, President of Haseltine Partners LLC. I don’t know who he is or what he does, but he looks like he would make a great Emperor Palpatine.
9:52 – Oh, he’s a brain scientist! He was an exec VP for Disney and worked for national security. Talking a lot about “long fuse, big bang.”
9:54 – Talking about neuroeconomics, seeing how the brain works when it comes to money. Most people will take $10 today over $11 tomorrow.
9:57 – Talking about the conflict between creating revolutionar products and dealing with immediate demands of investors. “The urgent always trumps the important.”
10:08 – The I/O bottleneck will open up – projectors are already broaching the problem of small screens and small keyboards. Use a mental time machine to figure out what would be awesome in the future and start planning for it today.
10:11 – Early adopters won’t fight you. Those in discomfort zones or best candidates for trying new technology, since those who are comfy in their position won’t want to move.
10:15 – Haha, Palpatine just made a Rebel Alliance reference to counter-cultures and how useful they are to new technology.
10:20 – Palpatine’s done and so is the general session. Time to get a few posts up then hitting the show floor. Remember to follow @SimonSage!
