Anyone remember the BlackBerry Application Suite, a project at RIM designed to replace Connect by emulating the BlackBerry operating system (and services) on other devices? Well, either some clever Chinese hackers have figured out a way to fake what looks like BlackBerry assets onto other phones, or BAS has actually moved to Nokia devices, shown here on both the E71 and 5700.
As we know it, BAS only worked with Windows Mobile, so making it to Symbian would be quite a big step in this project, at least as far catching up to the devices Connect supported goes. BAS has been in the works for upwards of three years now, with only the odd hint that it’s still alive. There’s a fair bit of controversy as to whether or not these videos are legit, but I think it’s even cooler if this actually isn’t a RIM-approved affair. There are plenty of good reasons to expect BAS is still kicking, though.
Most corporate grunts will take whatever phone is issued to them, but there are always a token few who insist on supporting their personal favourite, and barring the mass consumer demand for iPhone, that usually leaves the tech-heads who won’t let go of an uberfunctional Windows Mobile or Symbian devices. To be fair, there are bound to be sectors with particular solutions that are only available on WinMo or S60, and necessitate largish non-BlackBerry deployments. End-users aside, BAS does have appeal to mobile administrators who want to be able to control non-BlackBerry devices too, however few there may be in their particular rollout, and covering the Symbian base would be a pretty big part of BAS meeting that demand.
[via Unwired View]