('''RIM''') (, ) is a
Canadian Wireless device company. It is best known as the developer of the
BlackBerry handheld
Communication device.
RIM is headquartered in
Waterloo, Ontario , and is a sponsor of
RIM Park in the north of the city. It was founded by
Mike Lazaridis , who currently serves as its co-
CEO along with
Jim Balsillie .
Prior to the manufacture of the BlackBerry, RIM worked with
RAM Mobile Data and
Ericsson to turn the Ericsson-developed
Mobitex wireless data network into a two-way paging and wireless
E-mail network. Pivotal in this development was the release of the
Inter@ctive Pager 950, which started shipping in
August ,
1998 . About the size of a bar of soap, this device competed against the SkyTel two-way paging network developed by
Motorola .
The first
BlackBerry was released in early
1999 , using the same hardware as the Inter@ctive pager 950, and running on the
Mobitex network. The first BlackBerry integrating a cell phone, as well as the first BlackBerry sold outside of
North America was released in
2001 , using the
European GSM /
GPRS standard.
Since then, RIM has released a variety of devices running on
GSM ,
CDMA , and
Motorola IDEN networks. The ubiquity of these BlackBerry devices in the corporate environment and the compulsive use of its ability to quickly send and receive e-mail has earned it the nickname "Crackberry".
RIM develops its own software for its devices, using
C++ and
Java technology. RIM also develops and sells
Embedded wireless data components.
