What's BlackBerry Mobile Broswer?

Web browsing on your mobile device has to be easy and no longer painful. While you would not want to browse the Web when sitting next to your computer, handsets today are becoming more and more capable at displaying and decoding simple WAP pages and even real websites in some cases. One of the more popular mobile browsers today is BlackBerry.

Overview

Released in 2002, the smartphone BlackBerry is the face of a convergent device as it handles push e-mail, web browsing, internet faxing, and other wireless information services. Developed by Research In Motion (RIM), a Canadian company, BalckBerry first made itself well known in the marketplace by focusing on e-mail.

At present, BlackBerry e-mail service is offered to non-BlackBerry devices like the Palm Treo. It can send and receive e-mails anywhere it can access a wireless network of particular cellular phone carriers.

BlackBerry includes PDA applications, telephone capabilities on newer models, and a built-in keyboard, which is optimized for "thumbing". Some BlackBerry models incorporate a Push-To-Talk (PTT) feature, like a two-way radio.

In addition, some models are Wi-Fi compatible and don't depend on mobile phone service coverage. BlackBerry has gained popularity from some businesses that primarily use them to give them e-mail access to roaming employees.

Installing BlackBerry Enterprise Server is necessary in order to completely integrate BlackBerry into a company's systems. RIM announced on April 2, 2008 that there were more than 14 million BlackBerry subscribers.

The current BlackBerry 8700 series features 3G/UMTS. The forthcoming Bold 9000 series is expected to also have this service. The BlackBerry 9500, with the code-name BlackBerry Thunder, will feature a touch screen.

Operating system

BlackBerry's proprietary multi-tasking operating system heavily uses the mobile device's highly specialized input devices, especially the trackball or scroll wheel. The operating system supports WAP 1.2 and MIDP 1.0.

Earlier versions enabled wireless synchronization with the Microsoft Exchange Server's calendar and e-mail, and with Lotus Domino's e-mail. Currently, OS 4 delivers a subset of MIDP 2.0 and also allows full wireless synchronization and activation with Exchange's calendar, e-mail, notes, contacts, and tasks, adding support for Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise.

Third-party developers are allowed to write software utilizing these APIs, as well as proprietary BlackBerry APIs. However, any application that uses certain restricted functionality should be signed digitally to be linked with a RIM developer account. While it guarantees application authorship, the signing procedure doesn't guarantee the security or quality of the code.

Position in the mobile browsing activity

So how does BlackBerry figure in the mobile browsing activity? According to a report by AdMob, a mobile advertising agency, Nokia is still the one to beat, securing a huge 34% of the global share.

A close second is Openwave (aka WAP) with a 29% share. BlackBerry  has 3% of the global share, right side Apple's, Palm's, and Motorola browsers. But the BlackBerry 8100 and BlackBerry 8300 remain on the list of 10 top American handsets.