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Lenovo integrates BlackBerry with ThinkPad
Lenovo and BlackBerry maker RIM have announced a new service called Lenovo Constant Connect. By inserting a Bluetooth-enabled ExpressCard into their ThinkPads, Lenovo users can automatically synchronize emails between their notebook and BlackBerry smartphones--even with their computer switched off.
One possible usage appears to be for use on a plane, where a business traveler can read and respond to emails on their laptop. Any emails composed would be synchronized on the linked BlackBerry smartphone, which will be sent out when user turns on his BlackBerry after landing.
Two years in the making, Constant Connect will work with any Lenovo laptop shipped in the summer of 2008 and later, and requires v4.2 or higher firmware on the BlackBerry smartphone. There is a down side. The Constant Connect ExpressCard has the larger--and less common--54mm form factor, and will cost about $150 when it is released in the United States in the second quarter of this year.
To read more:
- check out this article from Network World
Related Articles:
BlackBerry news from FierceCIO
Lenovo news from FierceMobileIT
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Comments
By Mark Cummuta | Posted 4:03pm | February 19, 2009
I was excited when I read the headline, since I prefer to use my IBM/Lenova Thinkpad laptops rather than my Vaio or Dell. But, since most corporate users will likely be using BES to coordinate their laptop users' emails, they simply need a wi-fi connection, or, a cellular card to get their emails out.
Still, I can still see how this product may be of benefit for consultants and corporations alike. The $150 price tage per card is more than a communications convenience. Hackers have played with ways to make their cell phones high-speed "modems" for their laptops for years. But this new card's ROI vs the monthly cellular laptop USBs is only about 1 year (assuming no additional charges or monthly use fees by Lenovo or RIM become part of this deal), potentially making it a reasonable investment for its designed interoperability.
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