The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, is focused on mobile technology as companies look to increase their market share is a sector growing exponentially.
On Monday, sessions discussed the mobile ecosystem surrounding tablets and smart devices and on Tuesday, the topic was expanded to include social networking and advertising in the mobile context.
Research In Motion (RIM) announced the launch of the BlackBerry 7.1 Operating System (OS) for their smartphones which have been under pressure in the US from Google's Android-powered devices, but dominate developing markets.
On Monday, sessions discussed the mobile ecosystem surrounding tablets and smart devices and on Tuesday, the topic was expanded to include social networking and advertising in the mobile context.
Research In Motion (RIM) announced the launch of the BlackBerry 7.1 Operating System (OS) for their smartphones which have been under pressure in the US from Google's Android-powered devices, but dominate developing markets.
RIM said it would begin rolling out the new OS no later than today.
"The new releases of BBM, BlackBerry Traffic and BlackBerry Travel will be available on BlackBerry App World beginning today," the company said in a statement.
A new feature included in the new OS is BlackBerry Tag that allows instant sharing of content between BlackBerry users.
"By simply tapping their NFC enabled BlackBerry smartphone against another NFC enabled BlackBerry smartphone, users can make sharing easier than ever," RIM said.
The BlackBerry 7 OS recently met the security criteria for evaluation assurance level 4+.
RIM hopes that this certification will no doubt re-assure IT managers that BlackBerry devices are secure platforms for corporate communications.
To further entice business users away from competing devices, RIM also announced that the7.1 OS allows users to enable the BlackBerry smartphone as a WiFi hotspot that will be able to share its Internet connection with up to five devices.
RIM hopes that this certification will no doubt re-assure IT managers that BlackBerry devices are secure platforms for corporate communications.
To further entice business users away from competing devices, RIM also announced that the7.1 OS allows users to enable the BlackBerry smartphone as a WiFi hotspot that will be able to share its Internet connection with up to five devices.
"The 7.1 update also supports carrier implemented WiFi calling services (UMA/GAN where available), allowing users to make Wi-Fi calls from their BlackBerrysmartphone that don't eat into their airtime minutes," RIM said.
