Research in Motion serves up the BlackBerry pie

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) is putting a berry smeared smile on the faces of third party manufacturers by finally presenting an application suite that will allow select devices currently supported by Windows Mobile 6 to present a "virtual" BlackBerry experience. Mike Lazaridis, President and CEO at Research In Motion stated, "Extending BlackBerry applications to a broader range of devices is an important element of RIM's strategy to provide an open platform that supports industry standards and addresses the various needs of our customers." Personally, I think RIM is rightly in the business of creating industry standards in addition to supporting existing ones.

Once the BlackBerry application has been downloaded into the devices that currently run Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Mobil 6, an icon will appear [subscription required]. Once selected, the familiar BlackBerry Smartphone interface will appear without disturbing the existing Windows Mobil applications.

The press release announcing this expansion of BlackBerry availability makes clear that RIM's association with AT&T is a major part of their marketing strength. Michael Woodward, Executive Director, Mobile Professional Solutions, for AT&T (NYSE: T) applauds this move by RIM calling it, "another positive catalyst that will further expand the appeal of the BlackBerry platform with customers. "