BlackBerry Enterprise Solution uses Triple DES to encrypt data

The BlackBerry® Enterprise Solution uses a two-key Triple DES encryption algorithm to generate message keys and device transport keys. In the three iterations of the DES algorithm, the first 56-bit key in outer CBC mode encrypts the data, the second 56-bit key decrypts the data, and the first key encrypts the data again.

The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution stores the message keys and device transport keys as 128-bit binary strings with each parity bit in the least significant bit of each of the 8 bytes of key data. The message keys and device transport keys have overall key lengths of 112 bits and include 16 bits of parity data.

All versions of the BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, BlackBerry® Device Software, and BlackBerry® Desktop Software support Triple DES.

For more information about Triple DES, see Federal Information Processing Standard - FIPS PUB 81 [3].

RIM patent infringement litigation

In 2000 NTP sent notice of its wireless email patents to a number of companies and offered to license the patents to them. NTP brought a patent-infringement lawsuit against one of the companies, Research In Motion, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. This court is well-known for its strict adherence to timetables and deadlines, sometimes referred to as the "rocket docket", and is particularly efficient at trying patent cases.

The jury eventually found that the NTP patents were valid, that RIM had infringed them, that the infringement had been "willful," and that the infringement had cost NTP $33 million in damages (the greater of a reasonable royalty or lost profits). The judge,James R. Spencer, increased the damages to $53 million as a punitive measure because the infringement had been willful. He also instructed RIM to pay NTP's legal fees of $4.5 million and issued an injunction ordering RIM to cease and desist infringing the patents. This would have shut down the BlackBerry systems in the US.

RIM appealed all of the findings of the court. The injunction and other remedies were stayed pending the outcome of the appeals.

In March 2005 during the appeals process, RIM and NTP tried to negotiate a settlement of their dispute; the settlement was to be for $450 million. Negotiations broke down due to other issues. On June 10, 2005, the matter returned to the courts.

In early November 2005 the US Department of Justice filed a brief requesting that RIM's service be allowed to continue because of the large number of BlackBerry users in the US Federal Government.

In January 2006 the US Supreme Court refused to hear RIM's appeal of the holding of liability for patent infringement, and the matter was returned to a lower court. The previously granted injunction preventing all RIM sales in the US and use of the BlackBerry device might have been enforced by the presiding district court judge had the two parties not been able to reach a settlement.

On February 9, 2006, the US Department of Defense (DOD) filed a brief stating that an injunction shutting down the BlackBerry service while excluding government users was unworkable. The DOD also stated that the BlackBerry was crucial for national security given the large number of government users.

On February 9, 2006, RIM announced that it had developed software workarounds that would not infringe the NTP patents, and would implement those if the injunction was enforced.

On March 3, 2006, after a stern warning from Judge Spencer, RIM and NTP announced that they had settled their dispute. Under the terms of the settlement, RIM has agreed to pay NTP $612.5 million (USD) in a “full and final settlement of all claims.” In a statement, RIM said that “all terms of the agreement have been finalized and the litigation against RIM has been dismissed by a court order this afternoon. The agreement eliminates the need for any further court proceedings or decisions relating to damages or injunctive relief.” The settlement amount is believed low by some analysts, because of the absence of any future royalties on the technology in question.

BlackBerry PIN

BlackBerry PIN is an eight character hexadecimal identification number assigned to each BlackBerry device. PINs cannot be changed manually on the device (though Blackberry technicians are able to reset or update a PIN server-side), and are locked to each specific BlackBerry. BlackBerrys can message each other using the PIN directly or by using the BlackBerry Messenger application.

A first generation BlackBerry Bold.

• BCESA (BlackBerry Certified Enterprise Sales Associate, BCESA40 in full) is a BlackBerry Certification for professional users of RIM (Research In Motion) BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices.

The Certification requires the user to pass several exams relating to the BlackBerry Device, all its functions including Desktop software and providing technical support to Customers of BlackBerry Devices.

The BCESA, BlackBerry Certified Enterprise Sales Associate qualification, is the first of three levels of professional BlackBerry Certification.

• BCTA (BlackBerry Certified Technical Associate)
• BlackBerry Certified Support Associate T2

Additional information on certifications can be found on the Blackberry.com website.

The BlackBerry Technical Certifications available are:

• BlackBerry Certified Enterprise Server Consultant (BCESC)
• BlackBerry Certified Server Support Technician (BCSST)
• BlackBerry Certified Support Technician (BCST)

BlackBerry App World

On October 21, 2008, RIM announced at the BlackBerry Developer Conference that the company would open an application store for their devices. It was also announced that the store was scheduled to be open in March 2009, and would work in conjunction with PayPal's services. On January 19, 2009, RIM began accepting submissions of applications from developers.

On March 4, 2009, RIM officially named the store "BlackBerry App World" (previously called the BlackBerry Application Storefront). It was also confirmed that the service would not initially be available for desktops, and only a web-based catalog would be accessible from non-BlackBerry devices.

On April 1, 2009, at CTIA's trade show, RIM announced that App World had gone live,

At the BlackBerry sponsored Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES), it was announced that an average of 1 million apps were being downloaded each day.

On August 19, 2010, BlackBerry App World 2.0 was released. This new version introduced BlackBerry ID - a single sign, account system that can be used on both the BlackBerry client and the BlackBerry App World desktop storefront. In addition to BlackBerry ID, BlackBerry App World 2.0 also introduced direct credit card billing and carrier billing for AT&T Wireless subscribers.

Government regulation

Some countries have expressed reservations about the BlackBerry's strong encryption and the fact that data is routed through Research In Motion's servers, which are outside the legal jurisdictions of those countries. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrainwere reported  to consider the BlackBerry as a "security threat" for this reason, with the former having earlier been reported as trying to get users to install an "update" on their BlackBerry devices, ostensibly for performance enhancement, but which turned out to be spyware that allowed call and email monitoring.

On August 1, 2010 Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) of The United Arab Emirates officially announced the suspension of BlackBerry Messenger, Blackberry Email, and Blackberry Web browsing services in the country as of October 11, 2010. This measure was taken due to failed attempts to bring the service and have it hosted locally as per the UAE Telecommunication regulations.

On October 8, 2010 the TRA officially announced that the BlackBerry services e.g. BBM E-mail web will continue to work as regular.

Other countries threatening to ban the use of the BlackBerry Messenger include Algeria, Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Indian authorities have asked Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerry to provide them some means to access the encrypted data for calls to, from or within India, following concerns that it could be used by terrorist and rebel groups to carry out proxy war attacks on India. In the November, 2008 Mumbai attacks, terrorists used mobile and satellite phone technologies after which security agencies and Government of India have become more strict and alert towards communication within the country. BlackBerry has indicated willingness to set up a server in India by October, 2010 and giving the country limited access to its highly effective encryption technology.

Saudi Arabia has also threatened to ban the service, but it was reported close to reaching an agreement with RIM to set up a server for the service inside the Kingdom.

The BlackBerry Store

In December 2007 a BlackBerry Store opened in Farmington Hills, Michigan. While it is the only BlackBerry store currently in existence, it actually was not the first. There were three prior attempts at opening BlackBerry stores in Toronto, London, and Charlotte,but they eventually folded. The store offers BlackBerry device models from AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint, the major U.S. carriers which offersmartphones. Employees are trained not only on the BlackBerry devices themselves but in the practices of each service provider. There is also an unofficial BlackBerry store called BlackStore in Caracas,Venezuela, because of the BlackBerry brand's popularity in Venezuela, especially in Caracas and Maracaibo, making Venezuela one of the biggest BlackBerry consumers in the world. There is also a BlackBerry Store in the Atlanta airport.

Blackberry Storm 2: Breathtaking Mobile Phone with Great Features

Blackberry has carved its own niche in the mobile manufacturing segment with phones that ideally suit the executives or the working professionals. The phones are sophisticated in looks and have associated features to help them with their work while they are on move. Blackberry storm 2 is one of the recent phones to roll out from the house of Blackberry and since then it has significantly captivated the fascinations of the mobile users.

A completely changed look from other blackberry phones is the first thing that might pleasantly amuse you. The phone is without any keypads and every operation can be handled by the just scrolling your fingers at the sensitive TFT capacitive touchscreen. The larger screen of 3.25 inches ensures a smooth scrolling and it also presents a clearer view of the multimedia applications like pictures, graphics, videos and off course games.

The phone is enables with lots of multimedia features wherein you can hear to songs, watch videos and play engrossing games. The communication is quite clear with the latest 3G compliance and you can seamlessly surf through the Internet or can download the relevant files in a speedier way. If you are addicted to photography they you are provided with 3.15 mega pixel camera with auto focus and LED flash so that you can get sharp pictures.

Blackberry storm 2 is available with the physical as well as online providers. The advantages of seeking it through online stores are that you save precious time in comparing through all the available deals and you also save lots of sweat and effort that would be needed to visit the physical stores. Blackberry storm 2 deals are available with all the major network service providers that include O2, Orange, T mobile, 3, Vodafone and Virgin. These are available under various deals like payg, contract, sim free, sim only and others.

How does Blackberry Messenger Work

How Does BlackBerry Messenger Work

If you have recently purchased this awesome mobile phone, then the first thought that would come to your mind would be how does BlackBerry messenger work. Well using the BlackBerry messenger is very easy. You require to change some settings but once that's done, operating messenger is a piece of cake. Click on the messenger icon, if you are using the messenger first time you need to specify a display name that identifies you to other users. You also need to crate a password for yourself. Once you've done that, BlackBerry automatically logs you in their wireless network. 

Phonebook
Your Phonebook or contact list displays your individual contacts and other groups. Each of your contact is a BlackBerry user. Make sure each one of your contacts has a BlackBerry messenger installed before you exchange chat messages. You can send requests to your contacts by e-mail or PIN (Personal Identification Number). If you want to know your PIN number, click on "Options". Then scroll down to "Status", now click on the wheel and you'll see your PIN. To add a contact to your list, go to the messenger icon and open it. Go to "Contacts" and click "Add Contact" now click "Use Once". You can also store this contact in your list. If you want to store the address or PIN of an individual, click on "Request Email" or "PIN". Now press the "Enter" key. If you wish to remove someone from your contact list, just go to "Contacts" and click "Delete". If you wish to see the contact details on the "Contact List Screen" select "Contact Info". To make another group for your contacts, click the "Track Wheel" on the contact list screen and click "Add Group". To move your contacts from one group to another, click the desired contact on the "Contact List Screen", click "Move" and select the desired group. To delete a group, click "Delete Group" and then "Delete". 

Texting
Once you have people on your contacts, you can begin to send instant messages. To message someone, go to the desired contact and click "Start Conversation". Type the text and press "Enter". To put your BlackBerry on vibration mode click "Ping Contact". To reply to a message click "Wheel" and then "Reply". You can also add an additional chatter to your messaging conversation, just click "Track Wheel" and then "Invite". 

Set your Status
With the latest BlackBerry technology you can also do some changes in your availability status. You need to set your status to "Available" if you want to receive messages or notifications. If you don't want to be disturbed you can set your status to "Unavailable", this way you cannot receive notifications. BlackBerry also updates your status automatically. You will see a "Busy" icon when the message recipient is busy in another activity. You can see an "Unreachable" icon when the user is not in the wireless connectivity area or when the user is busy on a call. 

Miscellaneous Features
Another cool feature of BlackBerry messenger is the emotion feature. You can insert an emotion while typing an instant message, press the "Symbol" key twice and select the desired emotion. You can also make the "AutoText" feature active and it will automatically correct the various typos and also replace abbreviations if you make the feature active. 

So, I think this article has answered your doubt, how does BlackBerry messenger work? Closing down your BlackBerry messenger does not end conversations automatically, you can still receive instant messages. If you see a "Bubble" icon in your BlackBerry phone this means that you have received some new messages.

Blackberry Apps

Best Blackberry Apps

Here is a list of some top blackberry applications which can make your phone a life saver and also help you in times of emergencies.

Google Maps
This one of my favorite blackberry apps. This PC program is not only great for PCs, but I feel it also gives a very rich and great experience on your blackberry. With the help of Google maps you can search roads, local business addresses, discover traffic blocks, get turn by turn instructions and even have some GPS application via My Location Based Services, even if you don't have a GPS receiver installed. Google maps is one of the many free blackberry applications that you can install in your blackberry. With installation of Google maps you make your blackberry your own handheld GPS device.

Opera Mini
The browser which is included in blackberry is very slow and not up to the mark. It doesn't offer good page views and pages are uploaded very slowly. Now have a look at opera mini! Not only you can zoom in and out of pages but you can also see the pages according to your desired size. You can even opt for a landscape mode and save your pages as bookmark tabs. Have a look at blackberry storm battery to boost your blackberry battery life for a long period.

Google Sync
Thanks to Google for creating Sync application so that the old blackberry users can keep their Blackberry calender and contacts in sync with their Google calender and Gmail contacts. Google Sync is available in a manual and automatic mode. While the automatic version is popular, you can't set the sync schedule. If you are still carrying an older version of blackberry, you may find some difficulty as it tries to sync up at various intervals. So I recommend the manual version.

Facebook
My job involves a lot of traveling and I hardly get time to check my facebook account. I am addicted to facebook because it's the only way I keep in touch with my old friends and far away relatives. With this free blackberry apps, you will get notifications on your blackberry screen when you receive any new messages on your facebook account. This must have blackberry apps also displays your wall messages, informs you who is poking you, shows new updated photos by your friends and much more. You can also update your status, check your friend's account and also upload pictures from your blackberry smart phone. In short you can manage your entire facebook account without even touching your computer. This is also one of the free software downloadsavailable on the Internet.

X Player
I personally am not a fan of the music player installed in blackberry. That's why I got the X player, it supports all types of music files including MP3, AAC+, WMA and many more. It also plays video files of many formats and offers a pretty impressive codec base for playing innumerable video file types. X player is one of the cool blackberry apps which is easily and freely available.

Shazam
You must be hearing a number of songs on the radio daily and sometimes you wonder if you could identify it, enter the world of shazam. Press the shazam icon and hold your blackberry close to the radio, in 15 seconds it will tell you what song it was, the artist's name and what album was it on. It is a great application that you can flaunt. It has a very few limitations like it can't identify live music and it doesn't link to purchase the music like we have in the iTunes section.

WorldMate
This is a must have blackberry apps for travelers. This application is not free but it's worth the cost. The gold pack costs $99 per year, but I and many other travelers have never complained. This blackberry apps allows you to store your own travel plans, a world clock view and keeps you updated with the weather. The most exciting thing about this application is its ability to show flight schedules and show the status of each flight. With the flight status in your hand, you can always travel faster than time. It also gives you access to airline phone numbers in case you need to make some necessary arrangements. Worldmate may cost a bit, but for travelers it's worth the expense. Blackberry is often called a gentleman's phone, so learn some cell phone etiquette and learn how to carry your blackberry phone.

So these were some of the must have blackberry apps for your blackberry mobile phone. Understanding blackberry technology is not that difficult, you just need to spend some time with your smart phone to make it cool and handy.

Blackberry Storm Battery

After buying a Blackberry Storm, one feels elated and wants to try the 'n' number of features of the phone. You will want to check out the music, send/ receive email, Blackberry Instant Messenger application (BBM), texts, surf the web and do hundreds of different stuff. But, there is one major aspect that will disappoint you, the Blackberry Storm batter life. It is quite obvious that the high-end features of the device will lead to Blackberry Storm battery draining fast. If you want to increase the Blackberry Storm battery life, then the following tricks will help you boost the weak cell phone battery life for longer periods.

How to Increase Blackberry Storm Battery?

Once you bring home a Blackberry mobile phone, charge the battery completely before you begin using the cell phone. You need to charge the battery for at least 15 hours even if the battery is full. This step needs to be repeated for 3 continuous days. This will help extend your battery life to some extent. Do not repeat this step after the first 3 days. You should then continue charging your cell phone as you would normally do. Then you need to carry out certain steps to avoid Blackberry Storm battery draining fast. Let's see some of the easy steps that will help you get the maximum from your mobile phone.

Turn Off GPS
The biggest source of battery drainage is the GPS. You see, the GPS navigation on blackberry is activated by default and your phone is connected to the satellite continuously. This causes the software and the hardware on the phone to run constantly causing the battery to drain out. If you are not using the GPS, you need to switch it off, until the time you need to use it. If you are using a mobile phone, the article how to increase cell phone battery life will prove to be a useful read.

To turn off the GPS, you need to locate the 'Options' tab in Menu. Then select 'Advanced Options' and select 'GPS'. You will find three boxed on your screen. Do not change the first box that prompts 'GPS Data Source'. The next box, needs to be changed to 'E911 Only'. This means your phone will automatically get GPS activated in case of an Emergency. The third box 'Location Aiding', needs to be set at 'Disabled'. You will find the tiny circle on your screen indicating GPS without any waves. This shows that GPS is inactivated. Follow the same steps to activate GPS, if you want to use it. This will surely help in increasing the Blackberry Storm battery life.

Remove Unwanted Applications
There are many applications available on your Blackberry Storm, some of which you will hardly use. In such a case, identify the applications that are of no use to you and your phone. Then, delete these applications once and for all. This will reduce the strain on the cell phones computing power as it won't have to search through so many applications to find what you are actually looking for. 

You need to delete these applications by selecting the 'Options' tab in the Menu. Search for 'Advanced Options' and click on 'Applications'. In applications, you need to locate and highlight the applications you do not wish to use. Then you need to select 'Delete' and remove these applications from the phone. This will not only help increase your Blackberry Storm battery life to some extent, but also provide more free memory on your device.

Block Unnecessary Emails
There are many emails that you hardly read like spam mails or just forwarded emails. You can select the emails you do not wish to receive and block them on your phone. Wondering, how blocking emails will help you extend battery life? Well, the phone will not ping or vibrate unnecessarily for every email you won't even want to read and thus, saving precious battery power.

Activation of the 1xev Option
The Blackberry Storm is automatically devised to be able to accept the various global connections. However, if your phone is continuously in search of new networks, it will lead to battery drain. The best thing to avoid Blackberry Storm battery draining fast, is turning on the 1xev option.

You can do this by reaching for the 'Options' tab in the Menu and clicking the 'Mobile Network' tab. Here, you will come across 'Network Technology' and choose the '1xev' tab. This will help in removing the SIM errors that you may see and also extend the battery life marginally.

Switch Off the Bluetooth
A bluetooth that is turned on will take up about ⅓rd of the power of your battery. To avoid this unnecessary power drainage, you should keep the bluetooth in turn off mode at all times when not in use. This will help increase the battery life considerably.

Turn Off Connections that You are Using
The blackberry is connected with many different connections like IrDA connections, WiFi, GPS apart from Bluetooth technology. All these connections eat considerable battery power and you can save your battery life by simply turning these connections off. You need to click on 'Manage Connections' and turn off all the connections you are not using. You will find your battery life last a bit longer.

Cut Down on Notifications
You need to use shorter message or email notifications ring tones as longer ones tend to kill your cell phone battery. You also need to use the LED flashing alerts to a minimum. You should change the settings in your 'Profile' tab and choose only those sounds and notifications that have a shorter vibe. Keep the ringer volume to low as it will help save battery power.

Backlight Reduction
Backlight of your phone may help bring out the vibrancy of your phone, but will drain away precious battery life. The best thing to do is keep the backlight at a lower level and save power. You need to select the 'Options' in the Menu and click on the 'Keyboard/Screen'. Here, locate the 'Backlight' tab and lower the light levels. This will avoid unnecessary use of battery power and also lead to less strain on your eyes. You also can select the option where the backlight turns off, when not in use.

Blackberry Storm Battery with Blue Lightning Bolt

Many people find their Blackberry Storm battery with blue lightning bolt while charging the phone. The lightning bolt probably means the phone is charging. The bolt will disappear on its own when the battery is fully charged. Many times, charging the phone through the laptop or with a car charger won't be providing the phone with the required energy to be charged. This will cause you to see the Blackberry Storm battery with blue lightning bolt. You need to use a wall charger and try to charge your battery and watch the bolt disappear.

Blackberry Storm Battery Removal

If you are looking for some information on Blackberry Storm battery removal, then you need to follow these steps. First, turn off your Blackberry Storm before removing the battery. Then you need to remove the battery cover by pushing in the two small releases on either side. You need to press them down and lift the cover up. Carefully open the cover by pulling it up and out. Then, you will find a gray, rectangular battery with green stripe. You need to place your thumb and forefinger on either edge and pull up the battery.

If you are replacing the battery, you need to place the battery in the same spot with the top side facing up. Align the positive and negative signs in the battery compartment and place the battery firmly. Then place the battery cover over it and slide in the seven small half ovals in the groove of the rear cover. Press it down gently till you can hear it snap into place. You can read all about what is blackberry technology in the article how does a blackberry work.

This was all about how to increase your Blackberry Storm's battery life. You need to remove unwanted applications and switch off applications that are power hungry. These applications are those that provide you with the latest updates like social networking sites or news and weather feeds. I hope this article on how to improve Blackberry Storm battery life, has provided you with some useful ways to extend the life of your battery.

History of Blackberry Technology

The Blackberry was a communication device that was developed in a Canada based company, Research in Motion(RIM) in 1999. It was built in with a multi-tasking operating system. The earlier phones manufactured under this technology used the 80386 microprocessor for their working. 

What is Blackberry Technology?

The recent Blackberry 9000 series has been designed and work on the Intel Xscale 624MHz CPU. The earlier version of Blackberry cell phones worked with an 80MHz processor and were hence comparatively slower in downloading 3G web pages. Blackberry uses an IPD file for its data storage. A single IPD is used for the database handling which makes the performance even faster. The technology encompasses simple features like calendar, reminders and games, along with the basic applications of making and receiving calls and messages. Besides the basic features it also allows you to send emails and browse web pages. The Blackberry manufacturers have also tied up with various vendors like Microsoft, IBM and Novell to integrate Outlook, Notes and Groupwise into these phones. Almost all the phones manufactured with the Blackberry technology have bluetooth technology integrated in them. Some models also have inbuilt cellular 'walkie talkie' feature. 

How is the Blackberry Technology Different?

What is the difference between these cell phones and the conventional cell phones? There is a package called the Blackberry Enterprise Server, that is available for Microsoft Exchange, Novell GroupWise and Lotus Domino. In organizations with a large number of Blackberry PDA users, BES is used to provide undisturbed email facility to the consumers. Individuals however, can use the email facility provided by their service provider. But most importantly what make Blackberry different from the conventional cell phones are, the Blackberry APIs that are available for writing programs by any individual. You can use these APIs and write your own software. You can run these softwares in your Blackberry cellphone or PDA. However, you need to take a digital signature from the RIM before putting in this software for use by any other person. 

Other Features and Softwares

There are various other softwares that are compatible to the Blackberry technology. Blackberry Internet Service, Blackberry Desktop Redirector and Blackberry Messenger are a few of them. Various third party softwares are available, for free download over the Internet, which makes the use of these PDAs even more fun.

There are various Blackberry models available in the market. The Blackberry Storm 2 is supposed to be launched in the market by September 2009. May 2009 statistics show that there were over 28 million Blackberry phone users by the end of it. This figure simply reflects the widespread use of the Blackberry technology and stresses upon the fact that any person who is interested in technology, should be aware of what is Blackberry technology?