Jim Balsillie appointed to UN Panel on Global Sustainability

On Monday it was announced that RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie will be joining the United Nations Secretary-General’s 21 member panel regarding Global Sustainability. The members include high-ranking government officials and civil society representatives from developing and developed countries. “I am pleased to help this esteemed group develop new ideas for prosperity in a low-carbon world,” Balsillie said on Monday. “This is a critically important initiative for all countries, and integrates perfectly with the work CIGI is undertaking to address the international governance challenges of climate change.” He will be the only Canadian on the panel, as well as the only private sector representative. Mr. Basillie is also the CIGI’s (The Centre for International Governance Innovation) chair; which he founded in 2002. For more information on CIGI, head over to www.cigionline.org The purpose of this panel is to discover a “new vision” when it comes to sustainable growth. With the accelerated rate of changes in the climate in mind, this vision will tackle issues that include poverty, discover and maintain workable consumption/production levels and achieving a greener economy. A report from the panel is expected to be made by December 2011. I wonder if the panel will receive BlackBerrys to aid them in their research? Read the official press release from the United Nations >>

Survey Says Nearly 40 Percent Of BlackBerry Owners Don’t Know Who RIM Is – Do You?

This came as quite a surprise to me when I read it. According to a survey conducted by rightmobilephone.co.uk, a mobile phone comparison site in the UK, nearly 40% of BlackBerry owners don’t know who RIM is:

RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones might be recognisable, but 37% of those polled by rightmobilephone.co.uk were clueless about the mother company.

Neil McHugh, co-founder of rightmobilephone.co.uk, said: “To be honest, I was very shocked that more than a third of BlackBerry users failed to identify RIM as the manufacturer of their handset.

The About screen of all BlackBerry smartphones has RIM all over it, but I guess many users either don’t make the connection or don’t check that screen. Just in case, here’s RIM’s official company info:

Research In Motion (RIM) is the designer and manufacturer of the award-winning BlackBerry® smartphone, used by millions of people around the world. The company also creates solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market, including the software that allows the BlackBerry smartphone to provide mobile access to email, applications, media and the Internet.

And some quick facts:

• Founded in 1984
• Headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
• Offices in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe
• Launched the BlackBerry smartphone in 1999
• Led by Co-CEO Jim Balsillie and President and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis

Verizon and Google Make Internet Transparency Proposal

Executives from Google and Verizon Communications today announced in a joint press conference a new proposal regarding net neutrality. The two companies offered seven different points covering Internet traffic policies. The first few apply specifically to wireline broadband, and ask for there to be greater transparency, openness and rules put in place to prohibit traffic blocking based on type. The companies believe that there should be clear transparency on how wireline and wireless networks are run, what consumers can expect, and what services can be accessed via those networks. The sixth point specifically calls out how the companies feel wireless should be affected. The proposal says, “We both recognize that wireless broadband is different from the traditional wireline world, in part because the mobile marketplace is more competitive and changing rapidly. In recognition of the still-nascent nature of the wireless broadband marketplace, under this proposal we would not now apply most of the wireline principles to wireless, except for the transparency requirement. In addition, the Government Accountability Office would be required to report to Congress annually on developments in the wireless broadband marketplace, and whether or not current policies are working to protect consumers.” Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg said, “The idea is for the proposal to follow a consumer-focused orientation to represent what consumers expect of a robust and vibrant Internet.” He also said that the company will follow the ideas laid out in the new Internet policy proposal as part of its corporate strategy. Both companies reiterated that Verizon will not in any way prioritize traffic to/from Google’s services, and Google said that it is not interested in doing anything that can’t run on the open internet.

Adobe Announces Flash Player 10.1 For Mobile – Available For BlackBerry “In The Coming Months”

It seems like every time we hear about Flash for BlackBerry we never get a specific release date, just estimates. Before, though, Adobe was still working on Flash Player for mobile behind closed doors. As of today they have released Flash Player 10.1 to mobile platform partners including RIM.

Redesigned from the ground up with new performance and mobile specific features, Flash Player 10.1 is the first release that brings the full Web across desktops and devices. Mobile users will now be able to experience millions of sites with rich applications and content inside the browser including games, animations, rich Internet applications (RIAs), data presentations and visualizations, ecommerce, music, video, audio and more.

So what does this mean for BlackBerry users? Nothing yet except that according to this press release, RIM should have the software in hand to implement on BlackBerry smartphones. Adobe also says Flash Player 10.1 for mobile will be available as an over-the-air download or pre-installed on smartphones (including BlackBerry) “in the coming months”. I wonder if the BlackBerry Tablet will get Flash…

Even though this release says Flash Player 10.1 will be available as a OTA download or pre-installed, it’s really up to RIM when we’ll actually see Flash on BlackBerry smartphones. Hopefully it will be sooner than later since Adobe’s CEO said RIM would release it in the second half of the year. For more info about Adobe’s new Flash Player 10.1 check out the press release after the jump.

New BlackBerry OS 6 Promo Video

[Click Here to Watch on your BlackBerry]

Today at the Keynote speech with founder and co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis, RIM unveiled a new promotional video showcasing the upcoming BlackBerry OS 6.0! While it’s more of a hype video than a live demo, it does show the beauty of the BlackBerry 6. Hopefully OS 6.0 will come with those dancers…then I’ll always been in the groove to use my BlackBerry!