Comments on: Mobile Platform Wars - Blackberry Ups The Ante http://justanothermobilemonday.com/Wordpress/2008/05/12/mobile-platform-wars-blackberry-ups-the-ante/ A Practical Look At Mobile Life Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:37:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: weiganla http://justanothermobilemonday.com/Wordpress/2008/05/12/mobile-platform-wars-blackberry-ups-the-ante/#comment-36742 weiganla Tue, 13 May 2008 17:46:35 +0000 http://justanothermobilemonday.com/Wordpress/2008/05/12/mobile-platform-wars-blackberry-ups-the-ante/#comment-36742 I wonder what percentage of mobile device users buy third-party software. I think it's great that the OS makers are pouring all this money into app development, but applications seems like a weird arena for a platform war - Patrick's right, 3rd party apps aren't exactly at the top of the list in influencing mobile platform choice. I also wonder how much of the $150M comes from outside investors and how RIM talked them into staking money. Why is the most money going into the most mature platform (unless RIM is planning a major strategy shift)? For RIM, maybe this is a move to keep developers from running en masse to the iPhone and Android. But what the heck do they mean by "and other mobile platforms" -- is RIM going to invest in iPhone developers? Either RIM has something up its sleeve, or this is really weird. I wonder what percentage of mobile device users buy third-party software. I think it’s great that the OS makers are pouring all this money into app development, but applications seems like a weird arena for a platform war - Patrick’s right, 3rd party apps aren’t exactly at the top of the list in influencing mobile platform choice.

I also wonder how much of the $150M comes from outside investors and how RIM talked them into staking money. Why is the most money going into the most mature platform (unless RIM is planning a major strategy shift)? For RIM, maybe this is a move to keep developers from running en masse to the iPhone and Android. But what the heck do they mean by “and other mobile platforms” — is RIM going to invest in iPhone developers? Either RIM has something up its sleeve, or this is really weird.

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