BlackBerry for Windows Mobile

RIM announced it will release a version of its BlackBerry Application Suite for Windows Mobile 6 devices. The suite fully emulates the BlackBerry OS, meaning all third-party apps will be supported in addition to RIM's email and calendering tools. This potentially offers a new solution for mobile enterprise developers and IT departments struggling to support RIM devices and Windows Mobile. RIM's new media player will not be supported initially, but will likely come in a later release.

The thought of a Treo running BlackBerry on top of Windows Mobile would have seemed ridiculous a few years ago. I think decoupling the software from the hardware is a good thing; consumers get to mix and match and vendors can focus on their strengths. Of course, fans of the BlackBerry hardware argue RIM should create Windows Mobile devices instead.

ALSO: RIM explains last week's email outage. But not everyone is impressed (to say the least).