Blackberry 1999 Annual Report Download - page 13

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Handheld computers such as those manufactured using the Microsoft
Windows CE operating system can also be wirelessly enabled using
RIM’s OEM radio. Many companies that manufacture these small
handheld devices are evaluating RIM’s OEM radio technology.
IN-VEHICLE APPLICATIONS
One example of an in-vehicle application is the mobile gateway made
by Mobile Integrated Technologies. These mobile gateways integrate a
personal computer, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and RIM’s
OEM radio to provide information and communications to truck drivers
and fleet managers.
In another type of application, Intel and Ford’s Visteon group are using
RIM’s OEM radio for the communications component of their complete
in-car computing platform.
OTHER WIRELESS APPLICATIONS
Many other companies have chosen RIM as their supplier for wireless
capability. As an example of wireless point-of-sale, customers can pay for
their pizza at their door using a credit or debit card over a handheld
terminal developed by Lipman. Ademco, the largest alarming company
in the world, has chosen RIM’s radios for their wireless alarming
installations. Other companies are integrating the OEM radio into
vending machines that are used to recharge phone cards and into
automated teller machines so that they can be used in remote locations.
The size, cost, coverage and battery life advantages of RIM’s OEM
radios enables RIM to assume a dominant position in the growing market
for wireless embedded solutions.
Going Forward
Over the course of fiscal 1999, RIM made a transition from being a “good
radio developer” or a “two-way pager” company to a company that has
brought to market the first wireless information appliances and wireless
Internet appliances.
New offerings in the Wireless Handheld Appliance product line and
next-generation OEM radio products as well as innovations in wearability,
display quality, screen size, processing power, and memory are expected to
fuel what many believe is the emerging trend of “distributed computing”
or the need for people to carry small wireless computing devices.
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