[simonco]

Just wondering where they received the information in this article and if there is any truth to it.

RIM demos PlayBook OS2 - The Register

Sorry if a repost. I did do a search.

[taylortbb]

Yes, the native client does appear to be ActiveSync based for Gmail/etc. The answer is less clear for corporate email accounts managed with Mobile Fusion. I don't see any reason for the negative spin though. ActiveSync is no less secure than BIS, and will fix the issues with BIS that people complain about. It will have instant two-way read sync, it will give you access to your folders, it means RIM NOC outages will never break email again, etc. The only downside is it's not quite as data efficient over cell networks.

[greatwiseone]

If you listen to the Crackberry Podcast and the new enterprise podcast, it gets into some of the advantages and disadvantages of the RIM push email system v. the ActiveSync. Previously, the RIM push email was the best solution, but ActiveSync has caught up. I have always thought that at some point, RIM would need to adopt ActiveSync as well. ActiveSync on the PlayBook makes sense (I have a corporate BB and a personal PB, and so I'm happy to just keep in bridging with my BB).

[Superfly_FR]

... is this stupid to say that ActiveSync may help for BBM implementation over several BB devices ? (in the background : I mean keeping PIN/BIS based system for the master device, and ActiveSync for "slaves", for instance).

[sk8er_tor]

I would not expect a WiFi-only device to be able to get on the NOC. Maybe if 3G/4G device came out but not WiFi-only unless RIM somehow charged the end-user for it.

[rolltide78]

The problem here is for companies like us who have BES and Good for Enterprise which rely on the highest security which we've learned to put in practice from companies like RIM. We don't even allow Activesync here company wide so it leaves a big WTH? in ways for the future. So if we don't allow activesync but we do have a BES server and the Playbook (by itself) only will have Activesync and not BES connectivity what is the compelling reason to ever buy these or BBX devices for that matter? I understand that over time the NOC may be going away but that's not today and we have thousands invested in two solutions that have the NOC... Blackberry and Good for Enterprise.

[fire6]

It sounds like the companies with the highest security concerns you will continue to use bridge, which they claimed the speed has been improved. Mobile Fusion will be their solution to have the security and allow other systems like activesync to function like our BES. Luckily my company allows activesync now, so it sounds like I will be able to use the email with the 2.0 upgrade.

[Superfly_FR]

The problem here is for companies like us who have BES and Good for Enterprise which rely on the highest security which we've learned to put in practice from companies like RIM. We don't even allow Activesync here company wide so it leaves a big WTH? in ways for the future. So if we don't allow activesync but we do have a BES server and the Playbook (by itself) only will have Activesync and not BES connectivity what is the compelling reason to ever buy these or BBX devices for that matter? I understand that over time the NOC may be going away but that's not today and we have thousands invested in two solutions that have the NOC... Blackberry and Good for Enterprise.

I think ActiveSync is only used to access non BIS/BES mailboxes. I had the same thoughts about it and then "Bridge" word came back into my mind. So I think both solutions are mixed, but it presume (probably ?) that PB is bridged to a BB phone.
Anyone can confirm this ?

[fire6]

In some photos of the email setup it showed: exchange/activesync, IMAP, POP3. That makes me think that we will be able to get exchange mail on activesync. Just like we can with IOS and android.

[Superfly_FR]

In some photos of the email setup it showed: exchange/activesync, IMAP, POP3. That makes me think that we will be able to get exchange mail on activesync. Just like we can with IOS and android.

Yes, but when "Fusion" was demoed in the enterprise apps deployment video, I can remember a bridge folder within a message notification ... so, maybe users will have exchange/activesync, IMAP, POP3 in the unified client, and still BIS/BES process over bridge ... Just wondering if "bridged accounts" will be integrated/pushed into the unified client

[fire6]

That's a good question. I guess we will have to wait and see. I am hoping that I can do exchange using activesync and gmail using IMAP over wifi. Then when I am not in wifi range use the bridge to get my exchange and gmail. For my use that would be the best of both worlds. Like I said earlier I am lucky my work allows activesync and BESX.

[chi-town311]

They will have to figure it out at some point because BB10 phones will need a direct BES fix. But for now you can bridge. I don't see what the problem is. If you need corporate email on your tablet, the PlayBook and Bridge should work fine.

[rolltide78]

The problem is I don't want a Playbook and a Blackberry and users don't want that restriction either. They may want a Playbook for the best email functionality but an iPhone for their phone. I can see people here who would love to have the BB email experience on a tablet connected to BES (not activesync) but still be able to keep their Android or iOS device connected to Good.

[lcohen999]

The impression I got was Fusion will be used for all BES applications that require it.

BIS will be effectively DOA on the PB (and I guess BB10 as well).

Really, I don't think it is much of a loss. BIS is a great service, but it is very limiting to what you can do with IMAP and Exchange. (POP3 is kind of a wash either way).

I am only happy with my BIS setup now that I am using a BESx account with my Google Apps..

[Angelo_Campher]

BIS/BES is going nowhere and BB10 devices should have either as with BB 7.

RIM's problem is not having BIS/BES on single device but rather having the data delivered to multiple devices as it is currently pin based. Your BlackBerry ID is attached to your pin as well.

The software for the servers are probably going to have to be rewritten to allow your BlackBerry ID to support multiple pins and delivered accordingly. It is a monumental undertaking and not as simple as what many believe but there is no way that RIM will let their trump card go...

[Superfly_FR]

Seems that ActiveSync goes ... kinda threw the fusion/NOC for company emails !
Listen to Kevin @ about 43:00 in the podcast : http://crackberry.com/mobile-nations...-ces-2012-wrap

[taylortbb]

The problem here is for companies like us who have BES and Good for Enterprise which rely on the highest security which we've learned to put in practice from companies like RIM. We don't even allow Activesync here company wide so it leaves a big WTH? in ways for the future. So if we don't allow activesync but we do have a BES server and the Playbook (by itself) only will have Activesync and not BES connectivity what is the compelling reason to ever buy these or BBX devices for that matter?

The answer is that Mobile Fusion is basically the next version of BES. Call it BES2 if you want to. It shouldn't be too surprising that with the BBOS to BB10 switch it's going to require a new version of BES. ActiveSync however will likely replace BIS for email, and possibly BES for less security conscious organizations. BIS doesn't have the security advantages over ActiveSync that BES does.

[rolltide78]

He still mentions BES and Activesync at 44:00. I want to know how is my Playbook connected to Fusion if I have a BES with Exchange. Is it connected to Activesync in this scenario or is it connected with BES? If I don't allow Activesync in my org..will this still connect to BES/Exchange?

[taylortbb]

He still mentions BES and Activesync at 44:00. I want to know how is my Playbook connected to Fusion if I have a BES with Exchange. Is it connected to Activesync in this scenario or is it connected with BES? If I don't allow Activesync in my org..will this still connect to BES/Exchange?

Fusion is the new BES. So old BES doesn't factor in here. Fusion communicates with Exchange, probably over ActiveSync, then relays that data to BB10 device. The security concerns about ActiveSync are entirely about exposing ActiveSync to the public internet. Behind the firewall between Fusion and Exchange using ActiveSync is fine. If behind the firewall isn't a trusted secure area you've got much bigger issues as your network has already been breached.

[Superfly_FR]

Some more about this in the new balance video posted here : Hands-On with BlackBerry Balance on the BlackBerry PlayBook - Managing corporate and personal life in harmony on one device! | CrackBerry.com

[rolltide78]

Fusion is the new BES. So old BES doesn't factor in here. Fusion communicates with Exchange, probably over ActiveSync, then relays that data to BB10 device. The security concerns about ActiveSync are entirely about exposing ActiveSync to the public internet. Behind the firewall between Fusion and Exchange using ActiveSync is fine. If behind the firewall isn't a trusted secure area you've got much bigger issues as your network has already been breached.

Man...just being behind a firewall does not make anything secure. Most exploits happen from intercepting communications on valid and open ports. For example..just having SSL open (443) open doesn't guarantee security either. It's just a port. I'm talking about encryption of data and the encryption of the transmissions and Activesync doesn't provide even close to the secure transmissions that BES does out of the box and does require a lot of overhead to get up and running..plus management. Plus it's not as well trusted as BES. I want to know what exactly is the technical and security relationship between Fusion and BES and the device because if Balance is deployed on the Playbook and the partition is encrypted that's all fine and dandy but if the transmissions between the device and the Exchange server are not secure from beginning to end then we could have a big problem on our hands. This is why we have a BES and Good for Enterprise servers here. Let's not go backwards here RIM..stick to your strengths.

[manofice1]

I hope fusion comes out strong, it will lay on top of BES I thought and will come free to BES customers. We have activesync turned off externally right now so that won't help me.

[DaedalusIcarusHelios]

This video seems to explain things:



I'm excited that RIM is really going BIG in all of this, and it is all really coming together.

[M.Rizk]

What makes me still using BlackBerries, is the Unlimited BIS, Our carriers in the middle east don't provide Unlimited Plans for any type of device but BlackBerries due to the NOC connection and the compression, if RIM is canceling BIS and we will use Generic Internet, I will cancel BlackBerry out of my mind too. Easy as that, either keep BIS and connection to the NOC with compression, or RIM is done for me.