BlackBerry Email and the Technology Behind It!

Smartphone users these days can agree on one thing – BlackBerry Email experience is one of a kind and is unmatched by any of its competitors. If you never had a BlackBerry, you are blind since you were born, so you can’t really tell what you are missing. If you did have a BlackBerry and also used a competing device, you should know although you may not have realized it.

It is beyond magic what these RIM devices are capable of doing. I call them magic because we, the end-users, don’t really appreciate the enormous and complex tasks the BlackBerry devices perform to bring the email experience we can’t live without. It just works. The fact that our emails get delivered to our BlackBerry often even before it shows up on our desktop email client (e.g. Outlook) is anything more than astonishing. Do we really care? No. But do we love it? **** yes! But that’s not my point. It goes to show how RIM has pushed the boundaries of its push technologies to the max that no one is able come close to. Despite claims from its competitors that they also have push technology, it is misleading at most and really depends on how they (re)define the technology itself.

What they really do is a poke and pull – far from what push was really meant to be. The device at a certain interval (e.g. every 10-30 seconds) goes to the server and asks a simple question – I’ve got mail? That is the poke. Server would then respond with a yes and no answer. And if it’s a yes, the device will download the new emails. That is the pull. I still don’t see how they can still call it push. As a user, you may not realize the implications of this model and may not care but you will when you are done reading this. Imagine your device asking the server the same question every 10-30 seconds 24/7. What do you think your battery life would be? Also, add the fact that in 80% of the cases, you will not have any new emails. So you essentially wasted your battery and piled up data charges just to hear that you do not have any new emails in 80% of the cases. Do you care now? I hope you do!

On the contrary, what RIM does is completely different and elegant. When there is new email in your mail server, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server or the BlackBerry Internet Service simply finds where the device is no matter where you are in the world (magic again). Oh btw, if it can’t find you, it will queue up your emails and will deliver them as soon as you are back in to network coverage. Once you are found, the email is TRULY pushed to your device without any poking whatsoever. No wonder BlackBerry devices run forever on a single charge and costs 10 times less data. Add to all that, the auto encryption of your data for security and auto compression for further reduction in data usage.

One other thing I wanted to clarify is that RIM’s push technology is not for emails only – it is for any data – think Calendars, Contacts, Memos, Tasks as well as 3rd party applications such as news readers, facebook etc.

I was tempted to write this short article because RIM is so bad with its marketing campaigns and they do not know how to capitalize on their strengths. Saying we have the best push technology is Hebrew to most of us but saying why it is important to us, and what difference it makes to our lives is something we will understand.

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Try Email ++ today - a fully integrated toolbar for the BlackBerry Email App that adds EIGHT net new features to your email experience. You can get Email ++ from the AppWorld and MobiHand

Yeah.. that's why I love Blackberry :cool: than iPoke :D

Interesting read, thanks.

Interesting but the email side is not just contained to RIM. If you hookup any account through Activesync on most of the platforms today, they push and as fast as the BB. I was not 'born blind' since I had BB's for many years. RIM pioneered it for sure, but it is not unique in many aspects anymore. The data compression and security are unique and an advantage for RIM, but not push. Glad you are happy with BB, and they do have the lead in messages. But don't spread misinformation.

Gmail, hotmail, and many others give you Activesync for free today.

How's the Email++ better than the stock email client?

Originally Posted by willtothewong

How's the Email++ better than the stock email client?

Email ++ is not an email client, it sits on top of the BB email client, I have the trial now and I think I might buy it.
Things I like about it, insert location in an email, transform an email into a calendar reminder, block spam email.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Timing is everything...yes its unmatched... the very thing that makes it good makes it bad.


Email is down as of 11am EST

Originally Posted by devcellent

Smartphone users these days can agree on one thing � BlackBerry Email experience is one of a kind and is unmatched by any of its competitors. If you never had a BlackBerry, you are blind since you were born, so you can�t really tell what you are missing. If you did have a BlackBerry and also used a competing device, you should know although you may not have realized it.

It is beyond magic what these RIM devices are capable of doing. I call them magic because we, the end-users, don�t really appreciate the enormous and complex tasks the BlackBerry devices perform to bring the email experience we can�t live without. It just works. The fact that our emails get delivered to our BlackBerry often even before it shows up on our desktop email client (e.g. Outlook) is anything more than astonishing. Do we really care? No. But do we love it? **** yes! But that�s not my point. It goes to show how RIM has pushed the boundaries of its push technologies to the max that no one is able come close to. Despite claims from its competitors that they also have push technology, it is misleading at most and really depends on how they (re)define the technology itself.

What they really do is a poke and pull � far from what push was really meant to be. The device at a certain interval (e.g. every 10-30 seconds) goes to the server and asks a simple question � I�ve got mail? That is the poke. Server would then respond with a yes and no answer. And if it�s a yes, the device will download the new emails. That is the pull. I still don�t see how they can still call it push. As a user, you may not realize the implications of this model and may not care but you will when you are done reading this. Imagine your device asking the server the same question every 10-30 seconds 24/7. What do you think your battery life would be? Also, add the fact that in 80% of the cases, you will not have any new emails. So you essentially wasted your battery and piled up data charges just to hear that you do not have any new emails in 80% of the cases. Do you care now? I hope you do!

On the contrary, what RIM does is completely different and elegant. When there is new email in your mail server, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server or the BlackBerry Internet Service simply finds where the device is no matter where you are in the world (magic again). Oh btw, if it can�t find you, it will queue up your emails and will deliver them as soon as you are back in to network coverage. Once you are found, the email is TRULY pushed to your device without any poking whatsoever. No wonder BlackBerry devices run forever on a single charge and costs 10 times less data. Add to all that, the auto encryption of your data for security and auto compression for further reduction in data usage.

One other thing I wanted to clarify is that RIM�s push technology is not for emails only � it is for any data � think Calendars, Contacts, Memos, Tasks as well as 3rd party applications such as news readers, facebook etc.

I was tempted to write this short article because RIM is so bad with its marketing campaigns and they do not know how to capitalize on their strengths. Saying we have the best push technology is Hebrew to most of us but saying why it is important to us, and what difference it makes to our lives is something we will understand.

Try Email ++ today - a fully integrated toolbar for the BlackBerry Email App that adds EIGHT net new features to your email experience. You can get Email ++ from the AppWorld and MobiHand

Originally Posted by mystic205

Timing is everything...yes its unmatched... the very thing that makes it good makes it bad.


Email is down as of 11am EST

And as usual Rim is first to take the blame, you don't know if it's a carrier network problem or email server problem but you blame Rim straight away, I had a client friday with their emails down all day, if they used blackberry they would've blamed Rim first too.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Originally Posted by dbw1000

Interesting but the email side is not just contained to RIM. If you hookup any account through Activesync on most of the platforms today, they push and as fast as the BB. I was not 'born blind' since I had BB's for many years. RIM pioneered it for sure, but it is not unique in many aspects anymore. The data compression and security are unique and an advantage for RIM, but not push. Glad you are happy with BB, and they do have the lead in messages. But don't spread misinformation.

Gmail, hotmail, and many others give you Activesync for free today.

I see your point about active sync being free but so is BIS email assuming you have a bb data plan and so is BES express.

I also have to disagree with your interpretation of push and what you've described is exactly what I called a poke and pull in my post. Active Sync does NOT push data. Instead, the client device initiates a connection to the server (the poke) and the server instead of responding immediately, waits a while before saying you've got mail or no you don't. If there is new email the server responds with the new emails and the client reads them (the pull). This is completely different from BlackBerry. The point is who initiates the connection. In case of ActiveSync, clearly it's the device. But in case of a BlackBerry the server finds your device no matter where you are and tells your device about the update.

The other point you mentioned was that Active Sync is as fast as BB. True but at what cost? Maintaining a persistent connection to the server every 10-15 minutes can only be a battery and data hog.

Imagine you are watching a game and I want to know whenever the red shirts scores. Should I call you every minute to see if they scored or should you call me when they score? I would have to be ******** to call you every minute but ActiveSync is.

Read about active sync here: technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997252.aspx