BlackBerry have been the standard for corporate email on the move since late 1999, with emails being the bedrock of modern business and increasing numbers of businesses embracing this, there is the inevitable increase in demand for mobile access of inboxes, calendars and notes meaning it looks like for now BlackBerry are definitely here to stay.

I for one certainly got confused when it came to switching across to my BlackBerry and being given the option of a BIS or BES solution so hopefully I can help to explain exactly what these are:

What is BIS?

BlackBerry Internet Service, also known as BIS can allow you to have access to the internet on your BlackBerry. Every time you access a new website, webpage or get a new email, you access it through your BIS solution.

What is BES?

BES which stands for BlackBerry Enterprise Service can give you access to a corporate network.

What’s the difference?

There are significant differences between the two of these services but the main difference is that BES is more for business hence the ‘enterprise’ in the middle opposed to BIS.

Both BIS and BES allow you to get emails on your phone, access web pages and download applications from the BlackBerry App World included in your data plan.

The conventional way of communication is from the handset to the BIS/ BES Service and then the BIS/ BES Service will then communicate with the outer world on your behalf. BIS is looked after through your carrier e.g. O2-UK whereas BES would be looked after and maintained by your business, this means that with your BlackBerry PIN, if your handset is mislaid or stolen, with BES all you need to do is phone up your IT department and they will be able to remotely wipe your device protecting any important information.

BES has mass potential within a corporate environment if you are a user of Microsoft Exchange. It will not only forward and update your mail box if you are away from your computer but if you delete an email it is deleted automatically and notes, calendars and events are automatically pushed to your phone real-time.

With BES there is a much better level of synchronisation including not only calendars, contacts, tasks and emails over the air but the installation of new applications can be pushed out automatically as well. The downside is that it can be quite expensive to run the full BES server but for all of the features, security and slick structure it’s definitely worth the money if you’re a large corporation and email is a vital part to your life. If you can’t afford your own then you could get this through a hosted service giving you all the benefits with minimal hassle and cost.

The most significant difference between the two services is the price. BIS can range anywhere between £5-£10 dependent on your operator charges and is the cheaper option to go for.

With BIS, the largest disadvantage is if you want to synchronise any information such as contacts, calendar entries, notes and more, you will need to install the BlackBerry software and physically sync the information with either a USB cable or via Bluetooth with your computer.

With Notepads, Laptops and Tablets all getting lighter, faster and reputable platforms being installed onto them such as Windows, Android and iOS4, we’ve seen many releases over the past few months.  The most popular tablet by far has been the Apple iPad.

The concept of the iPad was incorporating a capacitive touch screen (runs on a heat source, no stylus) and a larger version of an iPod Touch. The iPad has proved extremely popular for something so simple and so similar to the aforementioned iPod Touch, however it has ended up selling two million units within two months.

Apple are currently the market leader for “Tablets”, however many other vendors want a share of that market, meaning we have seen a lot of leaks online for tablets such as the HP Slate.  Due to the recent acquisition of Palm by HP, the Slate will probably not end up with Windows 7, but more likely webOS – the operating system currently used in Palm phones.

We have also seen products from Lenovo and Samsung where they have crammed Android onto their tablet products.  However, with virtually every manufacture cramming Android into their product, even the knock off ones from China, this may not provide them with a competitive edge or a compelling reason to buy.

In the past quarter we have seen the release of the Dell Streak which was produced as a smartphone but with browsing compatibility and no calling function. The Dell Streak can only be compared to the iPad as it’s marketed with a Data Plan.

Dell’s attempt at competing with the iPhone is likely to be put on hold until a more competitive operating system is released – Windows Mobile 7.

A lot of us are still waiting for a proper tablet to be introduced to the SME market.  The manufacturer who currently has the largest foothold in the SME gadget marketplace e.g. smartphones is RIM with its Blackberry product range. As Blackberry currently produce smartphones sold to both SME and Consumer, we know that they have the right credentials to work in both markets.

The online rumours surrounding Blackberry and the probability of them producing a Tablet has steadily been increasing. Recently, thanks to Mobile Crunch, they have discovered that Blackberry have registered a domain ‘www.blackpad.com’ for themselves. This could possibly suggest that RIM/ Blackberry have something up their sleeves – all that we know is that Blackberry is possibly developing something which will go into direct competition with Apple.

The Balckberry tablet is expected to have the following iPad killing features:

• Two cameras (one front facing)
• A faster processor
• New BlackberryOS6
• Bluetooth

and a few other’s that will definitely set it apart from the competition.

Whilst many features are still quite vague, we do know that Blackberry are producing it with a 9.7inch screen, it will make it work very close with their other Blackberry products and that it will be unveiled in November ready for Christmas.

Stay tuned for more information.