RIM CEO Blames iPhone for Data Network Doom

RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis spoke yesterday at the 2010 Mobile World Congress about there needing to be a shake up in the way smartphones are consuming data. Networks are already congested and will get worse if our mobile bandwidth usage continues to skyrocket.

Here’s what he had to say, which was most likely taking aim at Apple and its competitors:

“Manufacturers had better start building more efficient applications and more efficient services. There is no real way to get around this…If we don’t start conserving that bandwidth, in the next few years we are going to run into a capacity crunch. You are already experiencing the capacity crunch in the United States.”

He also mentioned that you could carry ‘five iPhones for every Blackberry’ on the network. That’s how inefficient the iPhone is when it comes to data management versus the Blackberry. I do believe the 5:1 ratio stated by Lazaridis. Why? Because that that is also the same ratio of content that shows up in your Blackberry browser. Nothing beats dumb-downed internet that reminds us of our colour screen Palm Pilot days, eh?

It seems Lazaridis is jealous that Blackberrys are incapable of browsing a simple web page without causing the equivalent user experience of a Jack Bauer torture session. If networks are already congested, we should be building larger networks to accommodate growth. The real web is here to stay on smartphones such as the iPhone, Nexus One, and Palm Pre.

It is unfortunate that RIM design engineers have continued down the same unexciting hardware path: a flagship tiny screen, physical QWERTY, flashing LED light, and trackball. Oh, and by the time you have finished reading this sentence, 25 new models have been announced (ie 9710, 9720, 9730, 9740, 9750, 9760, 9780, etc). 😉

RIM Shows Off Their WebKit-based Blackberry Browser

RIM also ‘showed off’ their new WebKit-based browser for the Blackberry. The following video will demonstrate the new browser. Warning: this video may be painful for users who own Smartphones that have innovative and easier ways to surf the web.

Don’t get me wrong, Blackberrys are fantastic email devices. However, when it comes to everything else, RIM really needs to step up its game to keep pace with other competitors such as the iPhone and Google Nexus One. =)

What do you think? Should we be building more efficient devices or expanding networks?

[9to5Mac]

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