RIM looks to integrate with Microsoft in the cloud-based services
Research in Motion is looking to enter the cloud space.
A senior executive from the Waterloo-based tech titan told The Globe and Mail that the company does indeed have plans to offer cloud-based services akin to - in fact, tightly integrated with - Microsoft's cloudy Office 365.
“We have the physical capacity to handle cloud services,” [Jim] Tobin said, referring to existing RIM data centers which move some 15 million gigabytes of BlackBerry traffic a month.
RIM’s Tobin said the PlayBook’s video conferencing ability was built using open standards that should be able to work with other platforms, but he declined to say whether a PlayBook user would be able to interact with someone using either a consumer product like Skype or Google’s Gchat, or corporate software from the likes of Cisco and Microsoft. “We’re designing it in ways that make interoperability straightforward, but it takes two parties to dance on that,” he said.
Jim nor RIM disclosed a specific date for the PlayBook, but after earlier leaks suggested late March, and later rumours suggested minor delays, the release is widely expected to occur by mid-April.
RIM has not disclosed a specific launch date or exact pricing for the PlayBook, which is expected to be available by April.
