RIM To Produce Custom Device For Vodafone

It's normal for a terminal vendor to provide some minor level of customization to a carrier, but when that carrier is Vodafone, the manufacturer is willing to make lots of changes to get the business. This month Vodafone and RIM will debut the Blackberry 7230, an enterprise-targeted voice/data handset featuring a Vodafone-branded menu reminiscent of Live!, a color screen, Blackberry e-mail, roaming on 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS , 16 MB flash memory, a thumboard and wheel. The device also supports the viewing of attachments from popular office software. As we pointed out before two classes of wireless operators are emerging: those who have the purchasing clout to tell Nokia, Motorola, or Samsung what customizations they require to differentiate, and the smaller carriers who must accept the stock models the OEMs offer. Regardless, participating in Vodafone's global enterprise strategy is a big win for RIM.

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