Blackberries have taken over Jamaica, at least corporate Jamaica, anyway. A breakfast meeting last Wednesday signalled the change in that trend, as partygoers are expected to log on to the rhythms of Blackberry's attempt at fighting the iPod revolution - the Storm.

Research In Motion (RIM), creators and distributors of Blackberry, have come to Jamaica to sell the idea of the Storm.

According to Peter Gould, vice-president of Channel Sales, Latin America and the Caribbean, RIM, the new product, already launched in international markets, is set to jazz up the feel of Blackberry and change the user-demographic ever so slightly.

"I think the Storm provides an extremely robust multi-media experience that has more consumer appeal than perhaps the pure enterprise play where the drive around Blackberry was more about corporate productivity," said Gould, who has been with RIM since the creation of the first Blackberry 10 years ago.

More sponsorship efforts

Recently, Blackberry was involved in the sponsorship of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival and, according to Gould, the company might just be shaking up the party scene with more sponsorship efforts.

Those efforts, he explained, would, of course, be in conjunction with what he terms carriers (Digicel, LIME and Claro).

While there is definitely a shift to younger persons, who might not necessarily need all the corporate advantages of having a Blackberry, Gould said that move is not dramatic.

"Also, remember that with Blackberry, the business users are also on the consumer side so the lines get really blurred," he said.

One of the features that will make the Blackberry Storm more applicable to the partygoer is the speed and ease of typing it provides.

Added speed

The device carries an element that allows its face to go from portrait to landscape view. This makes for a larger space for a keyboard, and so users can type, as if on their computer, with larger keys than are available on any previous Blackberry.

The added speed means social networking sites like Facebook, MSN, Blackberry and Yahoo messenger services, and even MySpace, become more applicable to the partygoer who still wants to see what's happening elsewhere.

For even more fun, the Storm can hold up to five movies, loads of music, which includes using iTunes. There is also a 3.2 megapixel camera and video recorder. When you leave the party scene, there is the use of Microsoft applications for the office.

The Storm is to be released officially in Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados this month.