RIM launches BlackBerry business blog

Research in Motion has launched a blog designed specifically to keep its business customers up to date on BlackBerry events, research and products.

Inside BlackBerry for Business saw its first post yesterday, and future authors are likely to include members of RIM's global vertical market development team, the Small & Medium Business team, and the product teams that work on devices and software.

"As always, we're here for you to speak to us as well! What mobile solutions are you exploring and how are you implementing them?" asked the post.

"How are mobile technologies impacting your organisation/staff? How can BlackBerry smartphones help drive your business forward? What information/tools should we provide to help make your job easier?"

RIM will be hoping that the blog forges closer links between the firm and its customers, after recent allegations of spying and question marks over the security of the BlackBerry service, one of the device's traditional strong points.

Countries including India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have insisted that the company hand over its encryption keys or store user data locally.

The UAE accused RIM of enabling spying within its borders, while the Indian government demanded that the company provide data about its local users or take its service out of the country altogether.

RIM is currently around three weeks into a 60-day reprieve of the India ban, which could still go ahead.