As of today -- thanks to an announcement by BlackBerry -- the "CrackBerry" addicts in our office were treated to a number of messages telling us everything is going to be OK. Here's part of a posting (company removed) that was sent to one user via SMS:
Some of you have asked us about the patent litigation between Research In Motion Limited® (RIM®), manufacturer of BlackBerry devices and enabler of BlackBerry services, and NTP, and how it may affect you. In the lawsuit, NTP claims that RIM’s BlackBerry e-email system infringes various NTP patents, and NTP is seeking a court order that would prevent continued operation of certain aspects of RIM’s BlackBerry service in its current design.
RIM has announced it has designed and tested a software update that would allow its partners and customers to continue to use the BlackBerry service without interruption, and with no visible effect on the end users’ ongoing experience. According to RIM, the software update will only be necessary, and only be implemented, should the court issue an injunction in the current litigation involving the NTP patents. (Carrier) has been working with RIM on plans to implement this new software update, should it be necessary. (Carrier) has also been testing this software update in cooperation with RIM, and the results of such testing, to date, have verified its functionality.
How does this matter affect you? You should continue to use your (Carrier) BlackBerry as you normally do. There is no need for a software update at the present time. RIM will announce at a later time the process for downloading any necessary software update, which will be made available at no charge. (Carrier) also will keep you informed about any significant news or developments.
(Carrier) is firmly committed to industry-leading customer care, and providing customers with innovative wireless products and services such as the BlackBerry. As always, thank you for being a loyal (Carrier) customer.
The same customer also received a note directly from BlackBerry (we do understand why BlackBerry was less forthcoming...it's difficult to comment on current litigation).
Overall, this was well done. Our question and suggestion, however, remains -- why not a couple of updates before this, even if it was nothing more than "we're on it, we're exploring options and we'll keep you posted."
But, we have to note the nice recovery.
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