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 Originally Posted by asforme
There wasn't just talk about missing BBM. The thread started with talk of palm making something similar exclusive to pre owners. Then it was brought up that this would be preferable to SMS because not everyone will have unlimited SMS.
The point being missed is that everyone with a Pre WILL have unlimited SMS, and since the original discussion was talking about a service exclusive to the Pre, so there is no advantage to having another messaging protocol.
Actually, there are still advantages. Not everyone does text on their phones. Not everyone even has a cell phone. There are lots of messaging protocols that are computer only, and they have value.
When I first saw this thread, I envisioned something similar to the Sprint Mobile Messaging service the Sprint currently offers. This is basically a two part system, a client on the phone, and a back end server that communicates with the three involved protocols (AIM, Windows Messenger, and Yahoo IM). One of the problems with the Treos was that if you wanted to use Yahoo, AIM, or WM, you had to "stay connected", and that interfered with phone calls. Plus, it could only be one of the three, since the devices didn't multi-task.
A number of options came up (including Sprint's) that involved a back end server that stayed connected, and a client that received messages from that server. Most worked pretty well at the limited functions that they did.
Since the Pre will multi-task, I suspect that something more similar to Pidgin could be developed, but it still leaves a problem - if your connected live, it might interfere wth phone calls. Most likely a back end server would still be required to overcome that.
I don't know what Sprint's plans are for the future of their current Messaging system, but I don't see it being a big bonus for them, so I don't hold out much hope for that.
BES causes a whole new wrinkle though. BES systems must connect to RIM's servers. It's how they control the licenses, and control of the licenses is part of their business plan.
I do not anticipate them sublicensing that to anyone else; however, I could see them developing an app that would run on the Pre to allow it to connect to a BES, thus maintaining control (and charging for) the BES license.
If such an app were written (both the BB and Pridgin type app) and done properly, they would adopt the "Synergy" format.
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