Quoted - RIM cubed

It's a busy media morning around these parts: I've been quoted in three places. It all revolves around (say it with me, now) the RIM/NTP patent battle.

The Globe & Mail - Don't forget the BlackBerry's small business users (Byline: Shane Schick)
The Toronto Star - BlackBerrys could be squeezed (Byline: Tyler Hamilton)
The Washington Times - Judgment Day (Byline: Dan Caterinicchia). Also linked on TMCnet

Here's what I said...

Globe & Mail

Although RIM hasn't developed many services specifically for small businesses, the company has been reaching out to developers over the past six months to expand its presence in this market segment, says Carmi Levy, a senior analyst with the Info-Tech Research Group in London, Ont.

"If you look at the enabling capacity of mobile infrastructure, it allows a small company to emulate a larger company -- it lets you be bigger than you actually are and compete," he said. "We are rapidly reaching a point where mobility is no longer going to be a luxury."

[Snip]

RIM is not the only portable device maker around, of course. Mr. Levy says Nokia, Microsoft and others have all been using RIM's legal troubles to their advantage. "Competitors have had time to build their own solutions that go head to head with anything RIM has been able to deploy before."

The Toronto Star

“Canadians have seen it primarily as an American case, but if the network has to change, it will impact all BlackBerry users, no matter where they come from, if they travel to the United States,” Carmi Levy, a technology research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group Inc. in London, Ont., said yesterday.

[Snip]

Carriers will also have to deal with a huge volume of queries if an injunction comes down.

“What’s going to end up happening is there will be this crush of last-minute questions, and they will not be able to handle that load,” said Levy. “From a business perspective, it’s going to be very disruptive for end users.”

The Washington Times

Technology analysts said it was impossible to determine the workaround's viability until they have seen it, but doubted that RIM would tout the solution unless it works.
"They wouldn't announce this unless it was ready for prime time," said Carmi Levy, an analyst with the Info-Tech Research Group in London, Ontario.
RIM wants the case to end and does not want any more bad publicity, said Mr. Levy, who is not a BlackBerry user and whose firm does not work with the company. Many of his clients and co-workers who use the e-mail devices are not worried, buoyed by the fact that RIM's stock price has held up throughout the legal battle.
"If the market [and end users] were truly worried, it would've tanked a long time ago," Mr. Levy said