Research In Motion will launch their annual corporate hype fest, the BlackBerry World trade show in Florida this week, and intend to made a splash from the beginning with an interesting and incredibly simple audio synching device they call the BlackBerry Music Gateway. The device is now available for purchase, and will retail for $49.99 CDN.
The device, which is a small and sleek metallic box with rounded edges, is adept in its use of Near Field Technology (NFC) to connect BlackBerry devices instantaneously. This connection is done by holding an eligible BlackBerry phone close to the Gateway until they synch all while the device is connected to your favourite audio or stereo system.
The Gateway uses a simple 3.5 mm connection to plug seamlessly with the vast majority of stereo systems, allowing you to link and stream all the files from your phone including having full control of said music from anywhere within 30 feet of the device. It is powered via a micro USB slot that is all too familiar to the RIM faithful as the standard power input for their devices. Other Bluetooth equipped phones can connect with the device as well, however the process is more arduous than that of the BlackBerry NFC connection. Either way, your phone then functions as a remote of sorts, remaining silent while controlling all aspects of the music experience.
Overall, the device is handsome, small, easily portable and simple enough to pair with phones and stereos of various makes and models. It’s refreshing to see a new product from the Canadian company that is user friendly, innovative and fun to use; the latter being perhaps the most important if the Waterloo-based firm stands any chance at recovering its lost consumer market share. The next step is improving the software interfaces of their phones to match iOS and Android.
As the 3 day conference takes place, we hope for the sake of the company that all new products and strategic decisions are bold and well received. If the first step is any indication, the Music Gateway is definitely a move in the right direction.
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