SingTel First to Offer BlackBerry Connect

SingTel, Palm, and Research In Motion today announced the first availability of BlackBerry Connect for the Palm Treo 650 smartphone. With BlackBerry Connect, SingTel customers now have a wider choice of devices that support the robust and secure BlackBerry services and a wider choice of wireless email solutions that support the Palm Treo 650.

BlackBerry Connect for the Treo 650 smartphone enables users to benefit from many popular features of the BlackBerry "push"-based architecture via BlackBerry Enterprise Server. For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server software tightly integrates with Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino and works with existing enterprise systems to enable secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate data.

BlackBerry Connect for the Treo 650 smartphone supports the following features:

-- "Push" Corporate Email delivers messages automatically -- and wirelessly -- to the Treo 650 smartphone's VersaMail inbox. Changes to the inbox, including read/unread status and deletion, are automatically synchronized between the user's PC and the Treo 650.

-- Wireless Calendar Synchronization keeps the Treo 650 smartphone's built-in Calendar up to date remotely, allowing users to receive, accept or decline meeting requests on the go.

-- Attachment Viewing lets users view Excel, Word, PowerPoint and PDF documents while on the road.

-- Remote Address Lookup (RAL) allows users to search their corporate directory wirelessly for email addresses without the need to download every name to the Treo 650.

-- Extends the benefits of BlackBerry Enterprise Server to the Treo 650, including centralized device management; IT policies, such as over-the-air device disablement and password device lock; and Triple DES encryption, supporting end-to-end security.

Vicki Brady, SingTel's vice president of Consumer Marketing, said, "SingTel is proud to be the first operator in the world to bring the Palm Treo 650 smartphone with BlackBerry Connect to its customers. "As mobile email has become an integral part of the business world today, we believe that the compact and feature-rich Treo 650 with BlackBerry Connect will appeal to many of our corporate customers. With SingTel's unparalleled local mobile and international roaming coverage, they can access email on their handsets while on the go," she added.

The BlackBerry Connect functionality is available today for existing and new SingTel Treo 650 customers through SingTel business representatives.