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Cingular Wireless subscribers who own or purchase Palm's Treo 650 can now use their devices as clients in a BlackBerry environment. That's because the operator and handheld maker have finally made Research In Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry Client available for the popular smartphone.

I say finally because PalmSource, the developer of the Palm OS, and RIM first announced they would work together to enable secure, push-based e-mail and data connectivity for wireless Palm-based handhelds and smartphones way back in May 2003; Palm and RIM extended the program to Treos earlier this year; and a series of carriers around the world – starting with SingTel in Singapore last April - have already done what Cingular announced today.

The Treo 650 becomes Cingular's second BlackBerry Connect-enabled smartphone after Nokia's 9300 communicator, the first device in the U.S. to support the technology.

BlackBerry Connect enables third-party handsets, like the Treo 650, to support RIM's famous wireless "push” solutions. For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) software tightly integrates with Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino and works with existing enterprise systems to enable secure access to e-mail and other corporate data.

This includes the automatic delivery to and synchronization of messages with the Treo 650's inbox, calendar synchronization, attachment viewing, Triple DES encryption, Remote Address Lookup of corporate directory, and centralized device management, which includes support for IT policies such as over-the-air device disablement and password device lock.

Individuals and small businesses can use BlackBerry Connect to access ISP e-mail accounts through the hosted BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS).

Early in July RIM introduced a Hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Server for the almost half of small and medium-sized businesses that are already outsourcing their e-mail systems. This edition of BES delivers all the features of a traditional behind-the-corporate-firewall installation. Cingular hasn't announced support for this new offering yet, so it is likely that it isn't going to be part of the carrier's Treo 650 BlackBerry Connect service, at least initially.

The BlackBerry Connect client software is free for those who bought their Treo 650 after June 3rd of this year. BlackBerry Connect goes for $9.99 if you purchased your smartphone after that date. It is available from the Palm Web site, where you click on one of two links depending on which of those two camps you fall into.

If you are going get the BlackBerry Connect client for free, then you must enter your Treo's serial number, which resides underneath the battery. There are instructions on the page on how to access it.

Cingular, Palm and RIM will host webinar for BlackBerry Connect users on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. Click here to register.

Currently, Cingular sells for $299.99 with a two-year contract. An unlimited BlackBerry Connect monthly service plans begin at $44.99. This replaces other data plans.

RIM Reaches Out
Enabling its BlackBerry services to work other vendor’s devices is an increasingly important part of RIM's business model, that may become even more essential in the future. Through BlackBerry Connect RIM gives its customers more flexibility in choosing which devices to support in the enterprise.

The company isn't just in the hardware business after all. Although it has shipped what is said to now be close to 6 million handhelds and 70 percent of its revenue comes from BlackBerrys, about 20 percent of RIM’s earnings are from the service itself—mostly to its own hardware but also to some other competitor’s smartphones.

In addition to Palm, Nokia and Samsung are two other well-known BlackBerry Connect licensees. And, according to RIM Chairman & co-CEO Jim Balsillie earlier this month, the Canadian company's has been swamped with appeals by additional hardware vendors to BlackBerry Connect. The want to get into the enterprise, and one way to do that is to become compatible with the most popular corporate mobile e-mail system around.

"We're flooded. We're absolutely flooded," Balsillie said at the RBC Capital Markets' North American Technology Conference in San Francisco. "It's a dilemma," he added. "We want to support all the devices, but in the process of supporting so many, you may not keep all as current as they want to be."

Currently, 20 mobile devices are in the BlackBerry Connect program with another 20 or so expected to be added by the close of 2006.