You didn’t think your pals at BGR would leave you hanging did you? Of course we’re at WES this year and of course we’re live blogging the keynote. Well, let’s not get crazy here — as much as we’re sure you’d love to see every second of action-packed keynote speech goodness for two full hours, we’re just going to update this post periodically with highlights from the keynote. So sit back, relax, and know that while you’re chilling in the comfort of your home or office, we’re battling to stay awake on two hours sleep live from Cypress Ballroom. Hit the jump for updates on the action and check back often.
8:29am – Ok people, the fun is about to start!
8:43 am – Ok, the intro is over now and Co-CEO Lazardis has taken the stage.
8:44am – Lazzy is talking about how this wes is important — It is the 8th WES, 25th anniversary of RIM, and 10th anniversary of BlackBerry itself. Woo!
8:46am – Discussing how the BlackBerry platform is easy to manage, how secure it is, how it supports all major email platforms and how it works with all of the major tech development tools.
8:47am – Ok, time for new features of BES 5.0. Yeah, we’ve already covered those pretty well. Wink, wink.
8:48am – New web-based console for wordwide access control, new application library, etc.
8:49am – For end users, BES features better email folder management. Flags for email, remote file access and overall enhanced PIM.
8:51am – Now they’re playing a video that runs over the new features of BES 5.0. It contains a lot of quotes from companies that beta-tested BES 5.0. While this is going on, Mike is just standing there like a statue. It’s slightly unnerving.
8:54am – Discussing the “proven encryption” of BlackBerry and RIM’s buy-out of Certicom.
8:56am – Mike is talking about how BlackBerry users balance their lives with their devices. People feel emotionally connected to their ‘Berrys. Well, anyone who’s ever read the comments section here on BGR can confirm that…
8:58am – RIM seems to be using a lot of images of the 8900 in their presentation which makes sense as its very popular with corporate users due to its low price point and solid battery life.
9:00am – BlackBerry App World time!
9:01am – App World was designed to work with BES allowing admins to push apps to devices and also use white lists and black lists to control which apps users can download.
9:02am – Mike just asked everyone to give devs a round of applause… He was emphatic; how touching.
9:03am – Aaaaaaand AT&T’s 3G network has died.
9:04am – Mike has left the stage and now another video with cheesy rock music has begun.
9:08am – Ok, now that Lazzy is gone we’re gonna slooooow things down and update periodically with news that might not put you to sleep.
9:18am – OMG! OMG! They announced the Magnum! No, no, we’re just kidding folks. Either Lazzy just jumped off the stage and murdered Mike B in cold blood before an audience of thousands, or AT&T and VZW’s data networks just bit it, hard. We’re guessing the latter is the case, so we’ll be back live as soon as things settle down. -Zach
9:30am – Ok, we’re back in action now — at least for the time being. Laurent Philonenko VP, GM Unified Communication Business Unit, Cisco has taken the stage. “We are now oblivious to location because of mobile collaboration.” Deep.
9:42am – The Cisco folk are talking about how services like IM are becoming mainstream in the corporate world and how mobile devices are a major driver in this — thanks in part to integration. Now you can join a conference call, view the sales figures being discussed, and IM your colleagues about the meeting all from your BlackBerry.
9:44am – Oh, Cisco. They’re showing screen caps of a Storm using Wi-Fi.
9:46am – Basically what Cisco is talking is about is allowing the internal corporate network to control everything. If you are on a sales call and your signal dies, the network will keep the call even if your cell signal is dead. If you want to see if there are empty conferece rooms, you can pull up a map on your phone. Walk into the room, your handset detects your entry and asks you if you want to transfer the call you’re on to the conference room telephone. It also lets you control the monitors in the room. “We are in the midst of a major transition” and mobile collaboration, enabled by the enterprise network, will change the way we work.
9:49am – Ok, Cisco bounced and Eric Haseltine, former Director of Research at NSA and ‘CTO’ for the U.S. intelligence community is taking the stage.
9:55am – Okay, kids, we’re getting a biology lesson here and words like “neuroeconomics” are being thrown around willy nilly. Break time.
10:18am – Whoa, what, huh? Ok, ok, we’re awake again. Just put down the Bold to check something on the iPhone. People stared at me like I had leprosy.
10:22am – Ok, show’s over folks. Eric Haseltine left the stage and the audience is being kicked out. No new devices unfortunately but it is what it is. Back with more from WES 2009 soon!
