Research in Motion has a pair of agreements that will bring the BlackBerry email service to Symbian OS and Microsoft's Pocket PC and Smartphone Operating Systems. Through its "BlackBerry Connect" licensing program RIM will open its wireless e-mail gateway to the Symbian and Microsoft operating systems. This marks a change in strategy from the days when the Blackberry was an email device and not an email system that could be used on multiple devices across multiple operating systems.

RIM has been involved in a lawsuit with NTP. In November fo 2002, a federal court ruled that RIM had infringed on five NTP patents related to wirelessly transferring email. NTP has asked the court to shut down the BlackBerry service but at this time the two companies are currently in court-mandated arbitration. The deals announced today seem to indicate that Symbian and Microsoft believe RIM will come out of the lawsuit in good shape.

In addition to Microsoft and Symbian, RIM plans to add Nokia to the licensing program in the second half of 2003.