David Flynn21 July 2009, 2:53 PM
Get an early look at the long-awaited BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac OS X, which RIM says will be released in September.
Not every smartphone-equipped Apple user owns an iPhone. There are still many in the land of Mac who, for one reason or another, pack a BlackBerry in their pocket.
Maybe it’s the BlackBerry’s superior email capabilities, thanks to its exceptional keyboard (especially in the latest Curve 8900 and Bold 900 models) and its highly-effective email compression.
It could be a matter of company policy, with the IT department decreeing the BlackBerry’s self-housed push email, Exchange integration, management and security features make it a must-have over the more consumer-minded iPhone.
Regardless of those traits, there’s one area in which the BlackBerry has been lacking – a proper desktop manager for syncing the BlackBerry to a Mac desktop or laptop rather than some flaky and limited program (we’re looking at
you, PocketMac).
But come September that box can be ticked, with RIM’s announcement of the forthcoming BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac OS X.
The all-new app, built from the ground up for OS X (specifically for version 10.5.5 of Leopard and above – it won’t run on anything lower than 10.5.5), mirrors the capabilities of its Windows sibling which was over the weekend
updated to version 5.0.
In addition to synchronising the BlackBerry’s contents with iCal and Address Book the software will sync iTunes playlists, allow desktop loading of applications, back up the contents of your BlackBerry, update the BlackBerry to new device firmware and even manage multiple BlackBerry handsets from the one Mac.
If you want to be among the first to know once the software is available for download you can sign up for an email alert on RIM’s
Mac page. In the meantime, enjoy the assorted screenshots below...