Steve Jobs attacks Adobe Flash as unfit for iPhone

For iPhone users who've been wondering whether their devices will support Flash technology for Web video and games anytime soon, the answer is finally here, straight from Steve Jobs: No.

In a detailed offensive against the technology owned by Adobe Systems Inc., Apple's CEO wrote Thursday that Flash has too many bugs, drains batteries too quickly and is too oriented to personal computers to work on the iPhone and iPad.

This is not the first time Jobs has publicly criticized Flash, but the statement was his clearest, most definitive — and longest — on the subject.

In his 1,685-word "Thoughts on Flash," Jobs laid out his reasons for excluding Flash — the most widely used vehicle for videos and games on the Internet — from Apple's blockbuster handheld devices.

He cited "reliability, security and performance," and the fact that Flash was designed "for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers" as some of the reasons Apple will continue to keep the program off its devices.

But he said the most important reason is Flash puts a third party between Apple and software developers. In other words, developers can take advantage of improvements from Apple only if Adobe upgrades its own software, Jobs wrote.

Adobe representatives did not have an immediate comment Thursday. But in a March 23 conference call, President and CEO Shantanu Narayen said his company is "committed to bringing Flash to any platform on which there is a screen."

That certainly includes Apple's devices, and Narayen said at the time the Flash ban "has nothing to do with technology."

"It's an Apple issue and I think you'll have to check with them on that," he said.

Adobe has owned Flash since buying its creator, Macromedia Inc., in 2005. Flash is one of the slew of software tools Adobe sells to professional designers and Web developers as part of its Creative Suite software package, which also includes Photoshop, Illustrator and other programs, and brings in more than half of Adobe's revenue. Adobe benefits from Flash's wide use because it means Web developers will keep buying the tools they need to create Flash content.

Apple has been criticized for the omission of Flash because that limits what the iPhone can do. Hulu.com, the popular video viewing site, uses Flash, for example, as do many restaurant websites. But thanks to the immense popularity of the iPhone, game and application developers are pouring their creations onto Apple's devices without using Flash.

In his rebuttal, Jobs said that with an abundance of media outlets offering their content on iPhones and iPads, "Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of Web content."

"And the 200,000 apps on Apple's App Store proves that Flash isn't necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games," he wrote.

For consumers, Apple's move means they will have to decide whether or not they want Flash content, and if they do, they'll have to use devices other than Apple's.

"It doesn't mean this is the end of Flash," said Sheri McLeish, an analyst with Forrester Research. "Apple is not the only game in town, and PC and Windows devices continue to dominate the market."

She called Apple's move a business decision, even though Jobs stressed it is based on technology: It is, after all, up to Apple to control how users experience its products.

"They have the momentum to do it today," McLeish said. "A few years ago they wouldn't have been able to."

Although many websites use Flash to display videos, animation and Internet ads, this may change in the years to come. HTML5, a new Web standard — that is, a way to create Web pages — will have built-in support for video and audio files.

But it could take as long as 10 years for HTML5 to be fully adopted, McLeish said. What Apple is banking on is that HTML5 will eventually win out, making Flash obsolete.

"Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind," Jobs wrote.

Shares of San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe dropped 82 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $34.65 in midday trading. They have traded between $24.78 and $38.20 in the past 52 weeks.

Microsoft reaches licensing deal on HTC phones

Microsoft Corp. says it has patents covering phones that use Google Inc.'s Android software — but unlike Apple Inc., Microsoft has reached a licensing deal rather than suing over the software.

Microsoft said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement that will give HTC Corp., a Taiwanese company that is a major maker of Android phones, the rights to use technology covered by Microsoft's patents in those phone. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal comes a month after Apple sued HTC and accused the company of violating patents related to the iPhone.

HTC, which has said it will defend itself against Apple's claims, is a key partner for Google in its expansion into mobile services. Android has intensified the competition between Google and companies such as Apple and Microsoft.

But Apple and Microsoft are dealing with HTC, not Google, because the device maker, not the maker of software that runs on it, historically has been the focus for settling intellectual-property disputes.

HTC started out as a maker of phones based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, but as that operating system has lost favor among buyers, it's focused more efforts on Android.

Microsoft did not say what technology is covered in the licensing agreement with HTC. Technology analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said it is unlikely there's any overlap with the patents Apple is suing over. Microsoft and Apple have licensed each other's patents, and Enderle said if there were any question of overlapping patents around "multitouch" or other smart phone technologies, it would have been hashed out already.

That means the deal between Microsoft and HTC for Android phones wouldn't likely give HTC any extra protection against the lawsuit Apple filed. But HTC is also expected to produce phones for Microsoft's next mobile system, Windows Phone 7, which is set to reach consumers before the holidays. Wednesday's licensing deal with Microsoft would protect HTC against another Apple lawsuit over a Windows phone, Enderle said.

Both the Apple lawsuit and HTC's deal with Microsoft may make Android less attractive to other device makers. Part of Android's appeal to companies such as Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. was its price: free. Enderle called the legal battle and the licensing fees "hidden costs" to choosing to make Android phones.

Facebook's expansion triggers political backlash

Facebook's plan to spread its online social network to other websites could be detoured by regulators looking into privacy concerns that have raised the ire of federal lawmakers.

Four senators said Tuesday that Facebook needs to make it easier for its 400 million users to protect their privacy as the site opens more avenues for them to share their interests and other personal information.

The Federal Trade Commission already had been examining the privacy and data collection practices of Facebook and other social networks, the agency confirmed Tuesday.

Then last week, Facebook announced a proposed expansion that irked Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and, he says, many Web surfers who called his office to complain.

Having built one of the Web's most popular hangouts, Facebook is trying to extend its reach through new tools called "social plug-ins." These enable Facebook's users to share their interests in such products as clothes, movies and music on other websites. For instance, you might hit a button on Levis.com indicating you like a certain style of jeans, and then recommend a movie on another site. That information about the jeans and the movie might be passed along to other people in your Facebook network, depending on your privacy settings.

Facebook says all this will help personalize the Web for people. It stresses that no personal information is being given to the dozens of websites using the new plug-ins.

Still, it means that information that hadn't been previously communicated could get broadcast to your friends and family on Facebook.

And Facebook is indeed sharing some personal information with three websites that Facebook hopes will demonstrate how online services can be more helpful when they know more about their users. The sites with greater access to Facebook's data are business review service Yelp, music service Pandora and Microsoft Corp.'s Docs.com for word processing and spreadsheets.

Facebook users who don't want to be part of the company's expansion have to go through their privacy settings and change their preferences.

Schumer thinks the onus instead should be on Facebook to get users' explicit consent, a process known as "opting in."

"They have sort of assumed all their users want their information to be given far and wide, which is a false assumption," Schumer said in an interview.

Schumer sent a letter calling for simpler privacy controls to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The concerns were echoed by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo; Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska; and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.

Facebook tried to assure Schumer that its latest idea won't invade users' privacy.

"We welcome a continued dialogue with you and others because we agree that scrutiny over the handling of personal data is needed as Internet users seek a more social and interactive experience," a Facebook vice president, Elliot Schrage, wrote in a letter to Schumer.

Schumer called Facebook's response inadequate and said his staff planned to meet with the company Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the FTC indicated it will weigh into the debate at some point.

"Our plan is to develop a framework that social networks and others will use to guide their data collection, use, and sharing practices," said Jessica Rich, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Schumer pledged to introduce legislation that would expand the FTC's powers over Facebook and other Internet social networks if the regulatory agency doesn't feel it has the authority to require more straightforward privacy controls.

The political pressure could undermine Facebook's ambition to create a more social, open Web that could make it easier to aim online advertising at consumers based on their presumed interests. Facebook would probably thrive in a more communal Internet because it has amassed a huge database of personal information since Zuckerberg set up its website in a Harvard dorm room six years ago.

If Facebook's plans pan out, it could change the way people think of social networking. Instead of communicating on a closed website, Facebook's users could interact with one another over the entire Web. More sharing could spawn more customized websites that look different to each person visiting, depending on their friends and preferences.

While Zuckerberg has likened his vision to an online nirvana, critics see another hole in the crumbling walls of online privacy.

Facebook is moving from being a social network about sharing with friends "to a service that is about collecting and sharing information about you with advertisers so they can more closely tailor ads to you," said Ginger McCall, staff counsel at the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Latest MacBook Pro CPU runs so hot it can boil water

Buy a Mac and you know you're getting the state of the art when it comes to components (except for a Blu-ray optical drive — Steve Jobs hates Blu-ray). And that's a good thing, since you're probably paying a fortune for the privilege.

But as many an early adopter can tell you, when you push the envelope, unintended consequences can be the result.

Case in point: The 17-inch MacBook Pro uses the latest CPU from Intel, the Core i7-620M, an incredibly powerful chip already becoming prized by users for its performance. Those who buy a 17-inch laptop are the most performance-obsessed of the bunch, willing to sacrifice portability for something that will blow the benchmarks out of the water.

But with the i7-based MacBook, there's a bit of a snag: The i7 is a fast chip, but perhaps it's too fast for this chassis. The chip runs hot. So hot, in fact, that users report the whole laptop gets uncomfortably warm to the touch — with one source reporting it is "almost too hot" to touch.

PC Authority did some sleuthing to figure out exactly how hot the insides were when the machine was under heavy loads, and the results are alarming: One test showed the chip literally burning up at 101 degrees Celsius, hot enough to boil water.

Other computers using the same CPU don't get nearly this hot, so what's the problem? Chalk it up to the Mac's unique design and unconventional approach to cooling.

The all-aluminum design of the Mac isn't just for looks, it's also to help the interior of the notebook cool off. Rather than vent heat through a copper pipe and out a hole in the side or bottom of the machine, the entire body of a Mac is used to cool the machine as the heat radiates through the body and out into the air (although fans are also used to supplement this). This works most of the time, but when the machine gets really hot, it just can't keep up, and that's when the laptop gets uncomfortably hot — so much so that PC Authority had to run some of its tests with the machine on its side so that the base of the laptop would be exposed to cooling air instead of an insulating table.

When a machine overheats, several things can happen. Typically the chip will automatically start to run in a slower, "throttled" mode, so less heat is generated. But crashes and component failures can also occur as heat makes the system unstable.

There's no word from Apple on a fix — or even if one is possible — but power users should take note. Consider a cooling base or at least a stand to elevate your MacBook when you need all the power it has to offer.

Israel ends ban on iPad

Israel on Sunday lifted a ban on Apple Inc.'s popular iPad tablet computer, ending restrictions that had been imposed over concerns the gadget's wireless signal could disrupt other devices.

Communications Ministry officials conducted "intensive technical scrutiny in a controlled laboratory" before deciding to allow the iPad into the country, said Yechiel Shabi, a ministry spokesman.

Israel announced the ban shortly after the iPad's April 3 launch in the U.S. Officials said at least 10 of the flat, touchscreen computers were seized at the country's international airport. Shabi said owners of the confiscated iPads would be permitted to retrieve them.

Israeli standards mirror those of many European nations, but Israel has been the only country to ban iPad imports ahead of the product's international release. Apple has delayed the launch until late May, citing heavy sales in the U.S.

The iPad combines the features of a notebook computer with the touch-pad functions of the iPod.

The ban prompted grumbling from Israeli tech enthusiasts and software developers in a country that is widely considered to be a technology powerhouse.

Shabi said the Communications Ministry quickly reached out to Apple to seek more information about the machine's wireless signals.

"Of course, in the mainstream media, it was bad PR and we didn't like this," Shabi said. "But we said we would test it and it took us a week. I think that is very fast."

The ministry has denied the ban had anything to do with concern that the signal could cause interference to signals of military equipment, as one lawmaker, Robert Ilatov, told the Haaretz newspaper last week.

"We have nothing against Apple products. We like the iPhone here in Israel," Shabi said.

3-D video gaming aspires to become spectacle

For movie goers, watching a 3-D film is a relatively easy experience. Audiences didn't need to do anything other than pay a few extra bucks and slip on a pair of special glasses to see 3-D versions of "Avatar" or "Alice in Wonderland." For gamers, however, enjoying a 3-D game requires a bigger investment on their part.

For example, to play the popular online fantasy game "World of Warcraft" in 3-D, an inhabitant of Azeroth would need hundreds of dollars worth of gear: a robust computer setup with a compatible graphics card, monitor capable of displaying 3-D and a pair of 3-D spectacles. At this early stage, it's an expense that many virtual adventurers have yet to adopt.

Dozens of game developers, business executives and other stereoscopic 3-D gaming advocates converged at a Universal City hotel this week to explore that very conundrum and witness the latest in 3-D games at the first-ever 3-D Gaming Summit. The consensus was that whether gamers push play on 3-D or not, the home 3-D revolution is already in motion.

Television makers Samsung and Panasonic are now selling 3-D TVs. Movie studios Universal and Disney have released 3-D films on Blu-ray, such as "Coraline" and "The Polar Express." Discovery Communications and ESPN previously announced they will launch their own 3-D networks, with ESPN first broadcasting FIFA World Cup soccer in 3-D this June.

"We've got to tell people about it," said Phil Eisler, general manager of Nvidia's 3-D Vision, which makes graphics cards with 3-D processing power. "Hollywood has done a fantastic job of educating consumers and marketing to them about the wonderful experience in the theater. We need to tell consumers about the wonderful experience that games are in 3-D."

For many modern games, the leap to 3-D is actually just a step. The medium is well suited for 3-D because the majority of today's games are created in three dimensions, making conversion a snap. Eisler said more than 400 current PC games, including "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" and "Resident Evil 5," can be played in 3-D with the right equipment.

"You're seeing it now," said "Avatar" producer Jon Landau. "People are going to want 3-D in their homes. I think 3-D is going to become ubiquitous in everything we do. From what I understand of the initial TV sales at Best Buy, everything went out the door. Why? Because it's of a certain quality, and I think that's what we have to make sure we protect."

The biggest hurdle for 3-D gaming is perhaps the simplest: Those glasses are just plain annoying. Michael Cai, a video game analyst at research firm Interpret, found in a recent survey of players who had experienced 3-D games that having to don shades was the overwhelming aversion to the medium. However, many had no qualms about 3-D gaming at all.

Sony and Nintendo have already unveiled their initial plans to enter the 3-D realm. Sony began updating PlayStation 3 consoles this week for future 3-D gaming features, which are expected this summer. Last month, Nintendo revealed a 3-D version of its top-selling handheld DS system — called 3DS — that wouldn't require 3-D glasses due out later this year.

"One of the big advantages of the gaming market is that it's extremely viral," said Neil Schneider, president of 3-D gaming advocacy group Meant to be Seen. "If there's a way to capture the interest of just a handful of these gamers, it's the consumers that could help drive this industry forward, perhaps more influential than a retail display at Best Buy."

Microsoft profit jumps 35 pct but investors shrug

A global rise in computer shipments that helped carry Microsoft Corp.'s net income 35 percent higher in the most recent quarter wasn't enough to satisfy investors who were looking for a bigger boost from recovering business spending.

Microsoft's Windows division reported strong consumer demand but more muted growth from corporate customers.

That didn't mesh with the high expectations recently set by Intel Corp. and other big tech companies. Intel's net income nearly quadrupled on strong sales of chips for corporate PCs and servers.

Specifically, investors predicted better sales in Microsoft's server division, and expected companies to have placed advance orders for more new software, said Andrew Miedler, an Edward Jones analyst, in an interview.

During a conference call, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein tried to rein in expectations for the pace of a recovery for software companies.

"If you think about what's happened over the last year, the first thing that got hit and decreased earliest and fastest was hardware, and that's what's coming back first," Klein said. "Over the course of calendar 2010 and certainly into 2011 you'll start to see the growth in the overall IT (information technology) spend."

Microsoft's stock fell $1.15, or 3.7 percent, to $30.24 in extended trading Thursday. Before results were released, the stock gained 6 cents to close at $31.39.

For the January-March fiscal third quarter, Microsoft earned $4.01 billion, or 45 cents per share. That was higher than the 42 cents per share forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. It was an increase from $2.98 billion, or 33 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 6 percent to $14.5 billion, slightly more than the $14.4 billion analysts were expecting. Microsoft had $13.6 billion in revenue in the same quarter a year ago.

The division responsible for Windows increased revenue 28 percent to $4.4 billion. Microsoft's general manager of investor relations, Bill Koefoed, said during a conference call that sales of copies of Windows for consumers rose 35 percent. Business licenses for Windows, which are more profitable for Microsoft, grew 15 percent.

Microsoft's online business, which includes Web search and online advertising, saw revenue rise 12 percent to $566 million, but it still posted a wider operating loss of $713 million.

Microsoft has started making payments to Yahoo Inc. as part of a Web search deal that the two forged last year. This quarter, the payments amounted to $78 million. But Microsoft is not operating the technology behind Yahoo's search right away, and it doesn't expect the partnership to contribute to revenue until the second half of fiscal 2011.

Revenue in the business software group, which makes Office and other programs, fell 6 percent to $4.2 billion. Microsoft is waiting to report $305 million in Office revenue until after the upcoming Office 2010 launches in the current quarter.

Revenue from Microsoft's entertainment division, which makes the Xbox 360 game system and the Windows mobile operating system, edged up 2 percent to $1.7 billion.

Microsoft didn't give revenue or earnings guidance for the next fiscal year, which starts in July. But Klein said he expects sales of Windows 7, the new Office 2010 and updates to SharePoint and SQL Server, two business products, to drive revenue. Klein also said he expects the Web advertising market to improve in fiscal 2011.

McAfee antivirus program goes berserk, freezes PCs

Computers in companies, hospitals and schools around the world got stuck repeatedly rebooting themselves Wednesday after an antivirus program identified a normal Windows file as a virus.

McAfee Inc. confirmed that a software update it posted at 9 a.m. Eastern time caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download.

McAfee could not say how many computers were affected, but judging by online postings, the number was at least in the thousands and possibly in the hundreds of thousands.

McAfee said it did not appear that consumer versions of its software caused similar problems. It is investigating how the error happened "and will take measures" to prevent it from recurring, the company said in a statement.

The computer problem forced about a third of the hospitals in Rhode Island to postpone elective surgeries and stop treating patients without traumas in emergency rooms, said Nancy Jean, a spokeswoman for the Lifespan system of hospitals. The system includes Rhode Island Hospital, the state's largest, and Newport Hospital. Jean said patients who required treatment for gunshot wounds, car accidents, blunt trauma and other potentially fatal injuries were still being admitted to the emergency rooms.

In Kentucky, state police were told to shut down the computers in their patrol cars as technicians tried to fix the problem. The National Science Foundation headquarters in Arlington, Va., also lost computer access.


Intel Corp. appeared to be among the victims, according to employee posts on Twitter. Intel did not immediately return calls for comment.

Peter Juvinall, systems administrator at Illinois State University in Normal, said that when the first computer started rebooting it quickly became evident that it was a major problem, affecting dozens of computers at the College of Business alone.

"I originally thought it was a virus," he said. When the tech support people concluded McAfee's update was to blame, they stopped further downloads of the faulty software update and started shuttling from computer to computer to get the machines working again.

In many offices, personal attention to each PC from a technician appeared to be the only way to fix the problem because the computers weren't receptive to remote software updates when stuck in the reboot cycle. That slowed the recovery.


It's not uncommon for antivirus programs to misidentify legitimate files as viruses. Last month, antivirus software from Bitdefender locked up PCs running several different versions of Windows.

However, the scale of this outage was unusual, said Mike Rothman, president of computer security firm Securosis.

Facebook profiles to play up brand and band pages

Facebook is revamping users' profiles to emphasize the pages for bands, books and businesses that millions have become fans of on the world's largest online social network.

Currently, users can list their activities, interests, favorite music and TV shows as part of their profiles. But links to Facebook "pages" for wine, your local library or the Lakers basketball team would appear in a separate section lower down.

Beginning Monday, Facebook will start prompting users to essentially combine the two. So if you listed Johnny Cash in the "favorite music" section of your profile, Facebook will now ask you to join his page, if you haven't become a fan of it already.

You'll be able to hide this connection on your profile, but your name will still be listed on the Johnny Cash page as one of the 1.2 million "people who like this" — what Facebook used to term "fans." The same goes for users' home towns, education and work places.

But there are more to Facebook pages than brands and bands.

People like pickles, they like sleeping in and 641,653 people even like the Norwegian Olympic curling team's pants. So for such things, Facebook is rolling out "community pages."

In many cases this page will include the Wikipedia entry on the topic, along with Facebook posts from friends and others discussing it. The page collects and displays posts by Facebook users mentioning cooking. Users will see posts from their friends and from strangers who haven't restricted public access to their updates.

But for now, there is no option for users to interact with the cooking page, for example, by posting a message directly on its "wall." Facebook said it will be asking people "who are passionate about any of these topics" to sign up as a contributor, though the company did not say when this would begin.

Facebook is also adding some privacy controls so that users' friends can't see the list of other friends they have. Under a new section called "friends, tags and connections," users will be able to limit who can see what on their profile. Facebook had taken away this option with its overhaul of privacy settings in December, but users and privacy advocates have been asking for it back.

MobiTV app offers live, on-demand TV for iPhone

MobiTV has lent its video streaming capabilities to a number of apps, letting you watching everything from CBS’s college sports coverage to last month’s NCAA basketball tournament on your iPhone or iPod touch. The company also built a few apps of its own for things like the now-completed NBA regular season and Ultimate Fighting Championship events, delivering video-on-demand to mobile users.

But now MobiTV is moving beyond sports into the wider realm of entertainment fare. Released this month, MobiTV’s self-titled app delivers live TV and video-on-demand content straight to your iPhone.

A free download, MobiTV delivers round-the-clock news from ABC as well as on-demand content from Fox News, NBC News, and NBC Sports. You can also use the app to watch stand-up comedy and classic cartoons free of charge.

But your choices become more plentiful should you opt for one of MobiTV’s different pay schemes. For premium content, you can make an in-app purchase of a one-, three-, or six-month package that features eight channels of live TV and 30-plus channels of on-demand content. These channels include live news on MSNBC and FOX News, financial and business news on CNBC and FOX Business, and full-length shows on MTV, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, NBC, VH1, ABC Mobile, Nickelodeon, SyFy, USA Mobile, CBS and others. Content can be streamed both on Wi-Fi and 3G networks.

Pricing starts at $10 for the one-month package, with three- and six-month offerings available for $25 and $45, respectively.

It will be interesting to see how MobiTV’s iPhone-only app fares, especially as Apple’s iPad attracts developers offering streaming-content apps. ABC Player lets iPad users watch a number of that network’s shows for free, while the Netflix iPad app offers streaming TV shows and movies to subscribers with a Netflix unlimited membership.

RIM says video is big challenge to networks

Research in Motion Ltd says it is far from certain that video will become the "killer app" that defines smartphones, but even so the BlackBerry maker says developing more efficient delivery is necessary to prevent video from choking airwaves.

The popularity of feature-rich smartphones such as the BlackBerry, Apple's iPhone, and Motorola's Droid has surged, but they use as much as 30 times as much bandwidth as regular mobile phones to run the applications, or "apps," that make them so popular.

The surge in traffic triggered by video and other apps has led to more dropped calls and choppy service. As video on smartphones becomes more popular, it is leading to more congestion, and forcing carriers to spend billions to upgrade networks and buy more wireless spectrum.

"I still don't know and I don't think anyone knows if video is a killer app for smartphones," RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said at a conference hosted by a unit of Toronto Dominion Bank on Friday. "I don't particularly think it is."

Lazaridis said that even if video did not become the defining app for smartphones, it is already presenting a big challenge to networks.

"If you think that today's 3G as a browsing experience is a challenge to these data networks, said Lazaridis, "imagine what a video streaming or download experience is going to be as these screens start to look like HD televisions in terms of resolutions."

Analysts have praised Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM for its relatively bandwidth-light BlackBerrys, which route most emails through the company's own servers. This is a legacy of the company's earlier days when it was seeking a faster, more secure mobile email service.

RIM also sends web browsing, Facebook, Twitter, and data from a wide number of BlackBerry apps through its own servers.

That makes browsing and using apps on a BlackBerry three to eight times as efficient bandwidth-wise as on the devices of RIM's rivals, said Lazaridis.

"What that means for the carrier, though, is after they have committed all those billions of dollars on new network technology and new network spectrum, they can have three BlackBerrys using the same network capacity as one of the other smartphones."

Lazaridis said RIM would invest more in technology that provides efficiencies to carriers, including when it comes to video.

He pointed to RIM's 2006 acquisition of SlipStream, which specializes in data acceleration, compression and network optimization technology.

"They had some amazing technologies for compressing everything from web content, documents, and video. So, you never know, the research that we do is very important, it's always borne fruit and we are hoping that we can continue to ... provide tangible efficiencies to the carriers."