RIM launches mobile apps development fund

Research In Motion and financial data and services giant Thomson Reuters announced the BlackBerry Partners Fund, a $150 million venture capital fund created to invest in mobile applications and services for the device maker's BlackBerry OS as well as rival mobile platforms. The fund--co-managed by JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners--will develop applications and solutions spanning across multiple industry segments including mobile commerce, social networking, location-based services, media and entertainment, lifestyle and personal productivity applications and vertical and horizontal enterprise apps. The BlackBerry Partners Fund also promises to consider all stages of the development process. In tandem with the fund, RIM announced the BlackBerry Bold, a new tri-band HSDPA smartphone boasting integrated GPS and Wi-Fi as well as an enhanced media player enabling full-screen movie playback and digital music collection management. The smartphone is scheduled to arrive at retail this summer.

For more on the BlackBerry Partners Fund:
- read this release

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