In order to take its efforts to the next level when it comes to competing with other companies and especially with the iPhone, Research in Motion announced a whole new set of integrated applications which are expected to make the company’s BlackBerry device a lot more attractive to customers.

The announcement was made yesterday during the CTIA fall 2008 trade show and offered details about the upcoming releases.

RIM is looking to win back the aura gained with the e-mail offer a few years ago and apart from releasing new phones, such as the flip phone Pearl 8220 and the BlackBerry Bold, it is also focused on these utilities, referred to as "lifestyle" applications by the company’s co-CEO, Mr. Jim Balsillie.  

The move has great potential in the company’s view, as last year’s ‘specially developed for RIM’ Facebook application, has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times. "It's been the fastest take up of any application that we've ever had," said Mr. Balsillie. What this proves is that people love applications, especially the useful and fun ones.

The company’s new offer includes a deal with Microsoft which will help with the integration of a search function in the smartphone. Microsoft’s Live Search engine will be available for all users interested in all the benefits provided by a handy mobile search platform; it will be available by the end of the year with support for multiple languages. Another application designed for fun will ensure quick customized access to MySpace, similar to FaceBook’s offer, providing instant, push-based messaging for all users, real-time status and mood updates, camera integration, and also optimized photo management; RIM’s MySpace offer will be available worldwide starting with October. Slacker will offer a large music library for all BlackBerry users and Ticketmaster will enable a service for buying concert and event tickets; Ticketmaster will only be available for users in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and will be released by the end of the year.

A new feature offered by TiVo will provide remote scheduling and browsing to a DVR and in the near future it will be possible for users to even view recorded shows on their BlackBerrys."TiVo subscribers will soon be able to wirelessly control their TiVo DVRs using a BlackBerry smartphone - anytime, anywhere - and that is a powerful example of how our respective technologies can complement each other to serve our mutual customers," Balsillie said in a statement. "As the BlackBerry smartphone continues its evolution as a modern lifestyle device, the importance of home entertainment integration will continue to grow and TiVo will be the key in providing consumers with greater flexibility in accessing television content."

Once the company rolls out all of its new features, all of them pretty much scheduled for release by the end of the year, things should become clearer for the company, as its officials will know which aspects of their business demand more attention and will be able to act accordingly. So far, the offer looks promising.