Blackberry 850 Introduction Munich Germany 1999 |top|

When the BlackBerry 850 hit the German market, it was a strange hybrid in a world dominated by Nokia candy bars and Motorola flip phones. It had no speaker, no microphone, and no color screen. You couldn’t make a call, and you certainly couldn’t snap a photo. Its primary function was singular and obsessively focused: email.

On January 19, 1999, the mobile industry witnessed a pivotal moment when Research In Motion (RIM) introduced the . While the company's roots were in Waterloo, Canada, this landmark device was famously introduced in Munich, Germany , marking the birth of a brand that would define the era of mobile professional communication. The Dawn of "Push" Email blackberry 850 introduction munich germany 1999

“He typed a message on a Compaq laptop, hit send, and within 12 seconds, the BlackBerry 850 on the table buzzed. No dial-up. No ‘checking for mail.’ It was there. We’d never seen anything like it.” When the BlackBerry 850 hit the German market,

The tagline for the Munich intro was “E-Mail in der Tasche” (Email in your pocket). RIM’s co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis, did not attend. Instead, RIM’s European sales head demonstrated the killer feature: . Its primary function was singular and obsessively focused: