Lots of news coming out of the BlackBerry Developer Conference today!

RIM has announced the BlackBerry Academic Program which provides colleges and universities content to help learn about developing for the BlackBerry platform. Course content is currently available for mobile application development, administration of BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry support.

• Mobile Application Development Courses – Students can learn about the tools and techniques for developing applications for BlackBerry smartphones. Courses cover topics such as BlackBerry smartphone features and functionality, user interface design, multimedia application development, mobile web application development and Java® application development.
• Administration Courses – Mobile communication and collaboration tools continue to play a large role in boosting the productivity of enterprise workforces, and the need for trained professionals to administer and support mobile solutions has grown with it. There are over 200,000 BlackBerry® Enterprise Server installations globally and trained professionals are needed to maintain and support these deployments.
• Support Courses – Students are trained to work in technical call centers or IT support environments in support of the BlackBerry solution. The Support courses also include information that can help prepare students for the corresponding BlackBerry Certification exam.

Over 500 students have already taken courses in the program and universities in Canada and the US are beginning to offer courses and course content from the program in their curriculum. For more info visit blackberry.com/academic or check out the press release after the jump.

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BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) v5.0 Maintenance Release 2 for Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino have been officially  released by RIM.

BES v5.0 info pages:

• Microsoft Exchange
• Lotus Domino

BES v5.0 Maintenance Release 2 Release Notes:

• Microsoft Exchange
• Lotus Domino

You can get a 60-day trial, upgrade or purchase BES 5.0 from the main info page, or go directly to each download below:

• BES v5.0 Maintenance Release 2 for Microsoft Exchange
• BES v5.0 Maintenance Release 2 for IBM Lotus Domino

via Port3101

Hdawg over at Port3101 found out that RIM has updated the documentation for the upcoming BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0 Maintenance Release 2, and thanks to Bla1ze we also have the documentation for Service Pack 1.

• BES v5.0 Service Pack 1 Release Notes
  • Microsoft Exchange
    
  • Lotus Domino
    
• BES v5.0 Maintenance Release 2 Release Notes
  • Microsoft Exchange
    
  • Lotus Domino
    

Some highlights from the press release:

• Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM)(TSX: RIM) today announced the availability of BlackBerry® Enterprise Server 5.0 – the next generation of RIM’s secure, push-based server software for business mobility. Version 5.0 supports advanced IT administration features and smartphone controls that help improve the productivity of mobile workers and more effectively meet the demands of large-scale, mission critical enterprise deployments.
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 enables a secure, centrally managed link between BlackBerry® smartphones and enterprise systems, applications, corporate phone environments (with BlackBerry® Mobile Voice System) and wireless networks.
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 Enhancements and Key Features
• Support for New Smartphone Features
• RIM is also announcing today new technical support, professional services, and training and certification programs to help BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 customers achieve the best possible performance and return on investment from their BlackBerry smartphone deployments
• Also announced today, BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 has obtained Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL 4+) certification (see separate release). The Common Criteria is an international standard for validating that IT products meet specific security requirements. Certifications are recognized by 26 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Read the full press release after the jump.

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Some highlights from the press release:

• Notify Technology Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: NTFY), today announced the availability of NotifySync(TM) for BlackBerry(TM) which incorporates Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync protocol technology.
• The NotifySync for BlackBerry solution is ideal for organizations or businesses that require ActiveSync for their mobility solution such as the Microsoft Exchange Server, the Kerio MailServer, the Zimbra Collaboration Suite, and the CommuniGate Pro Server.
• The NotifySync for BlackBerry product is available. For more information about the NotifySync for BlackBerry please contact Notify directly at (408) 777-7930 or send an email to sales@notifycorp.com or visit our website at http://www.notifycorp.com.

Read the full press release after the jump.

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SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zimbra, a Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO) company and the leader in open source, next-generation messaging and collaboration software, today announced the availability of a new open extension framework for Zimbra Collaboration Suite™ (ZCS) that enables two-way interoperability with leading collaboration platforms. Large enterprises and academic institutions can now easily integrate teams using Zimbra to work seamlessly with other departments that use different collaboration servers like Microsoft Exchange, exploring the benefits of Zimbra without having to make the decision to replace their current systems up front. This extends Zimbra’s history of openness and compatibility to a broader range of platforms, and builds on Yahoo!’s leadership in e-mail as a key starting point for users.

The first extension, built by Zimbra for the Microsoft Exchange 2003 platform, and now in beta, allows Zimbra users to access and share two-way free/busy information, schedules and global address book with colleagues whose data resides on Microsoft Exchange. The framework is also openly available for anyone in the Zimbra community to write an extension to other collaboration platforms such as IBM Lotus Domino, Novell®®, or PeopleCube Meeting Maker. GroupWise

“Interoperability with Exchange and other leading collaboration systems is a top request by many enterprises and academic institutions where mixed deployments are common,” said Satish Dharmaraj, Zimbra co-founder and Yahoo! vice president. “Zimbra’s recent growth with large organizations has been tremendous, with recent customer wins and deal expansions including Dai Nippon Publishing, Reliance Industries, H&R Block and Texas A&M University. This interoperability builds upon a long record of compatibility work by Zimbra and is one of the key needs for our largest customers.”

Read the whole article at BusinessWire.com.