The Competition: BlackBerry Strikes Back-ish at DevCon 2009

Hot on the heels of Verizon pretty much burying the Storm2 in favor of their latest lust, the Droid, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion used their annual developer conference to announce a few improvements for the platform. No, not word one about a next generation BlackBerry OS (hey, Palm spent their time in the desert to get to webOS, and Microsoft is still trudging towards Windows Mobile 7, so RIM needs to pick up that canteen and get to stepping!).

Still, Kevin and the CrackBerry crew have been tearing up the coverage, so check out their DevCon 2009 liveblog, and here are a couple more handy links to help you keep track of all the pushy news:

Open GL ES Support, Java GUI Builder and Theme Studio to Help BB Developers Generate Dynamic User Experiences
BlackBerry Application Platform Enhancements to Foster Rich Content Development
RIM Unveils New Services Platform for BlackBerry Developers
RIM and Adobe to Simplify Delivery Of Rich Content and Applications for BlackBerry Smartphones
RIM Announces BlackBerry Academic Program

So, what do you think, in the face of iPhone 3.x, Android 2.0, and webOS 1.x, is RIM doing enough to keep the BlackBerry competitive?

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.