Device software for BlackBerry®

[szczepro]

Hey,

I work for a company that uses email to market to our customer base.  We are looking into sending multi-part messages, including rich-text messages that will render adequetly on most blackberries.  We've been testing on devices around the office, and while most emails, even some in full HTML, are rendering correctly in Blackberries with updated software, other do not display any links or formatting if the software is out of date. 

Does anyone have rough estimates as to how many blackberry users have recent software installed on their devices vs the number who operate with dated software versions?

Thanks for any help,

~Bob in NYC

[JSanders Resident Expert]

You're basically looking at the number of devices running OS 4.5 and greater (HTML email)

and those running less than OS 4.5, with no HTML email.

I don't know the numbers, but I can assure you the former is increasing daily.

[szczepro]

any idea where i might be able to find those numbers, or atleast rough estimates?

[JSanders Resident Expert]

I doubt very seriously those numbers are published anywhere, much less really even known.

For instance, when I upgrade, say an 8700 model blackberry from OS 4.2 to OS 4.5, my carrier doesn't even have to know I have done that, much less RIM knowing for the entire 17 million some odd devices in use.

Suffice it to say, those devices of less than OS 4.5 which displays text-based email only, only need text based email.

I believe a developer who knows what they are doing can develop what you need so that an HTML email has the proper text underlying for those devices that require text only.