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A Rich History of Local Innovation BY ANDREW MACLEOD A rich history of local innovation Since the company’s inception in 1984, BlackBerry® has become a world-renowned mobile technology leader with deep roots in Waterloo Region. BlackBerry was founded in Waterloo, Ontario and its corporate headquarters has remained in the city during the company’s rise to global prominence as a leader in technology and communications. Being based in Waterloo Region has been beneficial to BlackBerry. The area’s excellent schools have supplied the company with an educated, technologically savvy workforce. In turn, BlackBerry and BlackBerry employees have given back to the community for nearly 30 years through countless donations, sponsorships, product provisioning and volunteer hours. BlackBerry was founded on an innovative concept – giving employees instant access to e-mail and messaging. The company has continued to foster that spirit of innovation in both its employees and its products, most recently resulting in the launch of the BlackBerry® 10 operating system and the popular BlackBerry® Z10, BlackBerry® Q10 and BlackBerry® Q5 smartphones.
Helping area businesses become more productive Many firms in Waterloo Region have been able to enhance their operations with the latest BlackBerry 10 technologies. One example is Herrle’s Country Farm Market in St. Agatha, Ontario. Trevor Herrle-Braun, operations manager for the farm, uses a BlackBerry Z10 smartphone to stay connected and productive all day, even when he’s out in the field on a tractor. Trevor is a long-time BlackBerry user and loves the enhancements in the BlackBerry 10 operating system. The BlackBerry® Hub notification centre gives Trevor access to all his e-mail, messaging and social media notifications in one place. Multi-tasking is another feature Trevor enjoys. He often has multiple applications open at once. For example, he could be working on a planting spreadsheet, checking weather and checking radar every few minutes. With his BlackBerry 10 smartphone, Trevor doesn’t need to close one application to access another.
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Trevor also takes advantage of new BlackBerry 10 applications like BlackBerry® Story Maker. BlackBerry Story Maker allows Trevor to become his own marketer, building slideshows, embedding video and creating a small story that he can upload to YouTube®. He can use BlackBerry Story Maker to post photos and videos of recently harvested crops to entice potential customers. Trevor’s BlackBerry Z10 does a lot of the work his home computer used to perform. “The BlackBerry Z10 is a true mobile computing platform”, he says, allowing him to be more productive while he’s working out in the field. Trevor notes he doesn’t need to use his home computer very much because he finds his BlackBerry Z10 a more powerful device. Another local business taking advantage of BlackBerry innovation is Kitchener-based loyalty and engagement computing company, LoyaltyMatch Inc. LoyaltyMatch developed an application that aggregates points from multiple loyalty programs into a digital wallet and determines whether shoppers are better off to use points or cash when making purchases. LoyaltyMatch developed the RewardingYourself Loyalty Wallet application for BlackBerry, but saw a chance to boost the application’s appeal when BlackBerry 10 launched. BlackBerry 10 is an open platform that supports a wide range of development languages and runtimes. BlackBerry 10 allows developers to adapt existing applications to run on BlackBerry 10 devices, or develop native applications using a new framework which enables rich user experiences. LoyaltyMatch’s new BlackBerry 10 application lets consumers scan a product’s barcode to see if they have enough points accumulated to buy the item. The application also lets users browse their rewards program to decide if they should make a purchase with cash or points and compare prices between different retailers. They can even access BlackBerry® Messenger through the application to ask their friends if they are familiar with a certain product and whether they would recommend it. The new application has also helped LoyaltyMatch create followon business with other companies by showcasing the firm’s mobile skills.