RIM Inks Deal for JPEG Patent

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

BlackBerry wireless device maker Research In Motion inked a deal on Thursday to license part of the JPEG file format patent from Forgent Networks, the companies said.

The one-time perpetual license covers all of Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM’s BlackBerry devices and its BlackBerry Connect messaging service, which allows wireless always-on access to e-mail and corporate data on portable devices. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Source: News.com

We Say: It’s interesting that RIM would bother to do this. None of their devices have cameras … by design, as the corporate world is their main customer … but based on the patent as described in the article, one has to wonder if this means that one of their more consumer-centric phones in the future will have a camera.