Nokia will not be allowing BlackBerry Connect on its new E-series business handsets.
A spokesperson for the handset manufacturer confirmed to ZDNet Asia's sister site ZDNet UK on Friday that the E71 and E66 would not work with the e-mail client, which allows users of some non-BlackBerry devices to connect to BlackBerry servers.
Quoted in Mobile, Nokia's U.K. managing director Simon Ainslie said the manufacturer saw this move as "an opportunity to give consumers a proper choice on what e-mail solution they want". Ainslie also dismissed BlackBerry as being for "the corporate boardroom group of individuals", whereas Nokia aimed to "make e-mail a mass-market proposition for everybody".
In a Friday statement, RIM said it "continues to work with various smartphone manufacturers (including HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Palm) to offer BlackBerry Connect to customers. Nokia offers BlackBerry Connect with the 9300i, 9300, 9500, E50, E51, E60, E61, E61i, E62, E65, E70 [and] E90".
RIM did not, however, offer direct comment on Nokia's decision to keep BlackBerry Connect off the E71 and E66.
Nokia had also not, at the time of writing, confirmed whether other new or future handsets would lack BlackBerry Connect compatibility.
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