BlackBerry to make sharing a bit easier with Tag

How do you usually go about sharing information with other BlackBerry users? For me it mostly involves sending files through BBM and emailing contact cards. The process isn’t difficult at all, as we laid out in the guide to BBM and introduction to vCards. But RIM just made it a ton easier. This morning they announced BlackBerry Tag, which enables sharing between BlackBerry devices by bumping them together. That can make for easier person-to-person transfers. Though I do have to wonder how well this will play with certain parties. As detailed in the press release, users can send and receive contact information, documents, URLs, photos and “other multimedia content” via this Bump-like application. Again, when you’re hanging out with other BlackBerry users this probably makes life a little easier. Instead of setting up a file transfer you can just bump phones. The technology takes advantage of NFC, which is included on BlackBerry 7 smartphones. Yet I’m not sure I see the big deal in this. File transfer is convenient because it allows me to share something with people across the globe. BlackBerry Tag is obviously limited to those people in my immediate vicinity. True, it makes those transfers a bit easier in those instances — and instant exchange of BBM contacts is huge. But are you going to use it frequently enough to make it a really big feature? Furthermore, how will media companies view this? After all, it allows people to bump BlackBerrys to exchange music and movies — copyrighted music and movies, specifically. This seems like an all-too-convenient means of piracy. Then again, BBM file transfers produce the same effect. But again, convenience is focus here. I’m not sure the record labels would appreciate BlackBerry enabling convenient piracy. Still, there appear to be no downsides to this new technology. It’s not as though they’re going to charge for it. And, if we’re lucky, some developers will start working on this and add Tag to their apps. That would certainly add to the allure of Tag. But for now it’s just an idea, and an idea that has appeared on other platforms. Here’s to hoping RIM can make it work for the BlackBerry.

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.