Lenovo and RIM's Constant Connect now available

Following an announcement back in February, Lenovo and Research in Motion have officially launched their Constant Connect solution that automatically synchronizes email between a ThinkPad and a BlackBerry – even when the laptop is completely off. The idea is to give business users access to their emails at all times while reducing the need of using fee-based Wi-Fi networks.

Those interested in the service can now purchase a Constant Connect PCI ExpressCard for around $150 at Lenovo.com, which features 500MB of internal storage memory and pairs with a BlackBerry device via Bluetooth. It will work with any Intel Montevina based ThinkPad and BlackBerry running RIM OS v4.2 or higher. The partnership is just the latest move by RIM to retain its dominance in the enterprise smartphone market, which is increasingly being threatened by Apple's iPhone and Microsoft's Windows Mobile.