It is the corporate suit equivalent of a match made in heaven: LinkedIn, the social networking tool of the professional class, is making a tailored app for the BlackBerry, the mobile weapon of choice for business people.
Starting today, users of Research In Motion's BlackBerry smart phone will be able to download a free app that was designed by LinkedIn Corp., in close collaboration with RIM.
Adam Nash, LinkedIn's vice-president of search and platform products, explained in an interview that the app integrates LinkedIn's profile information with the BlackBerry's popular functions, such as the email inbox, the calendar, and the contacts section.
With a click, you can discover the professional backgrounds of the people in a meeting scheduled in your BlackBerry calendar, he said, and a contacts' new employment information is automatically updated as they update their LinkedIn profile.
"You'll have the power of LinkedIn in your pocket," he said. "You'll be able to use your professional network, build it, access it, anywhere you go."
The private company, which has said it will open an office in Toronto in the next few months, has about two million users in Canada.