Research In Motion (RIM) Thursday announced that it has become the latest vendor of wireless devices to offer its technology as a platform on which other, potentially competing, vendors can build mobile devices.

Many other leading vendors of mobile devices, ranging from Palm to Ericsson and Motorola have been making their underlying technology available to other vendors. For instance, Ericsson recently announced it had licensed its mobile technology platform to GVC, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of consumer electronics.

RIM announced that it would offer other manufacturers what it called a comprehensive hardware and software platform that could be used to build wireless devices. Besides being based on the same technology used in RIM's BlackBerry devices, the platform also is based on Java technology.

"Our experience and success in this market allows the unique ability to offer a reference design program that will provide device manufacturers with solutions and tools to quickly and easily deliver carrier-ready wireless devices and Java applications, said Mike Lazaridis, RIM's president and co-CEO.

RIM's platform could be used for a variety of devices, including those that incorporate telephony. RIM recently announced that it would add telephony capabilities to its BlackBerry devices, which initially became well known because of their always-on access to e-mail.

Analog Devices, Inc. said that it would provide manufacturers with an integrated processor that works with the RIM platform. That company said its processor is optimized for GSM and GPRS wireless networks.

Besides the hardware and software platform, RIM also said it will provide manufacturers with professional services that will help them build the product, create applications and test for interoperability.

The company said that further details, such as availability and pricing, would be available at a later time.

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David Haskin is managing editor of sister site, allNetDevices.