Finally, Some Well-Deserved Praise for Research In Motion

Fool contributor Tim Beyers has been tough on Research In Motion , and justifiably so. Management gaffes and product miscues have conspired to torpedo this business and its loyal investors over the past year.

But now there are signs of returning innovation. The new BlackBerry Messenger with BBM VoIce allows for free voice calling between two BlackBerry users over a Wi-Fi network.

As you might imagine, this feature is helpful for those who might be calling from or to emerging markets where cellular minutes are expensive. A wonderful add-on -- and potential differentiator -- when you consider that RIM's data network is global.

To be fair, both Apple , with FaceTime, and Microsoft , with Skype, offer their mobile users similar functionality. The difference is that RIM is concentrating on voice, which isn't as data-intensive. Lower-grade Wi-Fi networks that would have a difficult time handling a video call made across continents might have no trouble handling voice.

In all, Tim sees this as a rare win for Research In Motion. Do you agree? Watch the following video to hear the whole story and then leave a comment in the box below.

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The article Finally, Some Well-Deserved Praise for Research In Motion originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock-picking team and the Motley Fool Supernova Odyssey I mission. He owned shares of Apple at the time of publication. Check out Tim's Web home and portfolio holdings, or connect with him on Google+, Tumblr, or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Microsoft. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Apple, creating a synthetic covered call position in Microsoft, and creating a bull call spread position in Apple. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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