RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Training Program Attracts 1,600 Businesses

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd., which is preparing to unveil its BlackBerry 10 phones later this month, said more than 1,600 North American businesses have registered for a training program for the new handsets and software.

Of the registered customers, more than 1,000 have already begun using the BlackBerry 10 Ready program since its introduction in early December, Nick Manning, a RIM spokesman, said in an e-mail. The customers include Fortune 500 companies, law firms, retailers and government agencies, he said.

RIM will debut the first of the BlackBerry 10 models at an event on Jan. 30, before putting them on sale in February and March. The stock has more than doubled since late September on rising optimism that BlackBerry 10 will help RIM win back market share lost to rivals such as Apple Inc.

Shares of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company rose 5.9 percent to $15.34 at 9:59 a.m. in New York.

--Editors: Nick Turner, Niamh Ring