A while ago, BlackBerry smartphones were the best devices for business users. The brand had a great reputation, the Research in Motion handsets had a sleek design, and everyone just had to have them. Now, it seems to be an iPhone and Android era and more and more analysts are wondering if the BlackBerry name will fade away.

A recent analysis examines one by one all BlackBerry strengths and takes into account how and if RIM is going to stand its ground in face of competition. First of all the timing is definitvely in iPhone?s favour. While iPhone 4S breaks sales records, BlackBerry just came out of a three days outage that infuriated the users.

However, that aside, iPhone 4S has more reasons to appeal to the market.Security was once one of the best strengths of BlackBerry smartphones. The level of encryption of Messenger application reassured the users their messages were perfectly safe from any attempts to be read by intruders and this hasn?t changed over the years. Nevertheless, ?BlackBerries? are no longer the safes smartphones. Apple?s devices never had security issues but iPhones are revealing more advantages over the rivals? handsets.

Design for instance. While RIM?s smartphones barely changed and still sport physical keyboard considered obsolete by many, iPhones on the other hand have a sleek design and a reputation of ?phones without buttons? even from the first day. Not to mention the small display compared to Android handsets or iPhones.

The BlackBerry?s operating system was one of the best in its time. Users appreciated email software, ?quick and intuitive?. Yet again, times have changed and Apple?s iOS as well as Android platform deliver features new and exciting with every release of a new version. Siri featured in iPhone 4S and face recognition technology from newly released Nexus Prime powered by Android Ice Cream Sandwich are now top of the line.