Research in Motion was founded in 1984 by Mike Lazardis & Doug Fregin, in Waterloo, Ontario. RIM worked with RAM Mobile Data and Ericcson to turn the Mobitex wireless data network into a two-way paging and wireless email network. The first Blackberry was released in 1999, and now 3% of mobile devices worldwide are Blackberry making RIM the 6th most popular device maker. Blackberry is known for its ability to send and receive push email and instant messages with a high level of security through on-device message encryption. Blackberry was commonly referred to as 'Crackberry' in North America, because of its excessive use by its owners and its addictiveness. more... See more text