RIM Zone at startup Village to be opened today

KOCHI: Startup Village, the country’s first telecom incubator at KINFRA Hi-Tech Park, Kalamassery, is entering into a tie-up with Research in Motion (RIM), the manufacturers of BlackBerry. RIM is setting up an innovation zone, Rubus Labs, to introduce BlackBerry technologies and innovations to young entrepreneurs.The zone will be formally opened at the Startup Village on Thursday in the presence of senior officials of BlackBerry, including its global vice-president Alec Saunders and India managing director Sunil Dutt.RIM is setting up such an innovation zone in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time and Kerala has been selected to be part of the collaboration.RIM, the global game-changer in the mobile industry, will give pre-launch access to its latest devices and operating systems, apart from technological assistance. Rubus Labs will host regular activities like BlackBerry Hackathons and Bar Camps, besides conducting training sessions for student entrepreneurs. The lab will also be open to school students.As an alliance partner, Startup Village will get stock devices of the BlackBerry family, including handsets and playbooks, from RIM. The partnership will also facilitate Startup Village to work with BlackBerry partner funds to co-invest in the startup firms.