As part of our redesign of BlackBerry® Beta Zone, we are pleased to announce the launch of a brand new sub-site, BlackBerry Beta Zone for Business, focusing on beta programs for business software and services.

Hosted at www.blackberry.com/businessbeta, BlackBerry Beta Zone for Business offers a tailored experience for small, medium, and large businesses who want to experience and test the latest BlackBerry software and services prior to their market release.

BlackBerry Beta Zone for Business features a more user-friendly interface, more opportunities to participate, and an improved mobile experience. BlackBerry Beta Zone for Business also features news to keep you up-to-date on new beta programs and events as they become available.

While logged into BlackBerry Beta Zone for Business, you will be able to access all of your business beta programs on behalf of your organization, if your company has enrolled in one or more of the available programs. Your BlackBerry Beta Zone account is valid for consumer or personal beta programs as well. Once logged in, switching between your business and consumer accounts is simple, seamless, and will not require separate login credentials.

We look forward to your continued participation in BlackBerry beta programs.

Have feedback or a question about BlackBerry Beta Zone? Feel free to let us know in the comments below!

Now that the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet is being used in a wide variety of industries by a range of various professionals, I thought it would be prudent to throw a spotlight on one of the more interesting communities involved with the product, as well as how you can get involved and provide feedback. I had the pleasure of speaking with John H., a member of the Beta Programs team at Research In Motion® (RIM®). Check out the conversation below!

Hi John, can you give us a quick introduction to what you do at RIM?

Sure, Luke. RIM’s Beta team operates programs for new software through the BlackBerry® Beta Zone. My colleagues and I are members of the beta team and are specifically interested in the BlackBerry® Tablet OS; what people think of it, how they use it, what they’d change, and what they love about it. It is essential to our job to make sure the voice of our customers is represented internally.

So what is the “Global BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Community”?

The community is open to anyone in BlackBerry Beta Zone and is an open forum for discussions about the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and the BlackBerry Tablet OS.

How does RIM work with the members?

We’re in the discussion boards every day reading what people are sharing with us. Also, after every new software release, we capture the feedback of users through a survey once they’ve upgraded. Because we develop these devices for our customers, as I mentioned previously, it’s very important to us to have a solid understanding of their needs, thoughts, and requests.

Where does feedback go after it’s provided by the community?

My team is very close to stakeholders and product owners at the company who coordinate the product development process. We then use this information to contribute to building and developing top notch mobile technology. All of the feedback is important to us, and we’re always looking for important trends, which is why it is important for users to weigh in with their thoughts on hot topics in BlackBerry Beta Zone.

How can individuals get involved?

The process is simple – BlackBerry Beta Zone is free and easy to join. After signing up or logging in, they can look for the Global BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Community in the “Eligible Programs” area as displayed in the image below. They can then hop into the discussion boards and let us know what they think. It’s our promise that posts and opinions are read, and we often respond with our own thoughts and interactions.

Thanks for your time John! It sounds like a great opportunity to become involved in the future of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

We definitely have an exciting opportunity here to shape the future – we’re looking forward to everyone’s thoughts!

Tell us about your experience on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Head over to the BlackBerry Beta Zone today and share your opinion!