Blackberry sings its praises to music lovers

It's not just Barack Obama who's addicted to a BlackBerry. It was hard to find an executive at a music industry conference in Cannes last week without one of the devices in hand.

BlackBerry is expanding into digital music and hopes to attract consumers who've gravitated to Apple's iPhone or Nokia Oyj's Comes with Music mobile phone. Research In Motion, the Canadian company that makes BlackBerry, was a main sponsor of the Cannes conference, with co-chief executive Jim Balsillie demonstrating the company's products and promoting its "open platform" for digital music applications.

The company forecasts 20 to 25 percent growth this quarter.

While Balsillie says BlackBerry isn't trying to compete with Apple, the company is cementing partnerships with a variety of application developers. It plans to open an online applications store for BlackBerry users in March, showcasing content deals with Slacker, an Internet radio device, and Shazam, a music recognition service.

Another rival, Palm Inc., unveiled its touch-screen model, Pre, last week to compete with the iPhone.