BlackBerry Takes Over The NYTimes

Well, this is awkward, but smart. It seems that although RIM received a burn from the now infamous "BlackBerry as Black Sheep" editorial from the New York Times, the two companies have kissed and made up. In a deal resulting in "substantial" compensation for the news media company, RIM is taking a three pronged approach to reaching more of its targeted business-professional audience. Not only is the BlackBerry maker a founding sponsor of the Opportunities for Tomorrow conference, part of the Times' DealBook business section, but it has also purchased ad space both on the NYTimes front page and a special spadea wrap on the print edition.

Visitors to the NYTimes home page will be able to get a special sneak peak into BlackBerry 10's new BlackBerry Hub feature. In addition, today's conference will feature a BlackBerry10 demo by no other than RIM's head of software, Vivek Bhardwaj. The conference will be available via live stream, as long as they have a Times digital subscription or have not yet used their 10 free articles.