• blackberry,  rim,  rumors

    Rumor: RIM Cancels 10″ Playbook, Realizes They Need New BlackBerry Phones

    The Boy Genius Report blog has word that the executive management team has gotten a cold, hard dose of reality and has finally realized that they need to get new QNX-powered BlackBerry smartphones out the door as quickly as possible.

    The sobering fact that RIM’s stock has taken a nose dive in recent weeks has served as what I can only describe as a wake up call.  According to BGR, plans for an iPad sized 10-inch BlackBerry Playbook are being scrapped and the company will “focus as much effort as possible on building and releasing its first QNX-powered BlackBerry smartphone.”

    The specs and timing for a new BlackBerry running the QNX operating system are, obviously, thin at best.

    “Specs of the purported next-generation BlackBerry smartphone include a single-core 1.2GHz processor — though it may be swapped for a dual-core if RIM can find a way to reduce the drain on the battery — along with a 4.3-inch high-resolution touchscreen display. Further details surrounding the device were not made available, nor was a codename, launch name or a time frame for the device’s release.”

    The previously planned 4G cellular version(s) of the BlackBerry Playbook is still planned for release in the October timeframe.

    As a strictly utilitarian device for email, text/instant messaging, and phone calls (who makes those anymore?), the BlackBerry is a great phone.  Messaging has always been at the core of what a BlackBerry is.  (I own and have used a BlackBerry Curve and Storm2 and loved them both.)  But today’s “prosumers” want more features than that, and when compared to the iPhone and Android devices, all of the RIM devices fall flat on their faces.  If RIM is serous about turning their company around, they need to get QNX-powered phones out the door as quickly as possible.

    [Via BGR.com…]

  • blackberry,  rim

    Oh, Snap! O2 Takes a Pass on the BlackBerry PlayBook

    BGR.com is reporting today that UK-based wireless carrier O2 is going to sit this round out for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

    “Citing issues with the user experience, O2 UK announced on Thursday that it “will not be selling” the BlackBerry PlayBook. The wireless carrier began notifying customers who had signed up for more information about its change of heart on Thursday. The carrier officially stated: “unfortunately there are some issues with the end to end customer experience,” but didn’t delve further into its reasons for the decision.”

    I guess it’s better to not let an unfinished product out the door then to have it ship and then be a headache for your customers downstream.

    [Via BGR.com…]

  • blackberry,  blackberry os,  rim

    RIM Announces Layoffs, Fights for Relevance

    RIM released their quarterly earnings report today, and while the news appears upbeat, the BlackBerry maker also announced that layoffs are on the way.

    Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was $4.9 billion, down 12% from $5.6 billion in the previous quarter and up 16% from $4.2 billion in the same quarter of last year. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 78% for hardware revenue, 20% for service and 2% for software and other revenue. During the quarter, RIM shipped approximately 13.2 million BlackBerry handheld devices and approximately 500,000 BlackBerry Playbook tablets.

    “Fiscal 2012 has gotten off to a challenging start. The slowdown we saw in the first quarter is continuing into Q2, and delays in new product introductions into the very late part of August is leading to a lower than expected outlook in the second quarter.” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “RIM’s business is profitable and remains solid overall with growing market share in numerous markets around the world and a strong balance sheet with almost $3 billion in cash. We believe that with the new products scheduled for launch in the next few months and realigning our cost structure, RIM will see strong profit growth in the latter part of fiscal 2012.”

    Additionally, RIM “will begin a program to streamline operations across the organization, which will include a headcount reduction. This realignment will be focused on taking out redundancies and a reallocation of resources to allow us to focus on the areas that offer the highest growth opportunities and align with RIM strategic objectives, such as accelerating new product introductions.”

    I can’t help but thinking that RIM is now the new “Palm.”  RIM is still a long way from dropping down into single digit market share territory, they seem to be having all of the same problems that Palm did in the mid to late 2000’s.  With Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS platforms grabbing huge segments of the market, you have to wonder if anyone really cares about the BlackBerry brand anymore.

    You can read the full press release on the RIM website.

  • android,  apple,  blackberry,  google,  ipad,  touchpad,  web os,  windows

    Forget the iPad! The HP TouchPad Will Be the #1+ Tablet!

    Chalk this one to drinking too much marketing Kool-Aid(tm), but Eric Cador, HP’s senior VP of Personal Systems Group in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, said that the HP TouchPad, powered by webOS 3.0, will surpass all of the tablets on the market today; including the Apple iPad.

    Mr. Cador, in an interview with The Telegraph, stated:

    “In the PC world, with fewer ways of differentiating HP’s products from our competitors, we became number one. In the tablet world, we’re going to become better than number one. We call it number one plus.”

    Are you kidding me?!  I think that it is going to take a little more than HP willing that their new TouchPad will beat out the growing number of tablet devices in the market running Google’s Android, Windows 7, RIM’s QNX, and, well, Apple’s iOS powered iPad 2.

    Don’t get me wrong.  I’m sure webOS 3.0 and the TouchPad are going to be a great platform, but with webOS hovering around 3% market share in the smartphone OS category, HP is facing a long hard up hill battle.

    [Via AllThingsD.com…]

  • blackberry,  rim,  rumors

    Rumor: New BlackBerry Handsets On the Horizon

    Late last week a friend of my told me that she was interested in renewing her contract with Sprint and what new BlackBerry phone she should get.

    While reading up on the Windows Phone event I just wrote about, I noticed that BGR.com also had written an article about the upcoming BlackBerry handsets that should be arriving at US carriers this summer.

    I think my favorite model is the GPS/Wi-Fi enabled edition of the Curve.  Call me crazy, but I was addicted to my Curve 8330 that I used in the six months between my Palm Treo 755p and my Palm Pre.  I also liked the Verizon exclusive BlackBerry Storm2.  It is the only smartphone that I liked using the on screen keyboard on.  (Hey, I just said to call my crazy!)

    If you are interested in reading about what to expect from Research In Motion this summer, check out BGR’s featured article.

    [via BGR.com…]

  • blackberry,  rim

    RIM: BlackBerry Play Book App Development Too Difficult

    BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion, is clearly fighting an up hill battle for “mindshare” among customers and potential customers.

    The latest problem for the company, whose handsets are in decline due to strong sales of the Apple iPhone and phones based on Google’s Android OS, could be coming from the very people RIM needs the most: application developers.

    Jamie Murai, a small BlackBerry application developer has recently posted an open letter to RIM stating his displeasure with the tools for BlackBerry PlayBook application development. Mr. Murai writes:

    “On a more serious note, being the underdog, you need to make your process AT LEAST as simple as Apple’s or Google’s, if not more so. You need to make your tools AT LEAST as good as Apple’s or Google’s, if not more so. You have failed at both.”

    Ouch!  I encourage you to read the full open letter to get the full context of what Mr. Murai is talking about, but the bottom line gets summarized nicely with the quote above.
    At least you don’t need to have a BlackBerry smartphone to use all the features of the new PlayBook, like Palm was planning to do with the Treo and the Foleo.  Oh, wait – you do need to pair a PlayBook with a BlackBerry.  Nevermind.
  • blackberry,  rim

    BlackBerry’s “Bridge” to Nowhere [Repost]

    My friend and fellow gadget addicted blogger Jimmie Geddes has a new RIM BlackBerry Playbook article up on GadgetsOnTheGo.net.  The following is Mr. Geddes’ post republished here:

    I wrote about RIM’s PlayBook back in September comparing it to Palm’s never released Foleo. At CES RIM showed off the PlayBook running it’s “Bridge” software that tethers your BlackBerry via Bluetooth to the PlayBook in order to use the Email, Calendar, Messaging, and BBM apps on the PlayBook. If you don’t have a BlackBerry you will not be able to use Email, Calendar, Messaging, or BBM.

    RIM should not be building “Bridge” software, especially when that “Bridge” only bridges itself to a BlackBerry. You’ve got to wonder what’s going on if you’re buying a device from a company that needs to build software to get Email, Calendar, and Messaging working, and only working by using a separate device from the same company.A tablet should not have to rely on a phone to do Email, Calendar, Messaging, and in RIM’s case its very own BBM. A bridge to nowhere is still a bridge to nowhere.

    Today a former RIM executive has gone on the record with Business Insider saying the PlayBook will flop. One of the main reasons is:

    ” * The first Wi-Fi-only version won’t be able to connect to a lot of corporate BlackBerry email accounts unless the user also has a BlackBerry phone near the PlayBook and uses the PlayBook’s tethering capability.

    This last point sounds completely insane, given that corporate email is the entire reason the BlackBerry exists. But Reddy just got back from CES, and said that this is what the BlackBerry booth team told him. We’ve contacted RIM for comment, and haven’t heard back.”

    Additional Comments

    I can’t agree with Mr. Geddes more about RIM’s “Bridge” software.  Seriously, RIM?  You need to tether a PlayBook with a BlackBerry to gain access to messaging applications?  Didn’t you guys learn anything from Palm’s Foleo/Treo tethering disaster?  Maybe you guys should shelf the PlayBook and focus on getting the QNX OS ported over to new BlackBerry handsets, BlackBerry handsets; which I’ll point out, are your core competency.  There will be time to chase the iPad later.  For right now, you need to be worried about losing smartphone marketshare to handsets running Google Android and Apple iOS.

    [Via GadgetsOnTheGo.net…]

  • apple,  att,  blackberry,  droid,  evo,  google,  hp,  iphone,  ipod,  palm,  pre,  sprint,  torch,  touch,  verizon

    Year End Deals on iPods, iPads, iPhones, Smartphones

    Didn’t get the cool new phone or iDevice for Christmas that you were hoping for?  Are you sitting on a pile of cash or gift cards?  Don’t worry!  There are still deals to be had on new and refurbished hardware between now and the end of the year.

    Apple (Refurbished Hardware)

    • iPod Classic (Silver or Black) – $209
    • iPod touch 32GB (third generation) – $229
    • iPod touch 64GB (third generation) – $299
    • iPad Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G – $50-100 off refurbished units

    AT&T Wireless (Refurbished Hardware)

    • Apple iPhone 4 16GB – $99, $36 activation fee
    • Apple iPhone 4 32GB – $199, $36 activation fee
    • Apple iPhone 3GS 8/16/32GB – $29/$49/79, $36 activation fee
    • BlackBerry Torch – $9.99, activation fee waived
    • HP Palm Pre Plus – $0.00, activation fee waived
    • HTC Aria – $0.01, activation fee waived

    Keep reading for Verizon Wireless and Sprint phones.

    Sprint

    • BlackBerry Bold 9650 – $150 off online order
    • BlackBerry Curve 3G – $200 off online order
    • HP Palm Pixi – Free when ordered online
    • HTC Evo 4G – $150 off online order

    Verizon Wireless

    • HTC Droid Incredible – $149.99, BOGO
    • BlackBerry Curve 3G 9330 – $49.99, BOGO
    • BlackBerry Bold 9650 – $99.99, BOGO
    • HP Palm Pixi Plus – $0.00

    Depending on the phone model and service plan, a $36 activation fee may apply.

  • blackberry,  blackberry os

    BlackBerry Tip: Erasing the Calendar

    I stumbled across a great tip today while testing out a new Exchange 2007/BlackBerry Enterprise server sync solution.

    I needed to clear out the calendar on my BlackBerry Storm2, but I didn’t want to have to hard reset the device.

    Turns out that there is a secret command of sorts that will allow you to clear out the BlackBerry calendar database without having to wipe the phone.

    Note: The BlackBerry smartphone must be running BlackBerry Device Software 4.5 to 5.0 to perform this task.

    1. Open the calendar application on the BlackBerry smartphone.
    2. Press the Menu key and highlight Options.
    3. Select the calendar to be reloaded, e.g. “Desktop” for a BlackBerry Enterprise Server enabled BlackBerry Device.
    4. With the calendar highlighted type rset on a QWERTY keyboard or ER,ER,AS,AS,ER,TY on SureType.
    5. Click Yes when asked to reload the specific calendar to continue.

    You can read the full Resarch In Motion article on the BlackBerry support website.