Much awaited new BlackBerry smartphone arrives at Canadian retailers

By David Friend - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 2:09 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – There weren’t any lineups around the block, but Canadians finally had a chance to get their hands on the new BlackBerry smartphone Tuesday as the device went on sale across the country.

The company behind the once-dominant phone joined with Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B) to hold a media event in downtown Toronto, where a small number of customers who preordered the BlackBerry Z10 activated their devices in front of the cameras.

About 24 people showed up at the event, Rogers spokeswoman Michelle Kelly said.

But the fanfare around first day of sales paled in comparison to Apple’s iPhone launches, at which sometimes hundreds of people wait outside stores across the country to be one of the first to own the latest model.

“Twelve years with the same company and I haven’t switched,” said Joseph Santos, a professed BlackBerry loyal, who works as an IT manager in Toronto.

“Being the head of an IT department, there was a lot of pressure to go to an Android phone. I kind of fought them off. This is my last stand here.”

The BlackBerry (TSX:BB) launch comes after several delays left longtime fans either sticking with their older phones or switching to a competitor’s phone. Some analysts have been concerned that BlackBerry’s launch came too late to recover the lustre of its name.

Katie Strong, a resident of Innisfil, Ont., drove about an hour to be at the Toronto launch event.

“I still have the Bold 9900 — I love it,” she said.

“I’m going to keep it, just as a backup I guess. It’s a big thing to go to the new one, but I thought I’d try it.”

The new BlackBerry is expected to sell for around $150 on a three-year contract. Koodo is selling it without a contract for $550.

Albert Lee, a spokesman for Bell, could not provide any preliminary sales statistics, but did say the number of pre-orders the company has seen for the Z10 “were higher than any other BB (BlackBerry) before.”

“We’re seeing intense interest today — sales are quite robust,” Lee said in an email.

Anecdotes from the U.K., where the phone launched last week, suggest the new BlackBerry is selling at a steady pace.

Some stores have reported selling out of the device, though its unclear how many units the locations had received before they ran out.

BlackBerry shares were up again Tuesday in Toronto, gaining 6.7 per cent or 99 cents to $15.96 by midday after closing up 15 per cent Monday.

BlackBerry chief executive Thorsten Heins was on hand for the event at Rogers headquarters, where he met with the telecom carrier’s CEO Nadir Mohamed.

“It’s a big day for BlackBerry,” said Heins.

“We’ve come a long way, we’ve built a whole new platform with the BlackBerry 10, not just a new smartphone.”

While he’s disappointed the BlackBerry is not yet available in the U.S., Heins said its debut stateside next month will likely be helped by the earlier Canadian launch.

“Canada will be raving about the BlackBerry Z10 and consequently will influence the U.S. market,” he said.

Heins said the BlackBerry’s launch into the United States, the company’s biggest customer base by far, is coming later because of the extensive testing required by the U.S. carriers and the regulatory process.

Heins told the BNN business television channel that early sales in the United Kingdom and pre-registration results in Canada are encouraging.

“I don’t have the firm number yet but we also see people migrating from other platforms back to BlackBerry. I think this is a very important snippet. We need to verify that data, but if we can achieve that I think we’ve achieved a lot.”

Later Tuesday, Heins told a crowd of business executives that for the past three weeks, he’s used the device along with BlackBerry’s tablet, Playbook, instead of a laptop.

“Since I started using my BlackBerry Z10, I have purposefully avoided my laptop. I haven’t opened it in three weeks,” said Heins in prepared remarks during a speech at the Empire Club of Canada.

“Using the power of BlackBerry 10 and my BlackBerry PlayBook I have been able to keep moving through one of the busiest times of my life.”

The CEO also made a point to discuss how legal battles over patents, especially in the United States, have been detrimental to the mobile technology industry.

“This past year, our sector spent almost $30 billion in courtrooms — particularly in US courtrooms — defending cases against non-practicing entities — or ‘patent trolls’ — who produce nothing,” he said in prepared remarks.

“Patent trolls hold genuine innovators hostage and patents have become weapons in an international technology arms race. This is crazy. We have to shift our resources from litigation back to innovation, investment and job creation.”

Meanwhile, fans of the phone’s physical keyboard will have to wait a while longer — the new keypad version of the device won’t launch until sometime in April.

While the physical keyboard has long been an essential and beloved tool of so-called CrackBerry addicts, the move to release the touchscreen first was signalled by the company last spring.

The stock has been volatile in the wake of the launch of the new BlackBerry 10 product lineup.

Part of the issue was profit-taking following a huge run-up on anticipation about the new product. But availability has become an issue as U.S. customers won’t be able to get the BlackBerry Z10 until March, a month later than in Canada.

Top 5 ‘Top Five’ lists about the new Blackberry 10

By Tamsin McMahon - Friday, February 1, 2013 at 1:13 PM - 0 Comments

Now that RIM BlackBerry has launched its new smartphone, the BlackBerry 10, this week to largely positive reviews, the Internet is rife with lists promising consumers “Everything You Need to Know” about the new device.

Rather than add another review to the mix, we’ve put together our own top five list of “Top Five” lists about the new BlackBerry 10:

1. CNN offers its take on the five coolest features about the new BlackBerry 10.

2.  Not one to get too caught up in the hype of the phone’s release, the Toronto Star offers five ways in which RIM screwed up in the past.

3. Android OS fan site Androidauthority.com found five things about the new BlackBerry 10 that should leave Android users quaking in their boots

4. Gizmodo offers five videos of stupid things people did to win a free BlackBerry 10 from fan site Crackberry.com (Hint: they involved bikinis, tattoos and paper cranes.)

5. Following on its hugely successful Nov. 27 post entitled “20 Things You Didn’t Know About Baby Carrots,” The Huffington Post honoured the BB10 launch with its top things you didn’t know about blackberries. (The fruit, not the company/phone.)

Apparently, blackberries are also known as thimbleberries and lawers. Also, if your blackberry plant turns orange, it’s dying of an incurable fungus and should go in the garbage. (No word on whether the same advice applies to BlackBerry 10.)

BlackBerry shares continue downward slide

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 11:02 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Shares in BlackBerry are continuing their downward slide a day after the smartphone pioneer debuted new product offerings to generally positive reviews.

The Waterloo, Ont., company’s stock (TSX:RIM) was down almost eight per cent to $12.76 in the first 10 minutes of trading in Toronto.

The drop continued a loss in share value that began earlier this week ahead of the unveiling of the new BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry Q10.

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Here’s a twentysomething that doesn’t want a sleek new BlackBerry

By Mika Rekai - Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 5:59 PM - 0 Comments

As a young person with a BlackBerry, sometimes I get lonely.

I first felt the loneliness in the winter of 2010, when I would get together with my regular crew of early twentysomethings in a dive bar or a beer-glazed living room. It was the first true winter of the iPhone, and where once, in the heyday of our youth, we would spend our time socializing meaningfully, looking deeply into each other’s eyes as we discussed world issues, now everyone seemed to be transfixed by their cool new phones, and specifically, by“apps”. Charlie had an app which helped him build a bookshelf, Chad had an app to help him run five kilometres, Lucy had an app which was just a bunch of photos of fit girls’ bottoms and they all had Angry Birds. “What apps do you have?” they asked me.

“I have no apps,” I said, the shame welling up inside me. “I only have a competent phone, which keeps me reliably connected to friends, family and school.”

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New touchscreen BlackBerry in Canadian stores Feb. 5

By David Friend - Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 2:59 PM - 0 Comments

Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Canada’s smartphone pioneer will have a new BlackBerry in Canadian stores next Tuesday, the start of a new chapter for a rebranded company that’s seen its once dominant position trounced by the competition.

The BlackBerry Z10, a touchscreen model, will be the first to hit the shelves while the BlackBerry Q10, which will have a physical keyboard, will follow in April — a move that was signalled last year by the company.

Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) made the announcement Wednesday at a splashy unveiling in New York City, where it also let it be known the company will now go by the name BlackBerry.

The new BlackBerry models are widely seen as a make-or-break product for the company — the BlackBerry 10 devices were originally due for release last year.

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Five things that may convince smartphone buyers to pick up a new BlackBerry

By Michael Oliveira - Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 2:56 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – It’s not an iPhone killer and doesn’t absolutely demolish the best Android or Microsoft smartphones on the market. But the new BlackBerry Z10 is a huge step forward for the beleaguered company formerly known as Research in Motion, which is now simply calling itself BlackBerry.

Here are five things that will impress BlackBerry aficionados and may sway smartphone consumers without entrenched allegiances to Apple or Android.

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RIM stock continues remarkable comeback, analyst revises estimate

By The Canadian Press - Friday, January 18, 2013 at 9:17 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Research In Motion stock (TSX:RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM) continues to push towards levels it hasn’t seen in more than a year, rising a further six per cent to a new recent high in pre-market open trade on New York’s Nasdaq.

RIM shares rose to US$15.91 about 90 minutes before North American markets open, up $1 from the official close at the Nasdaq.

The latest move follows a revised price target from Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek, who has raised his target estimate to US$19.50 per share, from $13.

The prominent RIM analyst has raised his estimates on the Canadian smartphone maker’s stock several times since November, when he expressed doubts about the chances of commercial success for the new BlackBerry 10 product line. Continue…

RIM stock up after Visa gives OK to mobile payment method

By The Canadian Press - Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 10:26 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Research in Motion shares rose nearly six per cent Monday following news that the Visa credit card system has approved the smartphone company’s method for handling secure mobile payments.

The Waterloo, Ont.,-based company (TSX:RIM) says the green light from Visa is a step towards offering global support for any device equipped with the BlackBerry maker’s mobile-payments technology.

Visa’s approval also builds on an initiative by Canada’s three biggest wireless networks through their EnStream joint venture.

RIM shares were up 85 cents, or 5.96 per cent, to $15.12 in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The jump follows two days of big gains for the stock, which closed at $11.79 last Thursday. Continue…

RIM stock pops to highest price since April 2012

By The Canadian Press - Monday, January 14, 2013 at 2:15 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) stock jumped Monday in a second day of heavy trading, rising above $14 a share for the first time since last spring.

The BlackBerry maker’s stock gained $1.36, or 10.2 per cent, to $14.67 in afternoon trading. That’s the highest since RIM stock traded at $14.95 in early April 2012.

More than 10.5 million RIM shares traded at the Toronto Stock Exchange at 1 p.m., making Research In Motion one of the market’s most active stocks.

The push comes ahead of the Jan. 30 launch of RIM”s new BlackBerry 10 products, which are seen as a make-or-break development for the Canadian tech company, based in Waterloo, Ont. Continue…

AirWatch: The company that’s killing RIM

By Matt Kwong - Monday, January 7, 2013 at 8:59 AM - 0 Comments

ANDREW HNATH

In the mobile tech trade, a business built on communication, rescinding a party invite is one way to send a frosty message. So when John Marshall, CEO of the Atlanta-based software firm AirWatch LLC, learned that Research In Motion Ltd. had “disinvited” him and six executives from the BlackBerry World expo last spring—a week before the May 1 conference, and with their Orlando flights and hotels already booked—the snub was obvious.

“Now we’re seen as a direct competitor,” Marshall says. RIM refunded the airline tickets. AirWatch, a “Bronze sponsor” since BlackBerry World in 2011, yanked its funding from the 2012 conference. The BlackBerry maker’s hostility toward the little-known southern start-up was telling. Theirs is a see-saw relationship. When big organizations dump RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server—the once-pioneering software for handling workers’ emails—they contract AirWatch to protect the data on mobile devices like iPhones and Android phones. Consumer choice is driving the migration, says Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, who tracks RIM. “As RIM’s fortunes have faded, these alternative smartphone platforms have risen.” Continue…

RIM shares fall despite better than expected earnings report

By The Canadian Press - Friday, December 21, 2012 at 12:08 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Shares in Research In Motion fell 15 per cent Friday as analysts raised concerns about less revenue from the lucrative service fees charged by the company to use its secure network.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long said changes to the company’s service revenue model — outlined Thursday — add more risk for RIM, which is preparing for the launch of its next generation of smartphones and operating system next month.

“We have long viewed the recurring service revenues as the key value driver for the stock,” Long wrote in a note to clients. Continue…

RIM reports small third-quarter profit, beats estimates

By The Associated Press - Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 5:04 PM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Research In Motion beat expectations in its latest financial results as it prepared for the make-or-break launch next year of the BlackBerry 10 smartphones and operating system.

The company reported a profit of $9 million or two cents per share for the three months ended Dec. 1, compared with a profit of $265 million or 51 cents per share a year ago. Revenue totalled $2.73 billion, down from $5.17 billion.

On an adjusted basis, RIM (TSX:RIM) said it lost $114 million or 22 cents per diluted share. Analysts expected a quarterly loss of 32 cents per adjusted share on revenue of $2.6 billion. Continue…

RIM shares fall after arbitrator rules against RIM, for Nokia

By The Canadian Press - Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 11:50 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Research In Motion shares are down again in the wake of reports that it has lost a round in a patent dispute with Nokia Corp.

The European cellphone giant has licensed some of its patented technology to the BlackBerry maker.

However, an arbitrator has ruled RIM breached their agreement and should be prevented from using certain technology unless it reaches a deal with Nokia.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) says it’s asking courts in Canada, the United Kingdom and United States to enforce the arbitrator’s ruling.

Research In Motion says it won’t comment on litigation before the courts.

RIM’s shares (TSX:RIM) dropped to as low as $10.15 in early trading Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange but recouped some of the loss.

They were down 22 cents, or about two per cent, at $10.48 after 30 minutes of trading.

The stock has given back most of the gains since jumping last week to as high as C$12.09 following relatively positive analyst estimates about the potential of BlackBerry 10, the company’s new operating system.

Shares in Research In Motion stock up after price target increase

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, November 22, 2012 at 11:42 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Stock in Research in Motion (TSX:RIM) is up 12 per cent after a National Bank Financial analyst said he was increasing his price target for the BlackBerry maker.

Analyst Kris Thompson is boosting his target to $15 per share, saying there is money to be made ahead of the early 2013 launch of the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

Thompson says RIM’s new management team is maintaining the BlackBerry subscriber base, managing costs and cash, and seemingly readying a February 2013 BB10 global launch.

Thompson says most analysts are expecting a March launch and if the new operating system comes out a month earlier it would mean extra product availability plus a little more of the positive sentiment that seems to be building around RIM.

RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 operating system is widely considered a make or break product launch for the Waterloo, Ont., tech company.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, shares in RIM (TSX:RIM) jumped about $1.23 to $11.46, their highest level since early May, in morning trading.

#BlackBerrybychoice? Really?

By Peter Nowak - Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 12:28 PM - 0 Comments

(Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

Way back yonder in journalism school, oh, about two decades ago, there was a funny division of students. In the undergraduate program, you had to choose a specialty stream at the halfway point of your four years. In those halcyon pre-internet days, that meant picking either broadcast, magazine or print. The problem was, the first two accepted very few students, so those who didn’t get in were shunted off to print where the majority of unwashed journalism students resided.

As a result, there were a good number of disgruntled wannabe broadcast and magazine students in print, but a good portion of us were also hard-core newspaper fans for whom the stream was the first and only choice. We jokingly considered broadcast students to be shallow people who only wanted to be on TV, while magazine students and their high-falutin’ big words and surfeit of adjectives were just artsy hipsters. To us, the people who were “print by choice” were the only real journalists.

As funny as those youthful days now seem, it’s doubly humorous to see a large company adopting that same sort of borderline immature stance in its marketing. If you follow the smartphone field, you’ve probably recognized that I’m talking about Research In Motion’s “BlackBerry by choice” campaign.

Earlier this year, RIM insisted that many of its woes stemmed from poor marketing – that it simply wasn’t doing a good job at pointing out all the positives of BlackBerry. To that effect, the company went out and hired a new chief marketing officer, Frank Boulben, to fix the image problem.

Continue…

Don’t call the Blackberry 10 a comeback

By Chris Sorensen - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 5:15 AM - 0 Comments

Robert Galbraith/Reuters

It’s just before 10 a.m. and Andrew MacLeod, the Canadian managing director for Research In Motion Ltd., is sitting in a diner in downtown Toronto. For the first time in recent memory, he has some “good” news to talk about. A day earlier, the beleaguered BlackBerry-maker reported a quarterly loss of $235 million—less than many had feared. It also added about two million new subscribers, mostly in developing countries. RIM’s battered shares, which have traded as low as $6.22 in recent weeks, shot up 13 per cent.

While none of that means RIM is back from the brink—far from it, in fact—it does suggest the Waterloo, Ont.-based company may still be around in early 2013 to launch its long-overdue BlackBerry 10 smartphone, which seemed far from certain just a few weeks earlier. “We’re entering lab testing with our carrier partners next month,” says MacLeod. “Then we’ll be gearing up for a series of really big commercial platform launches. It’s a really exciting time for us.”

BlackBerry fans, a dwindling crowd, seem cautiously optimistic. Developers at a recent conference reacted positively to demo phones running BlackBerry 10, despite first being treated to a bizarre music video featuring Alec Saunders, RIM’s head of developer relations, singing a nerdy, BlackBerry-themed version of REO Speedwagon’s Keep on Loving You. Unlike Apple’s iPhone, or devices running Google’s Android software, BlackBerry 10 allows users to slide back-and-forth between applications (without the need for a “home” button) and check their inboxes by swiping away the screen they’re viewing. “It fundamentally changes the paradigm of how a smartphone should be used,” says independent tech analyst Carmi Levy. “The problem for RIM isn’t developing unique technology. It’s convincing people to at least give it a try.”

Continue…

BlackBerry ranked near the bottom among global brands

By Hugh McKenna, The Canadian Press - Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 6:17 PM - 0 Comments

(David Manning/Reuters)

TORONTO – The BlackBerry brand that once dominated the smartphone landscape has plummeted nearly to the bottom of the latest ranking of global brands by an international consultancy.

Interbrand said Tuesday that Research In Motion’s BlackBerry is now 93rd on its list of 100 most valuable global brands, down from 56th in 2011. It put the brand’s value at $3.9 billion, down 39 per cent from a year ago.

The top three spots on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands report for 2012 are held by Coca-Cola, valued at almost $78 billion; Apple at more than $76 billion, and IBM at more than $75 billion.

Both Coca-Cola and IBM were unchanged from the positions they held in 2011, while Apple jumped to No. 2 from No. 8 “thanks to stellar sales in both developed and emerging markets,” Interbrand said in a release.

The big drop for BlackBerry, the brand name for products produced by Waterloo.,Ont.-based RIM (TSX:RIM), followed a drop last year to the 56th spot from 54 in 2010. BlackBerry placed 63rd in 2009.

Interbrand noted that BlackBerry shipments are down 41 per cent in the past year and the brand’s market share now stands at 4.8 per cent globally, compared with 11.5 per cent a year ago.

“In order to survive, the brand must clearly demonstrate its relevance and value in today’s crowded smartphone market,” said Alfred DuPuy, managing director, Interbrand Canada.

“If BlackBerry can deliver a truly innovative experience designed for today’s mobile professional, it will send the message that the brand is committed to the (business to business) market on which it had originally built its success.”

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Touchscreen BlackBerry 10 could save RIM—or at least delay its death

By LuAnn LaSalle, The Canadian Press - Friday, September 28, 2012 at 6:33 PM - 0 Comments

(Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

“Hardcore BlackBerry lovers” might have to wait up to two months after the release of the BlackBerry 10 touchscreen device to get their hands on one with a physical keyboard, a strategic play by Research In Motion that analysts say reflects what customers want.

RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins, who had already indicated a touchscreen model would launch first, said Friday that the keyboard version — known in the tech community as Qwerty — will come about “30 to 60″ days later.

Heins said the company needs to gain market share in the touch phone segment, especially to address a trend in which employers are allowing staff to use their preferred smartphone for work.

“People… and enterprises love a full touch device, and, you know, we had to make a choice and finally we decided really to bring both versions to market very, very close to each other,” he said in an interview with MSNBC.

“The BlackBerry lovers, the hardcore BlackBerry lovers, they love this physical keyboard … so make no mistake we are fully, fully committed to Qwerty.”

The physical keyboard is popular often with BlackBerry business users, and the company — in its advertising — has positioned that as an advantage over Apple and Android phones that rely solely on touchscreens.

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RIM posts loss, but there’s hope

By David Friend, The Canadian Press - Friday, September 28, 2012 at 7:49 AM - 0 Comments

TORONTO – Even though it posted another round of losses and weakened revenue, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion delivered a surprisingly positive second-quarter earnings report on Thursday that wasn’t as bad as many analysts expected.

The technology company, which is based in Waterloo, Ont. and reports in U.S. dollars, posted a quarterly loss of US$235 million or 45 cents per diluted share.

The results compare with a profit of $329 million or 63 cents per share a year ago.

For many companies these results would be dismal, but for RIM — which has been struggling with numerous obstacles including the delay of its new smartphones and BlackBerry 10 operating system and massive layoffs — the fact that its bad news wasn’t worse proved encouraging to some.

Much of the optimism was gleaned from adjusted earnings per share, which filter out one-time costs like expenses related to job reductions and cost cuts.

RIM’s adjusted loss was $142 million or 27 cents per share, better than analyst expectations of a loss of 47 cents per share, according to a poll from Bloomberg.

Despite impressing investors, RIM still has many challenges ahead. Its revenues were notably weaker, down 31 per cent to $2.87 billion from $4.17 billion a year ago.

RIM said it shipped about 7.4 million BlackBerrys during the quarter, down from 7.8 million in the first quarter, showing that interest in its existing models is starting to wane.

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BBM being added as a word to the latest Collins English Dictionary

By macleans.ca - Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 8:09 PM - 0 Comments

WATERLOO, Ont. – BlackBerry’s instant messaging service has found a new home, nestled between BBL and bbq.

The term BBM is being added to the latest edition of the Collins English Dictionary.

Shorthand for Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Messenger software, the dictionary is listing it as an abbreviation as well as a noun and a verb.

The company says making it into the dictionary shows just how popular BBM is around the world.

RIM (TSX:RIM) says 70 per cent of its customers use BBM on a daily basis.

The company noted several recent references to BBM including Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt saying he had to thank a “few people on my BBM.”

RIM says singers such as Tinie Tempah and Sean Kingston have also both mentioned BBM in their songs, “Miami to Ibiza” and the aptly titled, “BBM.”

T.A. McCann, vice-president of BBM and social communities at RIM, says the inclusion in the dictionary recognizes its status as one of the world’s most popular mobile social networks.

RIM is planning to release a new generation of smartphones early next year in a bid to regain ground lost to Apple’s iPhone and smartphones with Google’s Android operating system.

According to the online edition of Collins, BBM’s placement in the dictionary puts it between BBL, text messaging shorthand for be back later, and bbq — which of course is short for barbecue.

Why RIM’s woes are partly a reflection of Canada’s backward telecom sector

By Jesse Brown - Wednesday, July 4, 2012 at 3:03 PM - 0 Comments

“This company is not ignoring the world out there, nor is it in a death spiral.”

-Thorsten Heins

Yesterday, RIM’s CEO chose magical thinking as his corporate strategy, stubbornly insisting that “there’s nothing wrong with the company,” despite a 95 per cent drop in the company’s stock, thousands of layoffs, and last week’s announcement of both a $512 million quarterly loss and a crippling delay of the Blackberry 10. Thorsten Heins knows that as bad as all this news was, the perception it created of Blackberry’s inevitable demise is far worse. Who’ll buy a phone that we all know will soon cease to exist? So the company line is that nothing is wrong. But RIM might go belly up whether or not its CEO keeps his chin up.

Clearly, the time has come to point fingers. I blame Canada.

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6 books from when the BlackBerry was a cultural icon

By Blog of Lists - Friday, June 29, 2012 at 2:11 PM - 0 Comments

Before Research in Motion fell on hard times, its phone was the de facto gadget reference for authors exploring our hyper-connected world.

1. Martin Lukes: Who Moved My BlackBerry? by Lucy Kellaway (2005)—A satire about corporate life in the 21st century.

2. I Lost My BlackBerry Down the Toilet, and Other Generational Challenges in the Workplace by Steven Friedman (2006)—The title says it all.

3. Crackberry: True Tales of BlackBerry Use and Abuse by Kevin Michaluk, Gary Mazo and Martin Trautschold (2008)—Remember when RIM’s phone was so popular it was equated to a drug?

4. The BlackBerry Diaries: Adventures in Modern Motherhood by Kathy Buckworth (2009)—About all the ways toddlers and technology are not so different.

5. Obama’s BlackBerry by Kasper Hauser (2009)—A fictional peek inside the President’s Smartphone One.

6. Hamlet’s BlackBerry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age by William Powers (2010)—A philosophical examination into the “conundrum of connectedness.”

Source: Amazon.com

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RIM’s 16G Playbook destined for the dumpster

By Tamsin McMahon - Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 5:40 PM - 0 Comments

Official BlackBerry Images/Flickr

Little more than a year after it launched its foray into the tablet market, Research In Motion announced it is getting rid of the 16-gigabyte version of its struggling Playbook.

In a statement e-mailed to several media outlets Thursday, the Waterloo, Ont. company said it will “remain committed to the tablet space” and that it intends to keep selling the 32GB and 64GB models of the PlayBook.

It’s merely the latest bout of bad news for Canada’s one-time tech darling, which is facing sinking sales, a first quarter operating loss and a plunging share price.

It’s now in the midst of a management shakeup and a strategic review by investment banks, including JPMorgan and Royal Bank of Canada that is widely rumoured to be studying a sale.

The PlayBook debuted last April as both RIM’s answer to the Apple Inc.’s iPad and a testing ground for the company’s new QNX operating system that it plans to incorporate into future smartphones.

But it quickly ran into problems, including the fact that users had to tether their Blackberry to the tablet to check their e-mail. RIM also faced stiff competition in the tablet market, not only from the iPad, but also from a growing array of Android-based tablets from companies like Amazon, Samsung and Lenovo.

Facing a backlog of unsold PlayBook inventory that caused it to take a $500 million write-off in December, the company slashed the price of its 16GB PlayBook to $199, a temporary price cut that eventually became permanent.

Sales of the PlayBook rose to 500,000 in the first quarter of this year, but that’s a far cry from Apple, which sold 11.8 million iPads in the first three months of the year, or even Amazon’s Kindle Fire, a tablet/e-reader, which sold 700,000. (Source: Reuters)

But RIM says it has no plans to get out of the tablet market. “We are going to continue to introduce new [tablet] products and we are going to continue to innovate,” a company spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal.

RIM expected to layoff thousands in coming days

By Gabriela Perdomo - Monday, May 28, 2012 at 10:05 AM - 0 Comments

The makers of BlackBerry could issue as many as 6,000 layoff notices to employees all over the world in a matter of days, the Financial Post reports.

As the Waterloo, Ont.-based Research in Motion continues to struggle, the company is seeking to cut $1 billion in costs.

From the Post:

The job losses are expected to be broad-based and affect RIM’s legal, marketing, sales, operations and human resources division. (…) RIM currently has about 16,500 staff worldwide, down from its peak of roughly 20,000.

(…) Several sources close to the company told Reuters that RIM has been letting more junior staff go for several months in what has come to be known internally as ‘Goodbye Thursdays,’ because the cuts typically occurred on that day of the week.