RIM | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:54:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png RIM | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 BlackBerry to limit amount of new models, to focus on profitability https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/blackberry-to-limit-amount-of-new-models-to-focus-on-profitability/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/blackberry-to-limit-amount-of-new-models-to-focus-on-profitability/#respond Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:40:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=221299 While it is considerably easier to expand market presence by releasing devices tailored for certain market segments, this is not a route that BlackBerry plans to choose, according to its chief executive officer. John Chen believes that instead of releasing many new hardware devices, the company needs to offer competitive products and focus on profitability. …

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While it is considerably easier to expand market presence by releasing devices tailored for certain market segments, this is not a route that BlackBerry plans to choose, according to its chief executive officer. John Chen believes that instead of releasing many new hardware devices, the company needs to offer competitive products and focus on profitability.

BlackBerry has not made a final decision regarding its hardware plans in 2015. In an interview with Reuters news-agency John Chen, chief executive officer of BlackBerry, revealed that the company will concentrate on a core set of smartphones that are most likely to succeed. The 2015 lineup from BlackBerry will likely include at least one radically new device and product refreshes on its Passport, Classic and its mid-level Z3 touchscreen phone.

“I am not going to build a general purpose device, simply because it is a 5” touchscreen,” said Mr. Chen, referring to the wide array of standardized touchscreen smartphones in the market right now. “The Chinese can build one for 75 bucks, I can't get enough parts together for 75 bucks.”

blackberry_secusmart

The decision to limit the amount of form-factors and product models is a wise one. Apple decided to enter the market of smartphones with only one model seven years ago. The iPhone has managed to take market share away from BlackBerry, Nokia and many others, who offered tens of models. Moreover, Apple accounts for over 86 per cent of all profits in the smartphone industry. While BlackBerry will hardly attempt to replicate Apple’s success, it is clear that there is no need to offer a broad family of products to be relevant on the market.

But while there are no plans to flood the market with various BlackBerry models, the company definitely wants to grow its market share. After Mr. Chen managed to radically slash the company’s losses, he is not only looking forward to earn profits, but to grow BlackBerry as a company.

“We will survive as a company and now I am rather confident,” said John Chen. “We are managing the supply chain, we are managing inventories, we are managing cash, and we have expenses now at a number that is very manageable. BlackBerry has survived; now we have to start looking at growth.”

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It looks like the worst is over for BlackBerry. Still, a big question is whether the company will manage to become a leader of the smartphone market again. BlackBerry has a lot of advantages to offer to professionals; but when it comes to consumers, Apple iPhone and Google Android are clearly platforms of choice.

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BlackBerry forms new unit to focus on patents and technologies https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/anton-shilov/blackberry-forms-new-business-unit-to-focus-on-patents-and-technologies/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/anton-shilov/blackberry-forms-new-business-unit-to-focus-on-patents-and-technologies/#respond Wed, 20 Aug 2014 03:00:45 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=208027 BlackBerry this week formed a new business unit that will concentrate on patents, technologies and software. The new unit will help the company to get new revenue streams without selling smartphones, but by licensing its intellectual property, software or technologies. BlackBerry Technology Solutions, or BTS, includes BlackBerry’s technology assets, such as: QNX (embedded software), project …

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BlackBerry this week formed a new business unit that will concentrate on patents, technologies and software. The new unit will help the company to get new revenue streams without selling smartphones, but by licensing its intellectual property, software or technologies.

BlackBerry Technology Solutions, or BTS, includes BlackBerry’s technology assets, such as: QNX (embedded software), project Ion (Internet of Things application platform), Certicom (cryptography applications), and Paratek (RF antenna tuning), in addition to BlackBerry’s 44,000 patents. Many of BlackBerry’s technologies and software could serve outside of smartphone industry and enable very innovative products.

“QNX, Certicom and Paratek are strategic and technically innovative assets with significant potential to address the much wider global markets for secure, reliable communications and embedded applications,” said John Chen, executive chairman and chief executive officer. “Project Ion creates an application platform that enables secure and collaborative machine-to-machine communication required by the growing number of end-to-end, Internet of Things applications. Our broad global portfolio of 44,000 patents is of value to several industry segments.”

Although BlackBerry has clearly failed to become a successful maker of smartphones for the masses – its market share is now negligible – it can still provide the world’s most secure communication technologies, something that is clearly needed by the world full of connected devices.

blackberry_logo (1)

The BTS group will be headed by Sandeep Chennakeshu, which has been engaged in research, product development, IP creation/licensing and general management in the wireless, electronics and semiconductor industry for over 25 years. Previously he served as president of Ericsson Mobile Platforms and CTO of Sony-Ericsson.

“Combining all these assets into a single business unit led by Sandeep will create operational synergies and new revenue streams, furthering our turnaround strategy,” said Mr. Chen.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The formation of the BTS unit essentially prepares BlackBerry to operate outside of the traditional smartphone industry. Keeping in mind that BlackBerry’s technologies can indeed help to create very advanced products, it is a good news that the company decided to establish the BlackBerry technology solutions group.

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Apple and Google control 96% of smartphone market https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/iphone/anton-shilov/apple-and-google-control-96-of-smartphone-market-as-shipments-pass-300m-per-quarter/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/iphone/anton-shilov/apple-and-google-control-96-of-smartphone-market-as-shipments-pass-300m-per-quarter/#respond Fri, 15 Aug 2014 12:53:30 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=207556 In the second quarter of 2014 shipments of smartphones reached a new milestone: 300 million units per quarter for the first time in history, according to International Data Corp. When it comes to operating systems, then Apple and Google controlled 96.4 per cent of the market, whereas shares of BlackBerry, Windows Phone and other mobile …

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In the second quarter of 2014 shipments of smartphones reached a new milestone: 300 million units per quarter for the first time in history, according to International Data Corp. When it comes to operating systems, then Apple and Google controlled 96.4 per cent of the market, whereas shares of BlackBerry, Windows Phone and other mobile platforms have dropped.

According to final data from IDC, various suppliers shipped a total of 301.3 million smartphones worldwide in the second quarter of 2014, up 25.3 per cent from the 240.5 million units shipped in the second quarter of 2013. As previously reported, Samsung was the No. 1 smartphone vendor (with 87 million units sold), followed by Apple (35.2 million) and Huawei (18.2 million).

top_5_operating_systems_mobile_idc_q2_2014

The dominant smartphone operating system in Q2 2014 was Google Android with 84.7 per cent market share. Apple’s iOS commanded 11.7 per cent of the market, whereas Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone’s share was 2.5 per cent, which is even lower than in the same quarter last year.

The main reason behind rapidly growing sales of Android-based smartphones is their price: many of such handsets are priced below $200.

“With many of its OEM partners focusing on the sub-$200 segments, Android has been reaping huge gains within emerging markets,” says Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC's mobile phone team. “During the second quarter, 58.6 per cent of all Android smartphone shipments worldwide cost less than $200 off contract, making them very attractive compared to other devices. With the recent introduction of Android One, in which Google offers reference designs below $100 to Android OEMs, the proportion of sub-$200 volumes will climb even higher.”

samsung-galaxy-alpha

Sales of Apple iPhone in the second quarter did not impress market observers, but there is a clear explanation for that. Rumours about next-generation iPhones with 4.7” and 5.5” displays have been circulating from early 2014, which clearly made a lot of iPhone owners postpone their upgrades to the back half of the year.

Shipments of Windows Phone-based smartphones in the second quarter were even lower than estimated shipments of Nokia Lumia, which is a clear disappointment. While Microsoft’s mobile platform gained supporters this year, they have not yet started to ship products based on the Windows Phone operating system. Perhaps, the situation will change in the second half of the year, but at present it looks like Microsoft’s mobile strategy is failing.

After three consecutive quarters of sequential decline, BlackBerry shipment volumes have bounced back slightly from the previous quarter, but remained 78.0 per cent lower than shipment levels from a year ago.

“It's been an incredible upward slog for other OS players – Windows Phone has been around since 2010 but has yet to break the 5% share mark, while the backing of the world's largest smartphone player, Samsung, has not boosted Tizen into the spotlight,” said Melissa Chau, senior research manager with IDC's worldwide quarterly mobile phone tracker. “The biggest stumbling block is around getting enough partnerships in play – not just phone manufacturers but also developers, many of which are smaller outfits looking to minimize development efforts by sticking to the two big ecosystems.”

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Although there are over five mobile platforms on the market today, the Android and the iOS simply dominate the market. At present the Windows Phone OS looks pretty hopeless, hence, if Apple manages to gain market share going forward, there will be duopoly on the market of smartphones, but if not, Google’s Android will virtually monopolize the market.

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BlackBerry to encrypt voice calls thanks to acquisition of Secusmart https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/blackberry-to-encrypt-voice-calls-thanks-to-acquisition-of-secusmart/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/blackberry-to-encrypt-voice-calls-thanks-to-acquisition-of-secusmart/#comments Wed, 30 Jul 2014 22:54:02 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=205338 Less than two weeks after Apple and IBM agreed to offer enterprise-tailored services with sophisticated security, BlackBerry, whose main customers are enterprises, governments and other organizations requiring advanced security, announced a plan to acquire Secusmart GmbH. The take-over enriches BlackBerry’s extensive security technologies with high-security voice and data encryption and anti-eavesdropping solutions. BlackBerry and Secusmart …

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Less than two weeks after Apple and IBM agreed to offer enterprise-tailored services with sophisticated security, BlackBerry, whose main customers are enterprises, governments and other organizations requiring advanced security, announced a plan to acquire Secusmart GmbH. The take-over enriches BlackBerry’s extensive security technologies with high-security voice and data encryption and anti-eavesdropping solutions.

BlackBerry and Secusmart have earlier partnered to offer Secusmart’s technology to customers that have the most demanding security needs. Last year Germany’s federal office for information security, which provides classified communications for the country’s highest public officials, selected SecuSuite for BlackBerry 10 solution. At present many of German government agencies and almost all German government members, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, use BlackBerry smartphones.

Among many things, Secusmart’s technologies allow to encrypt voice data on-the-fly, something that no mobile platforms offers at present. In addition, the Secusmart’s platforms support encryption of emails, text messaging, browsing, notes and so on.

blackberry_secusmart

All Secusmart solutions are powered by the Secusmart Security Card, which is basically a miniature computer-on-chip integrated into the micro-SD card. The solution contains the NXP SmartMX P5CT072 crypto-controller with a PKI coprocessor for authentication. The co-processor encrypts voice and data communications using 128 bit AES method.

The addition of Secusmart’s technologies into BlackBerry’s portfolio will allow the company to provide ultimate security solutions not available from others. It is noteworthy that Secusmart’s platforms are hardware-based, which means that it will take the company's rivals quite some time to develop something competitive.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The take-over is subject to approvals by regulators.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While the acquisition of Secusmart enables BlackBerry to offer very sophisticated security capabilities, it does not solve the main problem of the company: fleeing customers. Without tens of millions of active clients the BlackBerry’s platform is just doomed…

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Apple-IBM deal: good news for Apple and IBM, bad news for BlackBerry and Microsoft https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/anton-shilov/apple-ibm-deal-good-news-for-apple-and-ibm-bad-news-for-blackberry-and-microsoft/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/anton-shilov/apple-ibm-deal-good-news-for-apple-and-ibm-bad-news-for-blackberry-and-microsoft/#respond Fri, 18 Jul 2014 22:36:40 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=203608 The agreement between Apple and IBM will inevitably have a lot of effects on the industry of personal computers as well as mobile devices. For example, BlackBerry and Microsoft Corp. will clearly lose sales because of the new collaboration. Meanwhile, the partnership essentially brings IBM back to the personal computing business and the only question …

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The agreement between Apple and IBM will inevitably have a lot of effects on the industry of personal computers as well as mobile devices. For example, BlackBerry and Microsoft Corp. will clearly lose sales because of the new collaboration. Meanwhile, the partnership essentially brings IBM back to the personal computing business and the only question is whether the two companies will extend their collaboration to Macs.

On Tuesday Apple and IBM announced that they will jointly develop IBM MobileFirst platform for iOS that will bring IBM’s apps, big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone and iPad. At present the two companies claim that the platform will target specific industry issues or opportunities in retail, healthcare, banking, travel and transportation, telecommunications and insurance, among others. The IBM MobileFirst Platform for iOS will bring the services required for an end-to-end enterprise capability, including analytics, workflow and cloud storage, fleet-scale device management, security and integration. IBM will also resell specially-configured iPhone and iPad devices to its customers.

apple_ibm_artwork

The collaboration between Apple and IBM transforms iPhones and iPads intro true business-oriented devices, which will affect multiple companies around the industry. The tie-up will disturb business of value added resellers of smartphones and tablets, who configure systems for special purposes required by their clients. It will also affect BlackBerry and Microsoft, whose mobile platforms have traditionally targeted corporate users and who specifically advertise advanced security and enterprise-class features of their mobile platforms. The deal could also upset all smartphone and tablet suppliers planning to sell their devices to business and enterprise clients (e.g., Lenovo, Samsung, etc.).

“It is not a crushing blow at this early stage, but ‎it is a negative for BlackBerry,” said John Jackson, an analyst with IDC. “There can be little question that it is unwelcome, if not entirely unexpected news.”

BlackBerry shares fell 9.4 per cent to $10.24 on Nasdaq and 9.3 per cent to C$11.03 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday after market observers indicated that the alliance could hurt the company’s turnaround plans, reports Reuters news-agency.

BlackBerry has traditionally targeted business/enterprise customers and provided appropriate services. IBM was rumoured to be interested in BlackBerry acquisition a couple of years ago, but after the transaction failed to materialize, the company, apparently, started to work with Apple.

“We believe the spate of recent acquisitions (IBM-Fiberlink, VMware-AirWatch, Citrix- Zenprise) all add to the competitive pressures for Blackberry in enterprise mobile management (EMM) as Blackberry now finds itself competing against much larger and established enterprise vendors, as well as smaller, but better capitalized, vendors e.g. MobileIron (post-IPO),” wrote Amitabh Passi, an analyst with UBS, in a research not to customers.

For Apple, who has already penetrated the absolute majority of the Fortune 500 companies with its devices (thanks to the BYOD trend), the situation is clearly a win since it will be able to slightly boost sales of its hardware in the short-term and then gain market share in the longer-term.

“We believe this partnership could further strengthen Apple’s enterprise mobility market share due to immediate access to IBM’s enterprise customer base that could leverage the comprehensive iOS device management capabilities offered by IBM’s announced MobileFirst platform for iOS and official AppleCare support for enterprise,” said Mike Walkley, an analyst with Cowen & Co., reports Tech Trader Daily. “We believe this partnership could lead to growing iPhone/iPad device sales into the global enterprise base in the long-run.” apple_ipad_iphone_business_ibm

For IBM, which left the market of personal computers/personal devices long ago, the partnership means that it could again address enterprise customers with personal devices. While the business will hardly be large, it will help IBM to sell its services and software at a maximum price.

“We see this as a small step towards restoring relevance among its customer base by specifically focusing on the highest-value applications and use cases in the workplace,” said Brian Marshall, an analyst with ISI Group. “We do not expect IBM to make any meaningful margin on Apple hardware sales, but see this as another way to monetize software and industry expertise inside the company (e.g., ~100k IBM industry consultants and software developers, ~5k mobile experts, etc.) with incremental software sales.”

At present IBM does not resell Lenovo ThinkPad personal computers for business and enterprise customers, but still provides some PC-related services. If Apple and IBM extend the IBM MobileFirst platform to Macs (and Mac OS X), the two will be able to offer a whole range of mobile devices needed by modern users. For Apple this will mean additional Mac customers from the corporate PC world, whereas IBM will get an opportunity to sell its software and services without necessity to build or sell hardware.

While it clearly remains to be seen how good the IBM MobileFirst platform for the iOS will be, the collaboration between Apple and IBM seems to be a very important one for the corporate PC world.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While Apple and IBM may not really become leaders on the market of mobile devices for businesses and enterprises, they will clearly play a big role going forward. Keeping in mind that the market is lucrative, players like Microsoft, Lenovo, Samsung and Google should be interested in addressing it. It remains to be seen how successful those companies will be against the Apple-IBM team.

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BlackBerry buys stake in healthcare IT firm, seeks new opportunities https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/blackberry-buys-stake-in-healthcare-it-firm-seeks-new-business-opportunities/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/blackberry-buys-stake-in-healthcare-it-firm-seeks-new-business-opportunities/#respond Tue, 15 Apr 2014 22:42:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=187572 BlackBerry on Tuesday said that it had bought a stake in NantHealth, a healthcare IT company. The companies intend to collaborate on the development of HIPAA and other government privacy certified, integrated clinical systems. BlackBerry hopes that the new business will allow it to finally earn hefty profits. NantHealth describes itself as a “cloud-based medical …

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BlackBerry on Tuesday said that it had bought a stake in NantHealth, a healthcare IT company. The companies intend to collaborate on the development of HIPAA and other government privacy certified, integrated clinical systems. BlackBerry hopes that the new business will allow it to finally earn hefty profits.

NantHealth describes itself as a “cloud-based medical IT provider” that transforms “the delivery of healthcare for payers, providers and patients” with the help of “real-time connectivity, high performance computing and 21st century decision support”. Essentially, the platform allows medical professionals to monitor patients, share information via a knowledge base, access medical records, view lab data/pharmacy data and deliver care efficiently by keeping costs in mind. The NantHealth platform is installed at approximately 250 hospitals, and connects more than 16 thousand medical devices collecting more than 3 billion vital signs annually.

nanthealth_cloud_cOS

“This investment and planned collaboration aligns with the reliability, security and versatility of BlackBerry’s end-to-end solutions – from the embedded QNX operating system powering complex medical devices, to secure cloud-based networks, to instantaneous information sharing over BBM Protected,” said John Chen, chief executive officer or BlackBerry. “NantHealth is a proven innovator in developing leading platforms that allow medical professionals to share information and deliver care efficiently. BlackBerry’s capabilities align closely with NantHealth’s and this investment represents the type of forward-looking opportunities that are vital to our future.”

NantHealth and BlackBerry can combine secure cloud-based and supercomputing services to provide data integration, decision support and analytics. It is implied that NantHealth Clinical operating system (cOS) will be tightly integrated with BBM Protected, an upcoming, secure communication platform that could connect healthcare providers, field service workers, emergency personnel, patients and family members.

nanthealth_pyramid_Infrastructure3

BBM Protected will not require customers to own BlackBerry handsets, but will be compatible with various hardware and operating systems. As a result, BlackBerry will be able to incorporate it into various devices.

“The future of BlackBerry lies in creative opportunities like this that take our many core disciplines and combine them in ways no one else can match,” said Mr. Chen. “Healthcare is one of the key industries in which we have unique advantages and this investment reflects our commitment to maximize our opportunities there.”

Exact details of the intended collaboration are being developed.

KitGuru Says: Looks like BlackBerry got one partner for its BBM Protected on the market of healthcare. The problem is that connecting 16 thousands of devices cannot really bring a lot of money. BlackBerry will need to find ten times more new clients like that to really start earning serious money on this market…

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Chief exec of BlackBerry denies plans to dump handset business https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/chief-exec-of-blackberry-denies-plans-to-dump-handset-business/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/chief-exec-of-blackberry-denies-plans-to-dump-handset-business/#respond Mon, 14 Apr 2014 22:58:43 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=187365 John Chen, chief executive of ailing handset maker BlackBerry, said in a new interview that he was not looking forward to exit the hardware business and cease selling smartphones. Contrary to the previous statement, Mr. Chen is now looking forward to make money on handsets. “I actually do plan on making money in the handset …

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John Chen, chief executive of ailing handset maker BlackBerry, said in a new interview that he was not looking forward to exit the hardware business and cease selling smartphones. Contrary to the previous statement, Mr. Chen is now looking forward to make money on handsets.

“I actually do plan on making money in the handset business and I don’t have any plans to jettison the handset business,” said Mr. Chen in an interview with the Fox Business Network, reports Tech Trader Daily. “We love the handset business, and it’s really an identity for us, it is a really identity for us.”

BlackBerry sold 52.3 million smartphones in fiscal 2011, but in the most recent quarter the company only recognized shipment of two million devices and reported a net loss of $423 for the quarter.

blackberry_blackberry_q10

During his interview with Reuters news-agency last week Mr. Chen indicated that his long-term plans for BlackBerry included competing in the growing business of connecting different types of devices, including, but not limited to, kitchen appliances, automobiles, game consoles, smartphones, home appliances, medical devices and consumer electronics. The company has already started to invest into technologies for the M2M [machine-to-machine] market. Moreover, in case it would be needed, BlackBerry will consider partnerships, mergers and acquisition scenarios, according to Mr. Chen. In addition, the CEO of BlackBerry said that he would not spend money on consumer-oriented features of BlackBerry smartphones, but would focus strictly on business and corporate users.

During the interview with the Fox Business Network, the head of BlackBerry re-iterated plans to focus on the high-end customers (enterprises, governments, etc.) as well as on providing secure connections to various clients.

KitGuru Says: It looks like BlackBerry will continue to sell smartphones going forward and there are no plans to get rid of that business, albeit, there is such a possibility under consideration. What is not completely clear is how Mr. Chen plans to make BlackBerry popular again without making it popular among the consumers? Even the high-end customers are using Apple iPhone and Google Android nowadays because of their consumer features.

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BlackBerry may consider exiting handsets business – CEO https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/blackberry-may-consider-exiting-handsets-business-ceo/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/anton-shilov/blackberry-may-consider-exiting-handsets-business-ceo/#respond Thu, 10 Apr 2014 11:39:27 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=186866 BlackBerry would consider exiting smartphone hardware business if it remains unprofitable, its chief executive officer said. The head of the company is very interested in keeping the company afloat, so he is looking beyond the smartphone in general to other connected devices, which will become pervasive across different industries. “If I cannot make money on …

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BlackBerry would consider exiting smartphone hardware business if it remains unprofitable, its chief executive officer said. The head of the company is very interested in keeping the company afloat, so he is looking beyond the smartphone in general to other connected devices, which will become pervasive across different industries.

“If I cannot make money on handsets, I will not bein the handset business,” said John Chen in an interview with Reuters news-agency.

Back in its fiscal 2011 the now struggling BlackBerry sold 52.3 million smartphones, but in the most recent quarter the company only recognized shipment of two million devices. Needless to say that the company is not profitable these days, it is “losing money and burning cash”, according to its chief executive office. In March the company reported net loss of $423 for the quarter.

Blackberry CEO Chen poses for a portrait in Toronto

But if smartphones do not bring any profits to BlackBerry, maybe it is time to get rid of the handset business and concentrate on secure connections services, something that will truly be in demand in the coming years.

Mr. Chen said his long-term plans for BlackBerry included competing in the growing business of connecting different types of devices, including, but not limited to, kitchen appliances, automobiles, game consoles, smartphones, home appliances, medical devices and consumer electronics. Given the recent scandals with privacy amid surveillance by several governments, secure connectivity and secure device management will be crucial for tomorrow.

“We are not only interested in managing BlackBerry devices. We are interested in managing all devices that you would like to speak to each other,” said Mr. Chen, “To achieve our dream of being a major player in M2M requires more partnerships with others.”

blackberry_blackberry_q10

The company has already begun to invest into technologies for the M2M [machine-to-machine] market. Moreover, in case it will be needed, BlackBerry will consider partnerships, mergers and acquisitions scenarios.

“We are building an engineering team on the service side that is focused on security,” said Mr. Chen. “We are building an engineering team on the device side that is focused on security. We will do some partnerships and we will probably, potentially do an M&A on security.”

While BlackBerry is determined not to lose focus on the corporate and other customers that helped it build its global influence, it looks like the new chief executive officer does not want to continue to spend on making the platform attractive to the consumer. Meanwhile, the success of Apple iPhone and Google Android were conditioned primarily by their orientation on the end-user.

KitGuru Says: High-ranking executives do not pre-announce plans while they are being executed. There are only two situations when CEOs share strategic plans: in case there is an important announcement incoming or in case the possible actions are only investigated. It remains to be seen what the current situation at BlackBerry is… 

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Stephen Bates shows why Blackberry is getting slaughtered https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/jules/stephen-bates-shows-why-blackberry-is-getting-slaughtered/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/jules/stephen-bates-shows-why-blackberry-is-getting-slaughtered/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 12:17:59 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=123849 You might not recognise the name, but Stephen Bates is the ‘laughing fool' whose business card says Managing Director for Europe at Blackberry – the besieged smartphone maker. We missed his live interview on the BBC first time round, but a great blog by Willard Foxton at The Telegraph drew our attention to it. We'd …

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You might not recognise the name, but Stephen Bates is the ‘laughing fool' whose business card says Managing Director for Europe at Blackberry – the besieged smartphone maker.

We missed his live interview on the BBC first time round, but a great blog by Willard Foxton at The Telegraph drew our attention to it. We'd like to share Stephen's pathetic performance with you.

From the mighty days when a monochrome Blackberry would give you secure email, across the globe, on a device with a charge that lasted for 3 or 4 days – RIM has moved from ~90% market share to barely breathing in no time at all.

Any poor sod who bought a 9900 will know the pain of which we speak. For the rest of you, here's an idea of the kind of stupidity we've had to put up with:-

Slimline design
Great. But at the expense of (a) the battery and (b) the complete lack of grip on the reverse.
Start working with a Blackberry 9900 in the morning and you're lucky to be able to make a call by tea time. The slippery rear means that if you rest it on any surface that's not completely flat – there's a good chance it will slide straight off.

Tell your story (but tell it quick)
Not only has Blackberry's flagship suffered from poor battery life, it also struggles to understand when it's near your ear. Result? Calls get cancelled, lost, diverted, conferenced etc with staggering regularity. You're speaking with someone about a vital business arrangement, 2 seconds later your Blackberry has decided to randomly redial someone else and you're suddenly speaking to their voice mail.

No concept of preferences
When you open the browser and tell it to clear out the cache, Blackberry gives you a list of things you might want to purge/save – including passwords, cookies and pushed content. You click the boxes and then – next time you access the menu – all of your preferences have gone and you need to set them again.

Music? No, sorry, never thought you'd need that
With a brand as huge as Napster available for so long, why oh why didn't Blackberry make a partnership? The irony is that Napster worked for Apple devices before Blackberry ever realised that people might like music. It's this kind of strategic inadequacy that has led them into the dark hole where Blackberry lives today.

Camera?  Why would you want to take photos?
Warships use starshell to light up target zones at night. If you're not sure what they might look like – then take the flagship Blackberry Bold 990 and shoot a street in the early evening. Every single light explodes across the picture – rendering it useless. On the Blackberry 10, we've seen that Blackberry has solved the problem by delivering a ‘black square' where the picture should be. This has been described by Gizmodo as the worst camera experience they have seen in a very long time. Nice.

I don't like Apple & Samsung, because there is no keyboard
It would take a Muppet not to understand that one of the ONLY benefits to buying a Blackberry is the keyboard. So what have Stephen Bates, Kermit and Miss Piggy decided to do?  Launch the '10' with no keyboard. If that doesn't alienate what little support they have left, we don't know what will.

Completely unreliable
Gone are the days when Blackberry's flagship 9700 would ‘take a licking and keep on ticking'. We know one Bold 9900 user that's had 3 replacements in a single year – one of which was because the phone decided to start dialling people when it was ‘off, resting on a shelf in the car'. What was it? Lonely?

Business Tool with no software
Even now, after the launch of the '10', Blackberry is still asking £469 for a Bold 9900 through discount specialist Argos. It's a business tool but you can't word process, spreadsheet or any of the other things a business person might want to do without spending more money on poxy little programs. Sure, Apple has apps to buy, but it doesn't specifically say that's perfect for business users. Why not take the stress and hassle out of trying to access Blackberry's weak-arsed effort at copying Apple's App Store – and just give people software that's useful. You've charged them £469 – please let them use it ‘straight from the box'.

At least Norman Bates looked serious & trustworthy. Stephen Bates manages to look come off like a cheap comedian.

.
Willard Foxton's take on Blackberry hits right on the line between comedy and tragedy. We thoroughly recommend you read this analysis. If you get to the part about Blackberry being a ‘faded Hollywood star that's turned to erotic films to try and pay the rent' – with a dry eye – then we'd be very surprised.

Rant over?

Back to the headline?

If you want to see a grown man struggle to answer the most basic question?…  Then this is the interview for you.

Want to see simple questions make a European Managing Director seem like the slipperiest second hand car salesman you have ever seen?…  Then prepare to ‘need a shower'.

Click the pic to feel a bit sick.

As far as we could throw him? Nope. Sorry. Would not trust him that far. No more Blackberry for us.

.
KitGuru says: Remember, Stephen Bates is not a Saturday staff member taking time off from revision to make a few quid in Carphone Warehouse. This guy has a real job, pan-European, fronting a desperate company that's fighting for it's life. Scary? We would not want to be a shareholder right now. KitGuru is off to move ALL of our phone contracts away from Blackberry. No joke.

Comments below or in the KitGuru forums.

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RIM confirms what resolutions will be present on BB10 devices https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blair-mcclelland/rim-confirms-what-resolutions-will-be-present-on-bb10-devices/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blair-mcclelland/rim-confirms-what-resolutions-will-be-present-on-bb10-devices/#respond Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:32:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=104440 While the launch of the first BlackBerry 10 devices are still a few months away, Resarch In Motion has informed developers what resolutions the first wave of devices will use. Two resolutions will be present on RIM's hopeful resurgence into the smartphone market; 1280×720 and 720×720. The full touch screen devices will have the 720p resolution, a …

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While the launch of the first BlackBerry 10 devices are still a few months away, Resarch In Motion has informed developers what resolutions the first wave of devices will use.

Two resolutions will be present on RIM's hopeful resurgence into the smartphone market; 1280×720 and 720×720. The full touch screen devices will have the 720p resolution, a lot like many recent higher-end Android smartphones. Meanwhile the 720×720 resolution displays will be limited to the traditional BlackBerry devices with a QWERTY keyboard and square display.

Considering RIM's CEO has mentioned that there could be up to six BlackBerry 10 devices, it is hard to see where any major differentiation will come from.

KitGuru says: Now that possible developers know what is in store for them, RIM just has to convince them to make the move.

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RIM release BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.0.1. https://www.kitguru.net/channel/slyvia/rim-release-blackberry-playbook-os-2-0-1/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/slyvia/rim-release-blackberry-playbook-os-2-0-1/#respond Mon, 06 Aug 2012 06:59:27 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=102673 Research In Motion have released Playbook OS 2.0.1 update, alongside their 4G version of the Playbook. The company are still dealing with a leak of Playbook OS 2.1 from a couple of days ago. The 2.0.1. update is primarily a performance related upgrade for Blackberry Playbook WiFi versions. RIM have not released a change log …

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Research In Motion have released Playbook OS 2.0.1 update, alongside their 4G version of the Playbook. The company are still dealing with a leak of Playbook OS 2.1 from a couple of days ago.

The 2.0.1. update is primarily a performance related upgrade for Blackberry Playbook WiFi versions. RIM have not released a change log for the update although reports have been flowing online about performance improvements without noticeable new features.

Even though a version has already been leaked, the company plan on releasing Playbook OS 2.1 which contains improvements to the Android Player. Playbook OS 2.1 means that the tablet won't need to run converted Android applications inside a single application space. Text messaging will be accessible via BlackBerry Bridge.

Kitguru says: There is still no official word on the time frame for V 2.1, but it will be issued over the air to current customers.

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Blackberry 9900 dropped calls, “Horrific experience” https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/jules/blackberry-9900-dropped-calls-horrific-experience/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/jules/blackberry-9900-dropped-calls-horrific-experience/#comments Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:15:05 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=99557 Once the ruler of the smartphone world, Blackberry has rapidly become a joke in modern business. While share holders have dropped the value of the stock into the toilet, top execs have been thrown overboard and thousands of staff have followed. When all's said and done, the company's problems seem to stem from some very …

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Once the ruler of the smartphone world, Blackberry has rapidly become a joke in modern business. While share holders have dropped the value of the stock into the toilet, top execs have been thrown overboard and thousands of staff have followed. When all's said and done, the company's problems seem to stem from some very real issues with the products themselves. KitGuru suffers yet another dropped call, decides to do some research and realises that we are far, far from alone.

“Blackberry 9900 Bold: Tell your story” says the advert.

Tell it quickly, we say, you have no idea what will happen next.

Imagine you are in the middle of a very important call. It's so important that you make sure you have a full battery and strong signal before you begin. Two minutes into the call, disaster strikes. Which of the following would you consider the worst disaster:-

  1. Your call quality becomes so unusable, the phone requires a reboot
  2. The call is dropped completely
  3. The call is dropped, but your phone immediately dials the person back – so you get their answerphone, because they are engaged talking to you
  4. Your Blackberry drops the call, like a feather to the ground, and randomly redials someone else from your phone book

With the Blackberry Bold 9900, you get a chance to experience ALL of these ‘endings' to the story you're trying to tell. In some respects, it's very exciting not knowing (a) if your 9900 will make a call at all, (b) lose the call in some bizarre way or, perhaps most shocking, (c) actually allow you to complete the call normally.

So, encouraged by Blackberry's multi-million dollar advertising campaign, let's tell this story.

Put ‘Blackberry 9900 drops calls' into Google and you will get around 12,600 results – if you force the time line to ‘Only the last week'.

Open yourself up to new possibilities, by choosing ‘One Month' and you might hit 28,700 links.

Choose to see everything that Google can offer on the subject of ‘Blackberry 9900 Drops Calls' for the past year – and you could be heading past 100,000 results.

Blackberry Bold 9900: Tell your story (but tell it fast - you never know who it will dial next. Or when.)

Do we think that this figure of 103,000 hits represents 103,000 individual users who have experienced a Blackberry Bold 9900 dropping calls, randomly re-dialling other people while you are on a call and generally making a nuisance of itself?   No. There will be some issues, some duplication and some links which are not relevant at all.

BUT: You can be sure that there are a LOT of people out there with the same issue. We know – because we experience it every day. One of our associates has already had their handset swapped by the phone company – with all of the software updated multiple times – and still their Blackberry Bold 9900 crashes out in a variety of ways each and every day.

Then there's battery life. Why-oh-why-oh-why did the doughnut-headed design team at Blackberry think that saving a millimetre or so on the depth of the card – at the expense of battery bulk – was a good idea?   While the original 9700 phones would chug along from morning to night, the fully charged Blackberry Bold 9900 batteries that we've experienced first hand, are normally gasping like a wheezing asthmatic by mid-afternoon.

We've actually accumulated a number of absolutely disastrous stories about products made by the chaps with the RIM jobs, but we're just not sure how much time to dedicate to telling them. One KitGuru associate described using the Blackberry Bold 9900 as an “Horrific experience” and they can't wait to switch to the iPhone 5 when it launches.

RIM's share price has been going down about as 'hard and often' as a call on a Blackberry Bold 9900

KitGuru says: It won't be the case that every Blackberry Bold 9900 will act like a demoniacally possessed handset, with a malevolent intelligence that's dedicated to making your life a disaster – but if you do have one of these ‘special' handsets, then you are most certainly being driven into the arms of Apple. Blackberry makes noises about wanted to focus on corporates – but if your phone can't maintain a phone call, then you certainly do not use it commercially.

Comments below or in the KitGuru forums.

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BlackBerry 10 – will it save RIM? https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/slyvia/blackberry-10-will-it-save-rim/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/slyvia/blackberry-10-will-it-save-rim/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 07:14:05 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=89797 Research In Motion are facing critical mass, as declining sales and an extremely competitive market continue to cause issues for the Canadian smartphone maker. Much of their future success is riding on their upcoming operating system, otherwise known as BlackBerry 10. The first incarnation of the operating system was unveiled at the Blackberry World Conference, …

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Research In Motion are facing critical mass, as declining sales and an extremely competitive market continue to cause issues for the Canadian smartphone maker. Much of their future success is riding on their upcoming operating system, otherwise known as BlackBerry 10.

The first incarnation of the operating system was unveiled at the Blackberry World Conference, set to target developers so they can test their application code. Research in Motion built the Blackberry 10 Dev Alpha device and have been tight lipped about the specifications.

CNET Asia managed to get a hands on with the device and have some early reports detailed on their site. They say that the 4.2 inch screen is a 1280×768 pixel panel, which is a 355ppi device, higher than the iPhone's 326 ppi Retina display. As we would hope, CNET state that the colour rendition is good, and very sharp.

They draw comparisons with the Playbook tablet, with full touchscreen support and the same matte black material on the rear of the chassis. They also checked the operating system on the device, and it detailed ‘Playbook OS 10'. There is also a new onscreen keyboard.

CNET reported Brian Bennett said “At first glance it doesn't look like much, just a standard layout with not many options for dual-functions. When you start typing, though–that's when the magic happens. Each letter you tap will cause the phone to display suggested words above the letter it thinks you're most likely to type next. I tried my hand at banging out a few messages and I often found myself staring right at the word sitting on the tip of my tongue. It's honestly an uncanny feeling, almost as if the device was reading my mind.”

They seem impressed with the device saying “If RIM's final BB 10 devices look as good as the Dev Alpha–and actually runs BB 10 OS smoothly–we feel pretty upbeat about its chances in the market. Let's just hope it doesn't follow the footsteps of the PlayBook, which received rave reviews when it was announced, but failed to perform after it was released.”

You can read more on this over here.

Kitguru says: An exciting development for RIM or do you no longer care about their products?

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RIM spend 4% more than they take in https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/slyvia/rim-spend-4-more-than-they-sell/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/slyvia/rim-spend-4-more-than-they-sell/#respond Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:12:23 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=86756 Research In Motion have had a dismal fiscal year, according to an analyst who filed a report yesterday. Peter Misek, an analyst at investment banking firm Jefferies said in a note to clients that when factoring in operating costs and inventory charges the hardware division have spent 4 percent more than they have taken in. …

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Research In Motion have had a dismal fiscal year, according to an analyst who filed a report yesterday. Peter Misek, an analyst at investment banking firm Jefferies said in a note to clients that when factoring in operating costs and inventory charges the hardware division have spent 4 percent more than they have taken in.

RIM have been struggling for the last year with the latest news that they are abandoning the consumer market to focus on the business sector again. They have written down value of product inventory for the last two quarters and Misek said that they are likely to write down by the end of the fiscal second quarter on September 1st.

Long running CEO's Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis stepped down under pressure and Thorsten Heins took over as CEO. He said a few weeks ago that he was looking at new strategic options including partnerships and even licensing out RIM software in the effort to raise money.

RIM have also delayed the launch of their BlackBerry 10 phones which have a new operating system installed. They will launch later in the year according to latest reports.

Misek said in a telephone interview “The other key thing from this is that it’s not likely to get better anytime soon, because until BB 10 devices are out they’re going to have to keep cutting prices.”

Investors and analysts have asked RIM to separate their hardware division from the profitable services section which charges carriers a monthly fee for access to the proprietary network, which encrypts and compresses data.

Kitguru says: The next 12 months will be critical for RIM and a takeover isn't out of the question.

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Samsung and RIM sued over emoticon patent https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blair-mcclelland/samsung-and-rim-sued-over-emoticon-patent/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blair-mcclelland/samsung-and-rim-sued-over-emoticon-patent/#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:02:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=83777 Emoticons are useful for one thing only; to portray emotion through text, or to fool people by putting a 🙂 when you really feel :@. Emoticons are the one thing that gets texting or instant messaging close to the emotional connection level of a phone call or face to face communication. So why is something …

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Emoticons are useful for one thing only; to portray emotion through text, or to fool people by putting a 🙂 when you really feel :@. Emoticons are the one thing that gets texting or instant messaging close to the emotional connection level of a phone call or face to face communication. So why is something so widespread the centre of a lawsuit filed recently by Varia Holdings?

An image of the emoticon patent in question

Varia Holdings claims they own a patent that could prevent companies from using software that displays “a list of emoticons for selection by the user.” As such they have filed a lawsuit against Samsung and Research In Motion but other companies including Skype (Microsoft) could soon be under attack. Varia Holdings even went as far to include a list of infringing devices which includes the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the Blackberry Bold smartphones.

Kitguru says: Another questionable patent at the centre of a lawsuit; I didn't see this one coming at all.

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RIM outs BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.0 Update https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/stephen-dougherty/rim-outs-blackberry-playbook-os-2-0-update/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/stephen-dougherty/rim-outs-blackberry-playbook-os-2-0-update/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:43:45 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=79885 Without any real prior confirmation, Research in Motion (RIM) has released its second generation OS for its BlackBerry Playbook tablet today. BlackBerry OS 2.0 for the Playbook brings with it quite the list of updates, some of the most notable being much needed native email, contacts and calendar apps, BlackBerry Bridge 2.0 which allows a …

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Without any real prior confirmation, Research in Motion (RIM) has released its second generation OS for its BlackBerry Playbook tablet today.

BlackBerry OS 2.0 for the Playbook brings with it quite the list of updates, some of the most notable being much needed native email, contacts and calendar apps, BlackBerry Bridge 2.0 which allows a BlackBerry smartphone to be used as a remote control for the Playbook, and social integration with services including Faebook and Twitter.

The new OS is also said to be fair bit snappier from a performance perspective along with real-time multitasking capabilities and several new and improved productivity tools like Print to Go and Documents to Go (allowing you to view and edit MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint files).

SVP of mobile computing at RIM, David Smith said, “Building on the BlackBerry Playbook tablet's proven web browsing, multimedia and multitasking strengths, the new BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.0 introduces a range of new communications and productivity enhancements as well as expanded app and content support“.

Thanks to the BlackBerry App World, many new apps are also now offered (including a number of Android apps) and with thousands more to come.

To upgrade your Playbook to BlackBerry OS 2.0 just check for updates in “Settings”.

KitGuru says: Better late than never. At least all the features that should have been in place the first time around finally make the Playbook a (slightly?) respectable tablet.

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Android takes over but Nokia still sells the most phones https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blair-mcclelland/android-takes-over-but-nokia-still-sells-the-most-phones/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blair-mcclelland/android-takes-over-but-nokia-still-sells-the-most-phones/#respond Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:20:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=79470 Research firm Gartner has just released their data for sales of smartphones in the last quarter of 2011 and to be honest it doesn't really hold many surprises. In Q4 2011 over 75 million Android smartphones were sold worldwide which gives them the dominant market share of 50.9%. This number is up from 30.5% in …

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Research firm Gartner has just released their data for sales of smartphones in the last quarter of 2011 and to be honest it doesn't really hold many surprises. In Q4 2011 over 75 million Android smartphones were sold worldwide which gives them the dominant market share of 50.9%. This number is up from 30.5% in the same quarter in 2010. Apple's iOS platform had just under a quarter of the smartphone pie with 23.8% of sales in the last quarter of the year.

Unsurprisingly to many, RIM and Symbian have both had large market share drops year on year, with Nokia's Symbian dropping from a very respectable 32.3% to just 11.7% in a short 12 months. Although I should mention that Nokia still ships more mobile phones than any other company, shipping over 420 million of them in 2011. Samsung came second when it came to total mobile phone sales, selling 314 million phones; or nearly one in five phones sold around the world in 2011.

Samsung's alternative operating system, Bada, is currently scrapping it out with Microsoft's own Windows Phone platform to decide who takes 5th place. In Q4 2011 Bada holds just a 0.2% advantage over Microsoft. Although Gartner's analysts expect Window Phone 7's market share to jump to 8.6% by the end of 2012.

Smartphone sales also increased by 47% year on year going from just over 100 million in the closing quarter of 2010 to 150 million by the end of 2011. Total mobile phone shipments grew by just 5.4% in the same time period.

Kitguru says: It comes as  no surprise that Android is slowly taking over; there are now Android phones available to customers for under $100 while there are also models that exceed the capabilities of the iPhone.

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Images leaked of RIM’s BlackBerry 10 OS in action https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/stephen-dougherty/images-leaked-of-rims-blackberry-10-os-in-action/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/stephen-dougherty/images-leaked-of-rims-blackberry-10-os-in-action/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:52:51 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=78975 CrackBerry has published a number of images purporting to show off the new look of the upcoming BlackBerry 10 smartphone OS. The images were taken from a 14-page RIM briefing document that was sent out to advertisers just recently. RIM is putting a lot of its eggs into one basket with BlackBerry 10 in terms …

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CrackBerry has published a number of images purporting to show off the new look of the upcoming BlackBerry 10 smartphone OS. The images were taken from a 14-page RIM briefing document that was sent out to advertisers just recently.

RIM is putting a lot of its eggs into one basket with BlackBerry 10 in terms of trying to reignite its lineup and present some fresh products of interest alongside its two dominant competitors, Apple and Google. The oddity in these images however is that they show BlackBerry 10 running on the canadian manufacturer's current generation of products, which does cast a bit of doubt on their authenticity. Then again, despite previously indicating they wouldn't, perhaps RIM is in fact planning to release the OS as an update for some of its older models as well – specifically on the Torch 9860s and 9810s as we see used in these particular shots.

Nonetheless, there are some interesting and notable characteristics to attain when focusing on screenshots of the OS itself. The refreshed user interface that looks to be heavily inspired by iOS and Android shows the OS displaying a series of widgets which give off the impression that they have a similar functionality to that of Windows Phone 7's Live Tiles.

You can also note from the shots seen that there's a new icon tray positioned at the bottom which gives quick access to Calls, Searching and Camera functions. The OS will also support BlackBerry cloud services along with a variety of new applications including native SDK, WebWorks/HTML5 and Adobe AIR and Flash.

From what we've been lead to believe, the first (new) device BB10 will ship with is the BlackBerry London. We still don't have an official release date but a previously leaked roadmap gives suggestion to sometime in September for both London and its accompanying BlackBerry 10 OS.

More images and details of the supposed BlackBerry 10 OS up and running can be found here.

KitGuru says: While this OS sure does look like a real breath of fresh air for RIM, it's still hard to see this being enough to keep them afloat unless there's something exceptional we don't yet know about. Here's hoping London from a hardware perspective knocks our socks off.

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RIM claim Blackberry are No1 seller in UK https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/slyvia/rim-claim-blackberry-are-no1-seller-in-uk/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/slyvia/rim-claim-blackberry-are-no1-seller-in-uk/#respond Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:02:52 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=76719 Research In Motion had a rough year in 2011, but it appears that they have escaped unscathed in the United Kingdom. According to the company themselves, their handsets claimed the number 1 spot. Data released has highlighted that Blackberry have averaged 27.7 percent market share in 2011 and have now 8.5 million UK subscribers. Across …

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Research In Motion had a rough year in 2011, but it appears that they have escaped unscathed in the United Kingdom. According to the company themselves, their handsets claimed the number 1 spot.

Data released has highlighted that Blackberry have averaged 27.7 percent market share in 2011 and have now 8.5 million UK subscribers. Across the world, their subscribers list grew by 35 percent to around 75 million in December 2011.

Stephen Bates, the BlackBerry Managing Director for UK/Ireland spoke to The Telegraph saying “We’ve moved the market up by around 40 per cent by offering a proposition people can see the value in”.

Blackberry are facing tough times however, as their stock price has dropped by 75 percent in 12 months and they have failed to meet several important deadlines. Their joint CEO team of Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis stepped down several weeks ago to make way for a new management team.

Research In Motion face a tough market in the US, as their share in the smartphone market dropped to 16.6 percent in the three months to the end of November. These figures were posted by analytics organisation ComScore.

Research In Motion have lost over £45 billion of value in the last 4 years.

Stephen Bates added “We’ve learnt a lot from the PlayBook. If you don’t have a BlackBerry then it’s not the tablet for you – if you’ve got an Apple you’re more likely to buy an iPad, Android users are more likely to buy an Android-based tablet.”

A lot is riding on the upcoming operating system – Blackberry V10. Bates claims that the plan is long term, not a ‘short term fix'. “This is about us getting fit for the next 10-15 years. Yes we want to be quicker with new capabilities; yes we want to add new things; yes I would love them to come faster – but the reality is that some of this stuff is hard.”

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Vultures prepare to make killing over RIM’s torn carcass https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/harrison/vultures-prepare-to-make-killing-over-rims-torn-carcass/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/harrison/vultures-prepare-to-make-killing-over-rims-torn-carcass/#respond Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:55:38 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=71890 We've quote Darwin so often on KitGuru, that it's hard to believe that any technology companies have yet to wake up and start smelling what they're shovelling. Motorola. Nokia and now RIM have all become victims of digging their heals in and being sure that they are god's chosen one. It could be Apple's turn …

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We've quote Darwin so often on KitGuru, that it's hard to believe that any technology companies have yet to wake up and start smelling what they're shovelling. Motorola. Nokia and now RIM have all become victims of digging their heals in and being sure that they are god's chosen one. It could be Apple's turn next,. but with the mighty App Store behind everything it does, it's hard to imagine what could go wrong enough to harm Steve Jobs' legacy. For now, the big news looks to be the demise of RIM.

If you can't adapt fast enough to change, then you become food. Right now, RIM is looking mighty tasty as a Wall Street fund manager's snack, but just how much money could be people make on the company?

According to the trusty KitGuru abacus, RIM could be ripped apart and sold to the phattest bidder for just over $23 a share.

At the time of typing, RIM's share price was rising past the $13 mark.

So, even if you wanted to avoid too much risk, you could probably buy into RIM for another $6-8 and still make a solid killing.

Whose money will end up in your bank account?  Well, the clever punters are predicting that most of it will come from Microsoft. Less from Nokia.

While the Finnish giant's every move looks desperate, Microsoft still moves like a predator. Having hoovered up Skype and WordPress, while planting a console + Kinect  in every home, it makes sense for the Seattle giant to find a way to get inside your trousers. Blackberry phones might be staggering around aimlessly, but they may well fulfil a requirement for Microsoft's Windows 8 mobile edition.

So, the big question: When RIM gets ripped to pieces, how much profit could investors pick up in the carnage?  Our completely unscientific calculation says that 500 million shares at $14.50, when sold on at $23, would generate $4.25 billion in profit. Something that RIM can never hope to imagine for its investors.

Who said RIM Apps are rubbish? Our mock-up shows the screen is just the right size to show how well the board's been doing.

KitGuru says: The worst thing about ‘life insurance' is that you need to die to claim it. Same for any of the money RIM will generate by selling its butt cheeks to Microsoft for massaging.

Comments below or in the KitGuru forums.

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Blackberry may be acquired by Microsoft/Nokia https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/dragan/blackberry-may-be-acquired-by-microsoftnokia/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/dragan/blackberry-may-be-acquired-by-microsoftnokia/#respond Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:04:39 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=71394 2011 has been a year that Research In Motion would like to forget, even though they still produce some of the best business phones available. The latest news to leak would indicate that Nokia and Microsoft are considering a potential takeover of the company. This comes at the same time as Blackberry have went to …

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2011 has been a year that Research In Motion would like to forget, even though they still produce some of the best business phones available. The latest news to leak would indicate that Nokia and Microsoft are considering a potential takeover of the company. This comes at the same time as Blackberry have went to Samsung and HTC about licensing out their BlackBerry 10 Operating System.

The Wall Street Journal have said that the talks have started a few months ago with executives from the two firms meeting up on a regular basis to discuss future options and plans. RIM are determined to license the QNX next generation operating system, in a similar way that Google and Microsoft currently license their own software to other companies.

There has been no indication that HTC or Samsung have shown any interest, as they are successfully working with Google on the Android platform right now. RIM are facing delays in releasing their new operating system however, with reports showing that it may be as late as Q4 2012 before it would be available for licensing.

Kitguru says: If they do get taken over by Microsoft/Nokia then the future of their operating system would be seriously in doubt, as Microsoft are focused on their own platform and future iterations.

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Is it too late for Blackberry to learn from Apple? https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/harrison/is-it-too-late-for-blackberry-to-learn-from-apple/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/blackberry/harrison/is-it-too-late-for-blackberry-to-learn-from-apple/#respond Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:30:12 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=70336 With a massive plunge in the value of the company, is it a foregone conclusion that Blackberry is on its way to being dead/buried/bought out, or is there still time for it to learn from Apple?   If it was to open its ears and learn something new, what would the most valuable lesson be?  KitGuru …

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With a massive plunge in the value of the company, is it a foregone conclusion that Blackberry is on its way to being dead/buried/bought out, or is there still time for it to learn from Apple?   If it was to open its ears and learn something new, what would the most valuable lesson be?  KitGuru can think of one thing.

When the iPhone 4 launched, the biggest queues were outside Apple stores. The queues seen, first hand by KitGuru, were quite stunning. In a technology market that's supposedly on its knees, hundreds and hundreds of people were ready to wait for hours – only to be told “Just 2 phones each” when they got to the front.

That's an Apple official, telling a ‘ready to pay anything' customer, “Sorry, we will only take £1,000 of your money – if you want to spend more then you will have to come back”.

Rory O'Neill, Blackberry VP for Marketing in Europe, Middle East and Africa - stands ready to take full responsibility for the lack of demand in his region. But would it not make more sense to turn the situation around? Come on Rory, try!

Within spitting distance of any Apple store, there will be a Carphone Warehouse. The ones KitGuru visited around the iPhone 4 launch were desolate places. Bored sales staff looking around, wondering what they would be doing for commission that month. The deals in Carphone Warehouse were cheap and phones were in plentiful supply – but no one was interested.

If you were Rory O'Neill, Blackberry VP for Marketing across EMEA, then you might want to stop taking the blame for one of the most spectacular collapses in brand value the world has ever seen… and consider, for one second, why the customers were queuing outside the Apple store, while the providers footage was without footfall.

Apple sells phones.

It seems to be that simple.

While every high street reseller is prepared to bleed you dry with overly complex contracts – designed to make your wallet weep from the pain of constant paying – Apple sells phones to intelligent adults and lets them design how they want to connect them.

Buy an Apple iPhone 4S for less than £400 from a reputable reseller and, if you so decided, that would be the last bill you ever face.

Try and pick up a Blackberry 9900 without being engaged with a 2 year contract at £40 a month that will cost you, as a bare minimum, £960, and you can see where we're coming from. iPhones bought cleanly from Apple, are not under contract, so you can stop using it at any time – sell it to someone else – or simply pick up a different SIM if it suits you.

Sure, the App Store is impressive, the voice interface neat, the camera class-leading and the software doesn't keep bashing you with Blackberry's “Sorry, we're out of memory and will have to shut this browser window” message – but it's the fact that the product can be bought and sold, that caused the queue outside Apple's own stores when the rest of the high street was loaded with locked-down product.

Even cheap providers like T-Mobile, still want almost £1,000 and a 2 year sentence. You get less time for GBH. Will Rory O'Neill and his cohorts wake up and smell what they're shovelling - before they get buried under it?

Ironically, when interviewed about the future at a recent comms show in Dubai, Rory spent his 15 minutes of fame explaining how the most important thing was innovation. You know. The stuff that RIM was famous for 10 years back and which Apple is famous for now. He loves the idea of companies getting closer to their customers. While he has been running marketing, his efforts certainly seem to have helped Apple get closer to Blackberry customers.

KitGuru says: While it is admirable for Rory O'Neill to take responsibility for a total lack of demand being generated in the market for his products, it might not be terminal. If Blackberry stops right now, takes a step back, and honestly asks itself what customers really want. Otherwise, Rory & Co will find themselves as a brand within a real company, instead of a company in their own right.

Comment below or in the KitGuru forums.

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RIM told not to use BBX Trademark at Conference https://www.kitguru.net/channel/simon/rim-told-not-to-use-bbx-trademark-at-conference/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/simon/rim-told-not-to-use-bbx-trademark-at-conference/#respond Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:53:51 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=69703 Research In Motion have been ordered by a federal judge not  to use Basis International Ltd's “BBX” trademark at an industry conference in Asia that starts later today. The judge ruled that Research In Motion are not allowed to use the BBX trademark at the high profile DevCon conference in Singapore, held today and tomorrow. …

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Research In Motion have been ordered by a federal judge not  to use Basis International Ltd's “BBX” trademark at an industry conference in Asia that starts later today.

The judge ruled that Research In Motion are not allowed to use the BBX trademark at the high profile DevCon conference in Singapore, held today and tomorrow. Judge William P. Johnson wrote in the ruling that consumers are “likely to be confused by RIM’s use of BBX in connection with RIM’s goods and services.”

The conference is going to be attended by software developers who may also be users of Basis' BBX software, according to the ruling.

This is just the latest complication for Research In Motion, who have experienced many problems in 2011, including a high profile network failure several months ago which affected a large portion of their customer base.

Kitguru says: Research In Motion have not yet replied to email messages and calls sent by Bloomberg regarding the issue.

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RIM cut prices of Playbook: stock still not moving https://www.kitguru.net/channel/harrison/rim-cut-prices-of-playbook-stock-still-not-moving/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/harrison/rim-cut-prices-of-playbook-stock-still-not-moving/#respond Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:02:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=65072 Research In Motion have struggled to sell their BlackBerry Playbook. This hasn't been helped by networking issues in recent months, and the news that they won't be updating their software anytime soon. RIM have tried to push sales, by cutting the price of the tablet, but channel partners claim that sales are still sluggish. In …

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Research In Motion have struggled to sell their BlackBerry Playbook. This hasn't been helped by networking issues in recent months, and the news that they won't be updating their software anytime soon.

RIM have tried to push sales, by cutting the price of the tablet, but channel partners claim that sales are still sluggish. In the US, Playbook prices were cut by $200 to help shift huge stock levels.

In the UK, PC World and Currys have cut the prices by £150 on both the 16Gb and 32GB models. The Register reported that sales were still exceptionally poor for all versions of the tablet.

Not selling, even with price cuts: The BlackBerry Playbook

Kitguru did a little investigating last night, checking with Phone4U, Best Buy and CarPhone Warehouse. We were told by a sales manager that stock was not moving at all, even when actively promoting the tablet in store with hands on demonstrations and promotions. Most people seem to be interested in the iPad 2 and have no desire to buy a Playbook.

With the high profile news of email and instant messaging services going down the pan for several days, it would appear that customer faith in the company is at an all time low. Price cuts don't seem to be working.

Kitguru says: RIM need to do something radical to push the tablet, but we wonder if it just too little, too late.

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Blackberry Playbook update delayed until next year https://www.kitguru.net/channel/carl/blackberry-playbook-update-delayed-until-next-year/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/carl/blackberry-playbook-update-delayed-until-next-year/#respond Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:33:13 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=64888 Research In Motion haven't had a very memorable 2011, unless you factor in lower than expected sales and networking issues. The latest news will cause an uproar among customers as it appears that the ill fated Playbook tablet will not be getting a much needed software update until next year. David Smith of RIM issued …

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Research In Motion haven't had a very memorable 2011, unless you factor in lower than expected sales and networking issues. The latest news will cause an uproar among customers as it appears that the ill fated Playbook tablet will not be getting a much needed software update until next year.

David Smith of RIM issued the following statement “As much as we'd love to have it in your hands today, we've made the difficult decision to wait to launch BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 until we are confident we have fully met the expectations of our developers, enterprise customers and end-users.”

This will come as little comfort to people who have adopted the tablet early, because the product has came under fierce criticism for the lack of an email client and some stability issues. Sales have been less than impressive so far, with Apple and other Android tablets taking up the bulk of market share.

Research In Motion have missed their initial time frame for the software update, as it was initially scheduled for October, but it has been delayed now for at least 4 more months.

More depressing news has surfaced, as the popular BlackBerry Instant Messaging application will not be included in the new update.

Shares dropped 6 percent after the news surfaces, adding to the problems the company have faced all year in the tough smartphone market. They have missed sales targets all year and the three day downtime for services hurt their relationship with businessmen who need email and messaging on the move.

Kitguru says: Officebroker.com conducted a survey of 500 business executives and 64 percent of these said they would switch to an iPhone.

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Blackberry services dramatically fail https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/carl/blackberry-services-dramatically-fail/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/carl/blackberry-services-dramatically-fail/#respond Tue, 11 Oct 2011 07:15:20 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=62847 Blackberry customers all over Europe, the Middle East and Africa have been facing online service downtime since yesterday. All of this audience have been served by a RIM data center in Slough. Services affected have been instant messaging, HTTP access and email. Those users who are serviced by a corporate server appear to have been …

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Blackberry customers all over Europe, the Middle East and Africa have been facing online service downtime since yesterday. All of this audience have been served by a RIM data center in Slough. Services affected have been instant messaging, HTTP access and email.

Those users who are serviced by a corporate server appear to have been unaffected. RIM have been investigating the source of the problem and some services appear to have been back online from the early hours of the morning, although users are still experiencing issues.

This comes at a bad time for RIM who have been finding it tough competing in todays market against the new onslaught of Android smartphones.

Kitguru says: Q2 results indicate failure to meet sales targets and decline in profits for the company.

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RIM ‘credibility sinks further’ – according to leading analyst https://www.kitguru.net/channel/slyvia/rim-credibility-sinks-further-according-to-leading-analyst/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/slyvia/rim-credibility-sinks-further-according-to-leading-analyst/#respond Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:40:41 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=60126 It has not been a good 12 months for Research In Motion as sales continue to decline and the product range fails to spark excitement within the consumer audience. Earnings have disappointed investors for the third consecutive quarter and according to analyst Mike Abramsky, who works with RBC Capital Markets in Toronto the company are …

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It has not been a good 12 months for Research In Motion as sales continue to decline and the product range fails to spark excitement within the consumer audience.

Earnings have disappointed investors for the third consecutive quarter and according to analyst Mike Abramsky, who works with RBC Capital Markets in Toronto the company are facing hard times. He told Bloomberg that their “Credibility sinks further'.

RIM issued a statement yesterday and their profit fell to 80 cents a share. This underperformed by 8 cents according to a Bloomberg survey. Revenue has also dropped to $4.17 billion in the last three months when it was predicted they would claim $4.47 billion.

RIM PlayBook: not proving a challenge for the iPad

Experts are blaming failures in the smartphone sector, as well as their lackluster entry into the Tablet market with the PlayBook. The iPad is outperforming the RIM tablet by 46 to 1 in the latest quarter.

RIM have just released a new series of smartphones with advanced touch screen features which they hope will boost sales and revitalise the company image with consumers. They are currently struggling to move customers away from the iOS platform and the growing Android market.

According to reports, RIM have only shipped 200,000 Playbooks, when it was factored in that they would ship just under half a million. Full year Playbook sales should average 2.2 million which pales in comparison against the iPad which sold 9.25 million units in the last quarter alone.

Kitguru says: Fingers crossed that RIM see some light at the end of the tunnel.

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RIM continue to struggle, marketshare dropping https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/carl/rim-continue-to-struggle-marketshare-dropping/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/carl/rim-continue-to-struggle-marketshare-dropping/#comments Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:17:01 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=51967 Research In Motion haven't had one of their best years so far, and recent reports in from ComScore show that they are continuing to lose market share. Between February and May 2011, RIM have dropped another 0.5% in the US sector, while competitor Apple has gained 1.2% to 8.7% total. Market leader Samsung have held …

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Research In Motion haven't had one of their best years so far, and recent reports in from ComScore show that they are continuing to lose market share.

Between February and May 2011, RIM have dropped another 0.5% in the US sector, while competitor Apple has gained 1.2% to 8.7% total. Market leader Samsung have held steady at 24.8% which is a good percentage to maintain.

Google Android is also showing impressive gains, with their operating system share increasing from 33 percent to 38.1 percent between quarters. Smartphones are very popular with the US audience, with a total audience of 76.8 million people, a climb of 11 percent in only three months according to ComScore. You can read more over here.

Kitguru says: RIM continue to struggle, we can only hope they can perform better in Q4.

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Has RIM really stopped production of the 10″ Playbook tablet? https://www.kitguru.net/channel/yong-lei/has-rim-really-stopped-production-of-the-10-playbook-tablet/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/yong-lei/has-rim-really-stopped-production-of-the-10-playbook-tablet/#respond Wed, 29 Jun 2011 07:47:31 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=51081 Research In Motion haven't had the smoothest of launches after pumping millions of dollars of research and development into their Playbook tablet. Rumours have been circulating that they have actually decided to cancel production of the new tablet. It seems that any company targeting the iPad is finding it tough to get any marketshare at …

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Research In Motion haven't had the smoothest of launches after pumping millions of dollars of research and development into their Playbook tablet. Rumours have been circulating that they have actually decided to cancel production of the new tablet.

It seems that any company targeting the iPad is finding it tough to get any marketshare at all. Almost every news site has tackled the reasons why Apple are dominating, but the overwhelming feeling is that ‘it just works'. Without any hint of bias, we do have to agree. iOS is so smooth and has been designed from the ground up to work exceptionally well on smartphones and tablets.

RIM were off to a bad start, when reviews of the Playbook said that the operating system had many problems, and seemed unfinished. Shortly afterwards they had to recall some units due to operating system issues.

According to insider reports, sales have been poor and the public haven't shown much of an interest in adopting a new platform, instead buying the iPad 2 by the bucketload. Some sources have told Kitguru that there are indeed major issues for the Playbook, but n4bb have issued an article saying that development of the tablet has in fact been cancelled.

10 inch Playbook - doomed?

I called one of my sources in the mobile industry last night to get confirmation and I was told that he had heard no such thing, although he did indicate that RIM are not happy at all with the reception and press response to the tablet from day one. That said, just because I got a denial, doesn't mean it hasn't happened, and although n4bb haven't confirmed their source it would actually make sense for RIM to focus elsewhere.

The website is alleging that RIM have cancelled the 10 inch Playbook to focus instead on the new QNX powered BlackBerry ‘superphone' which has a single core 1.2ghz processor, but that RIM might contemplate a dual core version depending on battery tests. It also has a 4.3 inch touchscreen with 900+ screen resolution.

They also add that RIM are going to push the LTE 4G Playbook which is scheduled for release in October 2011.

Kitguru says: Can anyone really take on Apple in the tablet sector? How long before we get a real challenger?

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RIM struggling: profits fail to reach reduced estimates https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/slyvia/rim-struggling-profits-fail-to-reach-reduced-estimates/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/slyvia/rim-struggling-profits-fail-to-reach-reduced-estimates/#respond Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:33:14 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=49563 Research In Motion reduced their profit forecast 2 months ago however they showed earnings results yesterday that were worse than even the lowered analyst expectations. RIM are one of the pioneers of the smartphone market, making one of the first smartphones ever released. In recent years however they are struggling to maintain percentages of the …

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Research In Motion reduced their profit forecast 2 months ago however they showed earnings results yesterday that were worse than even the lowered analyst expectations.

RIM are one of the pioneers of the smartphone market, making one of the first smartphones ever released. In recent years however they are struggling to maintain percentages of the market while Google and Apple handsets thrive. Additionally, the release of the Playbook Tablet this spring has been met with a lukewarm critical response although they managed to ship 500,000 units to retailers. The tablet software has issues and there are several important missing features. RIM have not yet set a release date for the new operating system and they also have not posted sales figures for the Playbook, even though they shipped a healthy number to the channel.

Jim Balsillie: says future is more positive

RIM predicted they would earn $5.25 to $6 a share down from the earlier forecast of $7.50 a share. Their revenue forecast was reduced to $4.2 billion, from $4.8 billion. RIM announced that their profit during Q1 fell 9.6 percent to $695 million, or $1.33 a share. This shows a huge decline on last year, when they reported a profit of $769 million.

The news sent RIM's shares falling 14 percent in after hours trading on Thursday.

James L. Balsillie, the companies co-chief executive said that he expects the situation to improve. “We have a strong business. We have made major platform upgrade. We are almost through this transition.”

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