RIM has found itself the butt of BlackBerry jokes, after a superhero infographic promotion was mistaken for a new advertising campaign. "The Bold Team" was presented as how RIM would "be bold in 2012", a quartet of personalities - "achiever", "adventurer" "advocate" and "authentic" - each representing an aspect of how the company hoped its BlackBerry handsets would be perceived. Unfortunately, the actual perception was one of bemusement.
Read The Full Story
- Join in on SlashGear’s WIMM Spring Developers Project!
- The PS Vita Will Be Sony’s Last Portable
- Why I Don’t Want to Imagine A World Without A DVR
- SlashGear 101: Windows 8 on ARM
- SlashGear 101: Android@Home
- Motorola DROID 4 Hands-On and Unboxing
- Nokia Lumia 800 White official: Hands-on
- Switching between Android 4.0 ICS and iPhone 4S
‘Blackberry’ Stories
BlackBerry “Bold Team” cartoon caper falls flat
RIM concedes no more combining BlackBerry CEO and Chair
RIM's Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie will be the last to share both the CEO and Board Chair position, after an independent review decided never again would the two roles be conflated by BlackBerry management. In fact, the committee of independent directors deemed [pdf link], the RIM Chair should from now on always be a non-BlackBerry employee.
Read The Full Story
BlackBerry squeezed out of Enterprise say stats
RIM's new CEO faces a dual-challenge, Apple in North America and the ascendence of Samsung in Europe, according new research, though BlackBerry is a surprise hold-out in the UK. "Android and Apple together are eating BlackBerry's lunch" Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett said of the smartphone pincer-movement, the NYTimes reports, with global stats indicating 27-percent of smartphone users have an Android device and 24-percent an iPhone. BlackBerry slots in-between, at 26-percent, but enterprise users are progressively looking elsewhere from previous business darlings RIM.
Read The Full Story
RIM CEO blasts Android phones as “all the same”
RIM CEO Thorsten Heins may only have been in the big chair since Monday, but the new chief exec is already coming out swinging, blasting Android devices as "all the same" and rejecting suggestions that the struggling Canadian company should be sold off. Asked about persistent recommendations that RIM should ditch its own BlackBerry 10 plans and adopt Android instead, Heins argued to Crackberry that "there is just no room for differentiation because [Android phones] are all the same."
Read The Full Story
BlackBerry Porsche Design smartphone will set you back $2,350
Something makes you feel justified of a Porsche's hefty pricetag when window shopping at your local dealership. But does this same mentality persist when viewing their new Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry smartphone? The device is set at $2,350, just enough to make a few jaws drop. We had recently seen it clear the FCC earlier with an estimated amount of $2,000, but it has clearly broken that barrier. It's hard to believe the P'9981 doesn't have decent hardware specifications.
Read The Full Story
First QWERTY BlackBerry 10 in Dec tips RIM roadmap leak
RIM's first QWERTY BlackBerry 10 handset won't arrive until December, according to the latest leaks from the ailing company, with a further keyboard-toting slider tipped for early 2013. After last week's twin PlayBook tidbits as well as news on new Curves, BGR's sources reckon the BlackBerry London will hit in September, but will be followed in December by a combo touch and QWERTY device running the BlackBerry 10 OS and slotting into the Bold series.
Read The Full Story
RIM CEO to deliver imminent PlayBook refresh as stock dives
New RIM CEO Thorsten Heins will jump straight into finessing the reworked BlackBerry PlayBook for a launch early this year, ex-CEO Jim Balsillie has confirmed, though the prospect of a refreshed tablet hasn't helped the company's diving share price. Described as "a revamp of the poorly selling PlayBook tablet expected early this year" by the WSJ, the new PlayBook is believed to be the replacement 7-inch "3G+" model tipped in a leaked RIM roadmap earlier this month.
Read The Full Story
RIM’s new CEO is a Placeholder not a Prophet
After listening to RIM’s new CEO Thursten Heins talk this morning, you could almost hear investors kicking themselves for not being specific enough in their demands for refreshed leadership at the BlackBerry company. “We shouldn’t have just asked for a new CEO” shareholders are no doubt muttering, “but made clear we wanted one with new ideas too.” Heins, for all his hyperbole about the BlackBerry advantage being its “integrated solution” of hardware, software and services, showed his true colors when he argued that “I don’t think there is a drastic change needed.” Those colors, it seems, are exactly the same shades as Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie preferred during their tenure at the top. So, is this new CEO simply a temporary placeholder or a sign of fresh misery to come?
RIM CEO: We’ll consider BlackBerry 10 licensing if approached
RIM‘s new CEO has confirmed he is open to the possibility of licensing BlackBerry 10 to other manufacturers, though says he is loath to give up the “integrated solution” of software, hardware and more without good strategic reason. “We’re strong because we have an integrated solution: network, services, enterprise service and fantastic devices and a fantastic ecosystem” freshly elected CEO and President Thorsten Heins said this morning, during an investor call regarding his new position. ”Not many companies have [an integrated system], one is the other fruit company, and one is us.”
RIM relents: Thorsten Heins named new CEO and President
RIM has elected a new CEO and President, Thorsten Heins, with previous co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis stepping back after investors and the company’s board demanded change. Heins – who was previously co-COO at RIM, and before that Senior VP of Handhelds – takes his new role today, where he says he will “focus both on short-term and long-term growth, strategic planning, a customer- and market-based product approach, and flawless execution.”
Samsung “not interested” in BlackBerry buy
Samsung has denied any intention of purchasing troubled BlackBerry company RIM, with a company spokesperson insisting that "we haven't considered acquiring the firm and are not interested." Rumors of the potential acquisition broke yesterday, with unnamed sources claiming the Korean firm was a front-runner in a chase to grab RIM's assets. Not so, Samsung has fired back, Reuters reports, with a spokesperson dismissing the talk as mere rumor.
Read The Full Story
RIM should think Type not Touch for the new PlayBook
2011 wasn’t Research In Motion‘s year and 2012 is shaping up to be equally dismal one, with dramatic PlayBook price cuts paving the way for an underwhelming financial quarter. It’s easy to see why RIM went down the tablet route: the iPad made slates fashionable, and the Canadian company was stinging from criticism over its underwhelming touchscreen smartphones. The PlayBook was an opportunity to show that RIM could legitimately compete and perhaps even drive some ecosystem shopping in the same manner that iPhone users often pick up an iPad, and vice-versa. Yet in the process RIM managed to forget everything that gave it unique appeal in the mobile segment.
REVIEWS
VIDEOS
- POPULAR STORIES THIS WEEK
- Temple Run for Android postponed, still coming this month
- iPad twin-tier pricing tipped to topple Android rivals
- iPad 3's biggest boost will be its massive resolution
- Google "next-gen personal communication device" in testing
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 pricing set for disaster
- Mattel Hover Board prepped for 2012 holiday release
- Facebook post causes man to shoot daughter's computer: video
- Apple picking iPad 3 showcase apps in final launch prep
- RECENT COMMENTS
