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Tag: Blackberry

  • Google, Cisco Could Make Offers For BlackBerry

    BlackBerry’s last-ditch effort to stay relevant in the smartphone industry with its BlackBerry 10 devices has failed, and the company is now for sale. Investors led by FairFax Financial Holdings announced last month that they will be raising money for a $4.7 billion buyout of BlackBerry. This occurred just days before BlackBerry revealed a $965 million quarterly loss on revenue that was down nearly 50% from the previous quarter.

    Though the buyout deal left BlackBerry open to other offers, market watchers remained skeptical that any other companies would step up to acquire the dying tech company. There could, however, be interest in BlackBerry’s patent portfolio, which could be worth billions on its own.

    A Reuters report is now claiming that companies such as Cisco, Google, Intel, and SAP could be looking to buy BlackBerry. The report states that BlackBerry has solicited “expressions of interest” from possible buyers. The full lineup of potential buyers includes Korean tech companies such as LG and Samsung. In addition to the BlackBerry patents, the companies seem to have an interest in the company’s secure server network.

    In the meantime, BlackBerry will continue to get itself into shape for a sale, laying off thousands and spending millions of its cash reserve to shore up its financials. The company spent upwards of $500 million in cash this past quarter, leaving it with only $2.6 billion in cash. According to the Reuters story, a Bernstein analyst recently predicted that BlackBerry will spend around $2 billion of its cash reserves during the next six quarters.

  • BlackBerry Looking to Sell Ontario Properties

    It’s quite clear now that BlackBerry will not exist in its current form this time next year. Last month, the failing company announced its intention to enter into a buyout agreement with an investor consortium led by FairFax Financial Holdings. This was just prior to its latest quarterly report, in which the company revealed a massive $965 million quarterly loss. BlackBerry is now spending its cash reserves and refocusing efforts on its enterprise services offerings. The turmoil has caused at least one major U.S. carrier to stop carrying BlackBerry smartphones in its stores.

    Now, to shore up its cash reserves BlackBerry is reportedly shopping around some of its Waterloo, Ontario headquarters property in Canada. An All Things D report states that BlackBerry is shopping around its properties to various commercial real estate companies. According to the report, BlackBerry currently owns around 20 large buildings in Waterloo.

    The report also quotes a BlackBerry statement asserting that the company is attempting to cut its expenditures by 50% over the next three quarters. “Optimizing” its space, as the company stated, is a start, as is yet another massive layoff of upwards of 5,000 employees.

    The layoffs, however, could end up costing BlackBerry in the short term. A Bloomberg report this week shows that BlackBerry’s layoffs could end up costing the company around $400 million – four times the originally projected cost of the cuts. The report also backs up property sales claims, adding that BlackBerry may also put some of its factories and “manufacturing gear” up for sale. With the company’s cash reserves down $500 million to just $2.6 billion as of this past quarter, BlackBerry may find itself running out of cash sooner rather than later.

  • Sprint Will Still Sell BlackBerry Phones In-Store

    Sprint will continue to sell BlackBerry phones out of its retail locations, according to a report from Reuters. Sprint CFO Joe Euteneur told the publication that the company is taking a “wait-and-see” approach to BlackBerry’s current smartphone lineup.

    The declaration is significant because last week fourth place U.S. mobile provider T-Mobile revealed that it will no longer ship BlackBerry smartphones to its stores. Some BlackBerry products will still be displayed at stores for sales purposes, but any purchases made will be shipped directly to consumers. The decision was made due to the low demand for BlackBerry smartphones, making it “inefficient” to stock them in stores. T-Mobile will focus its BlackBerry sales to enterprise customers that won’t need devices in-stock at retail locations.

    According to the Reuters report, Sprint’s cautious outlook on BlackBerry could be due to the provider’s greater reliance on enterprise sales. The company is currently undergoing a large transition, building out is network after having been bought by SoftBank for $21.6 billion.

    Sprint’s decision represents a reprieve for BlackBerry, which last week posted a $965 million quarterly loss. BlackBerry’s new BlackBerry 10 smartphones failed to resonate with consumers, and the company is now transitioning away from consumer product sales in favor of enterprise solutions. The company is currently set to be bought out by a consortium led by FairFax financial for just under $5 billion.

  • Blackberry Losses Equate to $965 Million Deficit

    The past few years have been a gradual decline for Canadian wireless company, Blackberry Limited. However, the past couple weeks have accelerated the rate of the company’s demise.

    Due to relentless pressure from prominent competitors, Apple and Samsung, along with plummeting sales, the smart-phone pioneer initially reported a massive inventory of approximately $1.2 billion in unsold phones. However, today’s announcement made the company’s detriment a little more concise. In a formal press release rendered today, BlackBerry made the extent of their financial damage public with a detailed report of their fiscal 2014 results for the second quarter of the year.

    Blackberry reported a staggering $965 million loss, stating that revenue for the second quarter barely equated to $1.6 billion in revenue. To the unaided eye, this enormous figure of $1.6 billion would seem like a profitable feat. However, that $1.6 billion actually places the company at a 49% decline from the $3.1 billion in revenue acquired in the first quarter. In a nutshell, sales have basically been sliced in half within just the brief time span between the first and second quarter. The consistent decline is relatively rapid with no apparent signs of waning anytime soon.

    The revenue breakdown was based on an estimated 3.7 million Blackberry smart-phones – mostly Blackberry 7 devices. This breakdown excludes the most recently released Blackberry 10 mobile devices from the second quarter assessment as they will not be considered calculative profits until they are sold to consumers. However, the press release did reveal that only a dismal 5.9 million Blackberry smart-phones were sold to consumers during the second quarter.

    While no definitive figures were released before today, Blackberry’s September 23 press release was a foreboding statement that spoke volumes. The press release announced the company’s $4.7 billion acquisition headed by a consortium in conjunction with Fairfax Financial Holding. The Canadian-based financial institution also edified Blackberry’s press release stating its intentions to buyout the downward spiraling company. The $965 million deficit definitely justifies the buyout.

     

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • BlackBerry Posts $965 Million Quarterly Loss

    BlackBerry today announced its second quarter financial results, and they are exactly as bad as financial analysts expected. The company posted a $965 million loss, including $72 million in restructuring costs. The losses came on revenue of just $1.57 billion – down nearly 49%% from just the previous quarter.

    In addition to its losses, BlackBerry has started to whittle down its cash reserves. This latest report shows that the company now has $2.6 billion in cash and equivalents, which means the company spent around $500 million since its last quarter, in which its cash reserves totaled nearly $3.1 billion.

    “We are very disappointed with our operational and financial results this quarter and have announced a series of major changes to address the competitive hardware environment and our cost structure,” said Thorsten Heins, CEO of BlackBerry. “While our company goes through the necessary changes to create the best business model for our hardware business, we continue to see confidence from our customers through the increasing penetration of BES 10, where we now have more than 25,000 commercial and test servers installed to date, up from 19,000 in July 2013. We understand how some of the activities we are going through create uncertainty, but we remain a financially strong company with $2.6 billion in cash and no debt. We are focused on our targeted markets, and are committed to completing our transition quickly in order to establish a more focused and efficient company.”

    The transition Heins refers to is a buyout offer for the company announced last week. Under the terms of the agreement, an investment consortium headed by FairFax Financial Holdings will acquire BlackBerry for $4.6 billion. The deal is on hold while FairFax conducts due diligence, and BlackBerry is free to court other offers. In the meantime, BlackBerry will be laying off even more employees and while attempting to re-focus on its enterprise offerings.

  • T-Mobile to Stop Carrying BlackBerry Smartphones in Stores

    T-Mobile to Stop Carrying BlackBerry Smartphones in Stores

    With BlackBerry now on the verge of being sold, fourth-place U.S. mobile carrier T-Mobile is now set to stop shipping BlackBerry smartphones to its retail stores. A new Reuters report cites T-Mobile EVP for Corporate Services David Carey as saying the provider will instead ship BlackBerry smartphones directly to consumers. The devices will still remain on display at T-Mobile stores for the rare consumer who wants to preview them.

    The report quotes Carey saying that keeping BlackBerry devices in stock at stores is “inefficient” due to the low demand for BlackBerry smartphones seen among consumers. He stated that most of T-Mobile’s BlackBerry device sales have gone to businesses, which don’t need to come into retail stores.

    This announcement is yet another blow to BlackBerry’s consumer sales. The company recently announced that it will even stop marketing its devices to consumers, instead focusing on enterprise sales.

    BlackBerry on Monday announced that it has signed an agreement with a consortium led by FairFax financial to be bought out for $4.7 billion. The sale announcement came just weeks after the company announced it was exploring “strategic alternatives,” including a possible sale. The final deal is on hold for six weeks while FairFax performs due diligence and raises the cash. In the meantime, BlackBerry is open to receiving better offers, which could actually come for its extensive patent portfolio.

  • BlackBerry Patent Portfolio Could Draw Interest

    Back in August, following another dismal quarterly report, BlackBerry announced that it was exploring “strategic alternatives” – including the possible sale of the company. Earlier this week that possibility became a reality, with a consortium led by FairFax Financial offering $4.7 billion for the Canadian company.

    The buyout seemed to have been announced early, with FairFax still having six weeks for due diligence. During that time, BlackBerry has the option of courting other offers. Though another wholesale offer for BlackBerry is unlikely to appear, CNN this week reported that offers for the company’s patent portfolio are a very real possibility.

    The report states that BlackBerry’s patent portfolio could be worth $2 billion to $3 billion, making up possibly more than half of the FairFax offer. As was speculated shortly after BlackBerry announced its “strategic alternative” search, the company could find a better offer by selling off its more important pieces. BlackBerry’s stockpile of mobile enterprise patents could prove particularly valuable in such an endeavor.

    The CNN report goes on to quote Chris Marlett, CEO of MDB Capital Group as saying BlackBerry’s patents could give a “massive advantage” to any company engaged in the widespread practice of tech patent lawsuits. Marlett was also quoted as saying the patents make up such a large portion of BlackBerry’s value “because their business is falling apart.”

    (via BGR)

  • Prem Watsa: Who is the Guy Behind Fairfax?

    Prem Watsa: Who is the Guy Behind Fairfax?

    Just over a year ago, Prem Watsa, who some say is Canada’s Warren Buffett, said BlackBerry was a “Canadian success story,” a good buy and a likely turnaround story even though its market share was tumbling. As soon as Prem Watsa stepped down from BlackBerry’s board in August, speculation that he would launch a bid for the troubled smartphone maker started to swirl, according to Reuters.

    BlackBerry’s fortunes have slowly deteriorated, with the latest blow coming on Friday, when BlackBerry said it would cut more than a third of its workforce as it retreats from the consumer market in favor of its traditional strength: serving businesses and governments.

    But Watsa, chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holding Ltd, which is the top BlackBerry shareholder, is an old hand at looking wrong today and right tomorrow. Speaking last year, Watsa suggested investors looking for a short-term rebound in BlackBerry might be disappointed.

    “Is it going to turn around in three months, six months, nine months? No,” he told reporters. “But if you’re looking four, five years … We make investments over four or five years.”

    On Monday, BlackBerry said it agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Fairfax, both an insurance holding company and Watsa’s investment vehicle, for $4.7 billion, a move observers suggest could allow the company to put its house back in order out of the public eye.

    Watsa, born in 1950 in Hyderabad, India, was trained as a chemical engineer. He has a public profile that has bordered on the reclusive since he took over Fairfax in 1985. For his first 15 years at the company, he barely spoke to a reporter, and he just started holding investor conference calls in 2001. Watsa had already shown his investment genius by selling stock ahead of the 1987 stock market crash and buying Japanese puts, which are rights to sell stocks at guaranteed prices, ahead of the Tokyo market’s collapse in 1990.

    Fairfax was on the losing end of bets against the market in the mid 2000s as Watsa waited for the U.S. mortgage industry to collapse and the company’s stock fell by 50 percent between mid-2003 and mid-2006 as Watsa’s purchases of credit default swaps annihilated it’s profits, while rivals feasted on a housing-fed bull market.

    However, when the market began to weaken in 2007, Fairfax began bolstering investment gains, pulling in billion-dollar profits in 2007 and 2008, and then with markets still reeling and other investors still suffering grave wounds, Watsa started to funneling money back into equities. His actions brought another strong year in 2009.

    Since their 2006 low of C$100, Fairfax’s shares have more than quadrupled. Fairfax has not really been known as an activist investor, but Watsa has never shied away from a fight. He launched a $6 billion lawsuit against a group of hedge funds in 2006. They accused that group of hedge funds of conspiring to drive the company’s shares down so they could be shorted. A short position enables an investor to profit when a stock drops.

    image via wikipedia

  • BlackBerry Sold? Who’s Buying? Will They Go Private?

    In mid August, BlackBerry, the Canadian smartphone company, announced that it was up for sale. The past few years have been difficult for the mobile communications company as they have failed to keep up with the competition from companies like Apple and Samsung.

    According to The Guardian, a consortium of investors lead by Fairfax Financial have agreed to acquire BlackBerry for just $9 per share (a $4.7 billion valuation of the company). The stock price is a far cry from the glory days of the company, when it once had a high of $148 per share on the Nasdaq.  The company also announced on Friday that it intends to lay off 4500 employees due to lackluster sales of its new handheld devices including the Z10, Q10 and the new Z30.

    The sale of the company and its employee layoffs, however, does not come as much of a surprise to many analysts, considering that BlackBerry was in the red last quarter. BlackBerry subsequently announced last month that it was considering it’s ‘strategic options’, including, selling the company entirely and possibly going private.

    In the opinion of many analysts, going private may give the company the opportunity it desperately needs to restructure. “Going private would allow BlackBerry to restructure behind closed doors where they can focus on building the company and focusing on the enterprise sector,” said Krista Napier, senior analyst, mobility, at IDC Canada.

    Fairfax currently owns 10% of BlackBerry and is currently its largest shareholder. It’s been rumored that some Toronto based investors are part of the consortium that submitted an intent to purchase. Exactly who they are has still not been revealed to the public.

    The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported former co-CEO and founder of BlackBerry, Mike Lazaridis was in discussions with private equity groups, the Blackstone Group and the Carlyle Group about purchasing BlackBerry and taking it private. This move would be a bit of a surprise considering Lazaridis retired from the company as recently as March of this year. None of the speculation was confirmed by Lazaridis.

    At the moment there is only a letter of intent for the acquisition of BlackBerry. Several weeks of due diligence remain so there is still time left to deal. How this will all play out remains to be seen.

    (Image from Wikimedia Commons)

  • BlackBerry Buyout Announced For $4.7 Billion

    Last month, following yet another disappointing quarterly report, BlackBerry announced that it had formed a committee to consider “strategic alternatives.” Among these alternatives was the option of selling the entire company. BlackBerry today announced that this possibility has become a reality.

    BlackBerry today announced that it has been bought for $4.7 billion by an investment consortium. The consortium is led by FairFax Financial Holdings, which already owns 10% of BlackBerry shares. The consortium is seeking financing for the transaction from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets.

    BlackBerry shareholders would receive $9 cash for every share they hold under the agreement, and BlackBerry stock has shot up on the news. The deal would take BlackBerry private, which could allow the company to focus on a long-term turnaround strategy surrounding the company’s enterprise solutions offerings. It’s a plan that largely mirrors the one set out by Michael Dell, who recently purchased Dell and has promised a long-term turnaround for the newly private company focusing on enterprise solutions and services.

    The transaction will be completed after FairFax and the other members of the consortium perform due diligence during a six-week period expected to end on November 4. During that time, BlackBerry may also continue shopping itself for better offers.

    “We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees,” said Prem Watsa, chairman and CEO of FairFax. “We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world.”

  • BlackBerry Suffers $1 Billion Lost, Cuts 40% of Staff

    Just five years ago, BlackBerry Limited was at the top of the smart-phone totem pole as a major competitor for the Apple Corporation. BlackBerry dominated consumer and corporate markets, alike. The famous smart-phone affectionately known as the, “CrackBerry,” was a viable component in the political sector as well. President Obama was notorious for always having his BlackBerry within reach.

    However, times just aren’t the same for the smart-phone developer. It’s been a disastrous week for the BlackBerry Corporation. While the gradually wane began in 2007, with the introduction of the iPhone, technology enthusiast predicted that the “Blackberry Killer” would be the company’s downfall. But, no one ever predicted that the downward spiral would be to this magnitude. Their most recent product line of smart-phones feature the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which is a substantially amended version of the tablet’s OS, designed specifically for the future generation of the smart-phone. The Blackberry 10 OS and device received highly ominous reviews among experts and consumers in key markets around the United States.

    While the adverse reviews served as a minimally problematic factor, they did render a warning that forebode an even bigger issue. According to the Wall Street Journal, the unfavorable reviews were followed by the staggering drop in sales, which left the smart-phone developer with an estimate of more than $1 billion dollars worth of unsold phones. With such an enormous set-back, the possibility of breaking even to bridge the gap between manufacturing, distribution, and sales, is highly improbable. With a projected second-quarter loss of approximately $1.6 billion in revenue, BlackBerry did what most companies do when operations are about to dissolve – downsize.

    On Friday, BlackBerry abruptly stalled trading activities of its shares, which has drastically plummeted by 19%, in wake of a desolate announcement. The company informed the public that approximately 40% of its workforce will be terminated as a means to cut cost in their rapidly declining operation. CBS News reports that the employment cut equates to an estimated loss of 4,500 employees, which will leave around 7,000 individuals employed.

    Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of BlackBerry, released a statement in wake of the announcement:

    “We are implementing the difficult, but necessary operational changes announced today to address our position in a maturing and more competitive industry, and to drive the company toward profitability. We plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user. This puts us squarely on target with the customers that helped build BlackBerry into the leading brand today for enterprise security, manageability and reliability.”

    The drastic executive decision to downsize the company’s staff seems to be one of the early signs of gradual abrogation. Some even feel that BlackBerry’s days in the smart-phone industry are already over.

     

    Image via NB44

  • More Huge Layoffs Coming to BlackBerry

    More Huge Layoffs Coming to BlackBerry

    Throughout 2012, BlackBerry (RIM at the time) laid off thousands of workers in an attempt to shore up quarterly numbers. The company was still months away from the reveal of its BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and analysts had begun writing the company off.

    BlackBerry made it to January and unveiled its smartphones, which the company believed would revitalize its sales and put it back into the mobile phone race. That hasn’t proved out, and BlackBerry is now struggling financially. The company announced last month that it is now exploring “strategic alternatives,” including a possible sale of the company.

    While last year’s layoffs were only several-thousand employees in a few batches throughout the year, this year’s cuts will be much more drastic. The Wall Street Journal this week reported that BlackBerry will be laying off up to 40% of its already reduced workforce by the end of the year. According to BlackBerry’s latest workforce estimates (12,500 as of March of this year), 40% of its current staff would be over 5,000 employees. The company still employed over 16,000 workers as of spring 2012.

    The report’s unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” stated that the layoffs will occur much as they did last year, with batches of several thousand being let go over time. The Wall Street Journal also previously reported that smaller batches of layoffs occurred in BlackBerry’s R&D division throughout the summer.

  • Blackberry Z30: 5 must know details and future predictions

    Blackberry Z30: 5 must know details and future predictions

    Blackberry Ltd, formerly Research In Motion (RIM), launched its flagship phone Blackberry Z30 on Wednesday, in a desperate do or die bid to survive the Darwinian competition from East Asia.

    It is no secret how ruthless the smartphone world has become. In this globalized marketplace, customers are extremely picky. They want the best design, best hardware, best software, best Apps and best audio-visual experience.

    So is the Z30 up to the task in stemming the hemorrhaging Blackberry has suffered in its market share, profits and stock price? Let us find out.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVKISYQ31s

    1. Display

    The Z30 sports an all new 5-inch AMOLED touch-screen with 1280 x 720 resolution and 295 ppi. This may be news to Blackberry fans, but ancient history for Samsung, the reigning king of smartphones. Samsung, Sony, and even the upstart Huawei from mainland China have introduced sharp, clear, stunningly beautiful screens as large as 6-inches.

    Sony is a particularly apt example since it has been at the losing end of the smartphone wars for many years. So how did Sony use its manufacturing prowess to grab the limelight? Introduce a smartphone with the world’s largest screen. At 6.4 inches of full-HD display, potential customers will certainly take note.

    Not so for poor Blackberry with its puny little 5-inch screen, dependent on the mercy of its off-shore manufacturing suppliers in East-Asia.

    2. Hardware

    The Z30 has a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro dual-core processor, Adreno 320 graphics, 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage. You can expand the 16GB to 64GB using a microSD.

    Along comes a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and an uninspiring 8-megapixel rear camera with f/2.2 lens and 1080p HD video recording capability. The non-removable 2880 mAh battery is a welcome addition and is estimated to run 12-hours of video playback. In addition, the Z30 includes the obligatory wireless functionality including 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, NFC and Bluetooth.

    The hardware is certainly no push-over, but not class leading either. This means potential customers will have a hard time figuring out the vow factor and rush to their nearest wireless provider to try out the Z30.

    3. Blackberry 10 operating system

    Let me ask you this. When was the last time you used your friend’s (or your dad’s) Blackberry and said, “Amazing, its one of the coolest OS I have used!” Nevertheless, here is what Carlo Chiarello, Executive Vice President for Products at BlackBerry had to say,

    “The… Z30 smartphone builds on the…BlackBerry 10 platform with features like the powerful BlackBerry Hub, its exceptional touchscreen keyboard and industry leading browser…The smartphone rounds out the BlackBerry 10 portfolio and is designed for people looking for a smartphone that excels at communications, messaging and productivity. Having apps like the full Documents To Go suite that comes pre-installed…Z30 smartphone gives you a best in class productivity experience on the go.”

    With 80% of the operating system market-share cornered by Android in less than 5 years, Blackberry has been caught flat-footed. It would be a miracle of the 21st century, if the market-share of Blackberry 10 v10.2 crosses even 5%, let alone trounce the Android-iOS duopoly.

    4. Blackberry Stock

    If there was any doubt that Z30 was a game changer, it would have immediately reflected in Blackberry’s stock price. But the almighty market offered a tepid response to the release. In coming days, as more fans and potential customers use the new OS, things might change for the better. But don’t hold your breadth. Nokia learned the hard way and ended up latching on to Microsoft’s teat, so the clock is definitely ticking for the boys from Waterloo. Blackberry Stock

    5. Waterloo at Kuala Lumpur?

    Blackberry unveiled the Z30 at an event in Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur? What is that? For the curious, but geographically challenged, it is the capital city of Malaysia, a newly industrialized country in the heart of South-East Asia, and close to Bangkok, the popular tourism destination for Westerners. Now I have nothing against Kuala Lumpur. It is a beautiful city, famous for spicy Malaysian cuisine and the architecturally dazzling Petronas twin-towers.

    But if you are a smartphone company struggling to survive in the intensive care unit, why choose a venue that lacks the demographic heft or the gravitational pull within the design, fashion and tech-world? London, Paris, Shanghai, San-Francisco, Singapore, New York, even Tokyo would have been far savvier destinations for unveiling the Z30. Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE should send a thank you note to the individual in-charge of choosing Kuala Lumpur.

    Finally, I do not want to hurt the feelings of Blackberry faithful, but unless the “free” trade policies that have destroyed the American manufacturing are abolished, sell your Blackberry stock and phone as soon as you can. Apple remains the last great Western-origin consumer electronics giant standing, and Sony, Samsung, LG, Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo are not going to raise the white-flag anytime soon.

    East Asians – the Japanese, Koreans, Chinese – are not as naive when it comes to manufacturing and trade policies.

    [images from youtube and yahoo finance]

  • BlackBerry Announces the Z30 Smartphone, BlackBerry 10.2 OS

    Back in January of this year, RIM rebranded itself as BlackBerry and announced the first two phones for its BlackBerry 10 platform, the Z10 and the Q10. Unfortunately for the Canadian company, its new smartphones were too late to catch on with consumers who had moved on to iPhone and Android devices. BlackBerry is now suffering from poor sales and announced last month that it is exploring “strategic alternatives,” which could include the sale of the company.

    In the midst of this uncertainty, BlackBerry today announced its newest smartphone, the Z30. The device is larger than both the Z10 and the Q10, sporting a 5-inch display. BlackBerry is also highlighting the device’s 2880mAh battery, which is the largest the company has ever put into one of its smartphones. The Z30 also includes stereo speakers that BlackBerry claims will help out with video chat audio quality.

    BlackBerry is still touting its BlackBerry 10 smartphones as more productive alternatives to other smartphone brands. The Z30 will come running the 10.2 version of the BlackBerry 10 OS. The company’s “Priority Hub” message stream is still present in the updated OS, as is its message preview features.

    The Z30 will be available in the UK and the Middle East starting next week. It will roll out to other markets around the world throughout the holiday season, and the BlackBerry 10.2 OS update will be pushed to Z10 and Q10 devices sometime in mid-October.

  • BlackBerry Could Make Messenger Its Own Company

    After this year’s latest dismal financial report, BlackBerry announce earlier this month that it will be considering “strategic alternatives” that include joint ventures or the sale of the company. Analysts have speculated that BlackBerry may have to split up as a company to realize that ambition, as a few of its parts are certainly more valuable than the rest.

    One of the more valuable initiatives BlackBerry still has is BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), and the Wall Street Journal today reported that the service may be spun off as its own entity. The report cites unnamed “people familiar with the matter” as saying a BBM, Inc. subsidiary is being considered by BlackBerry. The popularity of the messaging app has waned along with that of BlackBerry itself, but its worldwide

    BlackBerry has reportedly made BBM a priority, placing key executives on the project to expand its capabilities. Some of the BBM service expansions mentioned by the Wall Street Journal include video chat and BBM Channels.

    The BBM service will make the leap to non-BlackBerry smartphones and devices soon. The Journal report also mentions a possible BBM PC client, and states that earlier ports of the service for multiple platforms were prepared but ditched by BlackBerry executives. Samsung already announced earlier this month that its Galaxy lineup of smartphones will get BBM through the Samsung App store.

    (via Wall Street Journal)

    (Image courtesy BlackBerry)

  • Facebook BlackBerry App Gets Big Update

    Facebook BlackBerry App Gets Big Update

    RIM has launched v4.1 of its Facebook app for BlackBerry OS 5 to 7.1 smartphones. Significant upgrades include easier access to News Feed filtering options, a refreshed profile design, the ability to set your profile photo, photo tags and some bug fixes.

    “Facebook 4.1 makes it even easier to access your News Feed Filters. You can now select Show All, Status Updates, Photos or Links directly from the Navigation List as well as from your BlackBerry Menu Key,” BlackBerry says. “Facebook 4.1 has an exciting new look and feel for your Profile page. You’ll be able to view your cover photo, larger profile pictures plus there’s a new ‘more actions’ button that allows you to view another user’s cover photo in full screen mode.”

    “With Facebook 4.1 you can easily change your profile photo using the BlackBerry Menu Key on your smartphone. Simply select a photo from an album, press the BlackBerry Menu Key and select ‘Set As Profile Picture’,” the company adds. “Facebook now allows you to view multiple photo tags in your News Feed. You can see the profile names for up to two people tagged with your photo. For three or more people tagged with your photo, the number of people tagged will be displayed. You can then click on this to find out who’s been tagged.”

    As far as bug fixes, notification clearing and duplicate friend request issues have been addressed.

    The app should be available in BlackBerry World within the next 24 hours.

    Facebook just released a big update to its Android SDK so developers can do more with Facebook on Android apps. More on that here.

  • BlackBerry Could Be Sold Off in Pieces

    BlackBerry Could Be Sold Off in Pieces

    Earlier this week, BlackBerry announced that the company was exploring “strategic alternatives.” Though the company stated it will be exploring possible joint ventures or strategic partnerships, it also expressed a willingness to take offers for the business itself. The announcement confirmed what analysts and industry watchers had known for some time – that BlackBerry’s decision to double-down on high-end BlackBerry 10 smartphones in an effort to compete with Apple and Samsung was a poor one.

    While speculation runs rampant about who might possibly want to buy BlackBerry, another possibility has presented itself. DigiTimes today is reporting that BlackBerry could end up being sold piecemeal. According to the reports unnamed “sources at Taiwan handset makers,” that possibility is actually higher than the company being sold as a whole.

    Acquiring BlackBerry might be a losing proposition for any entity that might buy it. The BlackBerry 10 platform has proved to be a failure, and the company’s subscriber numbers are falling rapidly. Keeping the BlackBerry handset business alive would cost billions.

    In contrast, BlackBerry undoubtedly has a stockpile of high-value patents, particularly when it comes to mobile enterprise. DigiTimes mentions Samsung and Amazon as possible buyers for BlackBerry patents, though Apple, Google, and Microsoft could also find value in them. In addition to its patents, BlackBerry’s enterprise services division, along with BlackBerry Messenger, could prove valuable to companies serving the business sector. IBM and Cisco were mentioned in the report as parties that might be interested in such services.

    (via DigiTimes)

  • BlackBerry Explores “Strategic Alternatives,” Including Company Sale

    2013 was supposed to be a big comeback year for BlackBerry. The company released its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones in January – its big push to stay relevant in the high-end smartphone market. Despite a name change and rebranding effort, those devices have not sold well enough to turn the company around. BlackBerry financial results this year have been dismal, with falling subscriber numbers highlighting what industry watchers have known for over a year.

    BlackBerry today announced that its board of directors has formed a special committee to consider “strategic alternatives.” The options to be explored include joint ventures or strategic partnerships to better promote BlackBerry 10, as well as the option of selling the company.

    The committee will be chaired by BlackBerry board member Timothy Dattels and includes BlackBerry Chairperson Barbara Stymiest and BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins. BlackBerry board member Prem Watsa has resigned his position on the board, citing his role as chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial as a possible conflict of interest.

    “We continue to see compelling long-term opportunities for BlackBerry 10, we have exceptional technology that customers are embracing, we have a strong balance sheet and we are pleased with the progress that has been made in our transition,” said Heins. “As the special committee focuses on exploring alternatives, we will be continuing with our strategy of reducing cost, driving efficiency and accelerating the deployment of BES 10, as well as driving adoption of BlackBerry 10 smartphones, launching the multi-platform BBM social messaging service, and pursuing mobile computing opportunities by leveraging the secure and reliable BlackBerry Global Data Network.”

  • Mozilla Introduces New Developments Focusing On Web Security

    Make no mistake about it, Mozilla is committed to making the web a safer place for its users. Although browser security remains somewhat dubious–all of the main browsers perform well in various security tests tests, although, questions about NSA backdoors persist–for their part, Mozilla has been very outspoken against government surveillance programs. In an effort to back up such rebellion with concrete results, Mozilla’s commitment to a secure browsing environment was again put on display today with the introduction of two new services designed around the secure web concept.

    The first, which is the result of a partnership with BlackBerry, who refuses to go quietly into that good night, involves the concept of bug fuzzing. The cool name has a simple, but seemingly effective concept in its design:

    Mozilla and BlackBerry’s work on security research techniques are in the area of fault injection. Fault injection (also known as “fuzzing”) is a method of automated security testing that is used to identify potential security concerns that can be fixed before users are at risk. Fault injection is a testing technique where specially designed software is created to inject a variety of unexpected or malformed data into a specific application, program or area of code. The goal is to uncover areas where the software does not properly handle the malformed data. Through fault injection it is possible to identify potential security weaknesses that can be proactively addressed before there is ever a threat to users.

    In other words, fuzzing tests to see if a site will harm a user. If so, the technique “fixes” the problem, which, in turn, protects the browser (using a Mozilla product, of course). What is involved in these fixes is uncertain, especially if it involves a destination site. Aside from warning the user, or, perhaps blocking potentially malicious content, there isn’t much the service can do to fix a potentially harmful site.

    Unless, of course, it involves gaining access to the server hosting the site in question, and that goes a little bit above and beyond the call of duty for a web browser. Nevertheless, adding another layer of security for web users to rely on is certainly not a bad thing, especially if it successfully blocks infections. It should be noted that BlackBerry seems to be quite enthusiastic about their involvement in the program:

    [Adrian Stone, Director of BlackBerry Security Response and Threat Analysis says] “Security is an industry-wide challenge that cannot be solved in a vacuum, and that is why BlackBerry and Mozilla security researchers are working together to develop new and innovative tools for detecting browser threats before they can affect both mobile and desktop customers. Through this collaboration, BlackBerry and Mozilla are working together towards the common goal of advancing security protections for customers as well as improving the threat landscape overall.”

    Who knows? Maybe such a commitment will help BlackBerry’s attempted rebound, at least in the eyes of the corporate world. Mozilla also announced the 0.3 release of Minion, their open source security testing platform which allows:

    …any team to set up the basic requirements to perform automated scanning and testing of websites and services by providing sensible defaults for plugins that enable scanning of many types of web applications and services.

    A quick look at the blog post for the Minion update reveals a lot of tools and flexibility regarding these security tests.

  • BlackBerry, Nokia to Release Larger Smartphones [RUMOR]

    As Samsung proved with its Galaxy Note smartphones, there is a market for extra-large smartphones, sometimes dubbed “phablets.” Other smartphones manufacturers, including Motorola, LG, and HTC have jumped into the product category, releasing devices with screens larger that 5-inches. Now it appears that BlackBerry and Nokia are also looking to release phones with extra-large screens.

    Digitimes today reported that BlackBerry and Nokia could release large smartphones at the end of 2013 or during the first half of 2014, but no before. The report’s unnamed “industry sources” also name-dropped Apple as not releasing a larger smartphone until that time, though the chances of the company releasing one at all are “slim.”

    Nokia in particular is expected to release an extra-large Windows Phone 8 smartphone (likely with Lumia branding) during the fourth quarter of 2013. Nokia just last week announced the new Lumia 625, its largest Windows Phone 8 smartphone to date with a 4.7-inch screen.

    BlackBerry is rumored to be working on a device called the A10. The device is reportedly one of the manufacturer’s next-generation BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and is expected to have a 5-inch display.

    (via DigiTimes)

  • BlackBerry Will Release A New BlackBerry 7 Phone This Year

    By most accounts, BlackBerry 10 seems to be a pretty solid mobile operating system. It’s a definite step up from BlackBerry 7, but that doesn’t mean BlackBerry is done with its older mobile OS just yet.

    CrackBerry reports that BlackBerry is working on a new BlackBerry 7 phone for release later this year. The device will be called the BlackBerry 9720 and it may fall within the company’s Curve branded QWERTY keyboard devices. The only other thing we know spec wise is that it will feature a 480×360 display.

    Of course, all of this brings up an interesting question – why is BlackBerry releasing a device with an older OS when it should be focusing on BlackBerry 10? The only logical explanation is that BlackBerry wants to offer a more cost effective option to its customers that want to upgrade, but not upgrade to a much more expensive BlackBerry 10 device. Of course, such speculation is just that at the moment.

    Besides, BlackBerry has a chance to capture a significant portion of the emerging smartphone market with low cost devices like its new BlackBerry 7 device. Firefox OS and cheap Android phones are already attempting to capture that market, but BlackBerry has been there longer and is a more recognized name in some countries. If it plays its cards right, it could end up with a hit.

    Of course, all of this means nothing in the large smartphone markets like the U.S. and China where BlackBerry is nothing but a blip in the smartphone market. BlackBerry 10 definitely has its fans, but it still suffers from an image problem. People still assume that BlackBerry devices are for business, and that they aren’t the hip, cool consumer devices that the iPhone and Galaxy S series strive to be.

    In short, releasing a new BlackBerry 7 device might be good for BlackBerry’s business in emerging markets, but it still needs to work on making a device that appeals to the enterprise and consumer markets alike at home.