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Tag: Blackberry

  • RIM CEO Denies That His Company Is In A Death Spiral

    To say that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has been having a tough time lately would be to campaign for the Understatement of the Year Award. The fact is that by pretty much any standard you care to use, RIM is in deep trouble. Their market share is dropping steadily toward zero. During their quarterly earnings call last week they announced $518 million in losses, yet another delay for their supposedly life-saving BlackBerry 10 platform, and a plan to cut 5,000 of the company’s 16,500 jobs. This is not a company that’s in anything remotely resembling good shape.

    Yet CEO Thorsten Heins, who replaced former co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis in January, insists that the company will navigate its troubled waters and come out successful on the other side. In fact, he told a local Toronto radio show, CBC’s Metro Morning, that “There’s nothing wrong with the company as it exists right now.” Now, before you think that Heins has taken leave of his senses, he went on to elaborate: “I’m not talking about the company as I, kind of, took it over six months ago. I’m talking about the company [in the] state it’s in right now.” In other words, while RIM might’ve been a mess when Heins came on the job in January, it’s in better shape now.

    That’s probably true enough. No doubt there were some significant internal issues in place at RIM that needed to be addressed, and Heins seems like the kind of person who could address those issues effectively. He went on to deny, though, that RIM is “in a death spiral.” That’s a much tougher sell. While Heins may have done a lot in the last six months to fix what was wrong with RIM, it isn’t at all clear that it will be enough. Sometimes patching the holes in the hull of a boat means the boat stays afloat. Sometimes, though, it’s already taken on too much water, and all you’re doing is delaying the inevitable. Heins clearly understands that RIM is in trouble – “challenged” is the word he uses. But he sees RIM as a company “in the middle of a transition,” and he remains “positive we will emerge successfully from that transition.”

    He may well be right about that. Provided that RIM can stay afloat until the BlackBerry 10 launch, and provided BlackBerry 10 performs well (very, very well), then RIM may yet navigate its troubled waters successfully. At this point, though, the odds of that look pretty long.

  • Apple Hits 65% of the Smartphone Market as RIM Continues to Sink

    Net Market Share, a market share analytics site run by the analytics company Net Applications, today released the results of its June 2012 market share research for mobile and tablet operating systems. From the looks of things, Apple is still on the rise with no signs of slowing down, while Research in Motion (RIM) is continuing to sink towards its demise.

    Apple’s iOS reached an all-time high last month, capturing over 65% of the mobile OS market. This demonstrates just how dominant Apple has been in this space since launching the iPhone only five years ago.

    Though Apple gained over 2% more of the market than it had in May, Google’s Android platform wasn’t where it came from. Android’s thousands of daily activations helped the platform continue its gradual market share increase with a tiny rise to 19.73% in June.

    RIM was definitely the loser of the past month, as its BlackBerry OS platform fell below 2% in June. This is no surprise, as RIM has been hemorrhaging market share to Apple and Android for months, even when the metrics are presented in terms of mobile ad impressions or the absolute number of phones each platform runs on. RIM failed to innovate when the iPhone made its debut, and underestimated the threat that Apple posed to its dominant position in the business smartphone market. The company has finally gotten the message on what consumers want and has designed the BlackBerry 10, but it might be too late. In its recent earnings report it was announced that the BlackBerry 10 has been delayed from its fall 2012 release date to the 1st quarter of 2013. This was the same earnings report that showed RIM’s revenue down 33% from the previous quarter. Obviously, it’s not a sure thing that RIM will survive long enough to launch the BlackBerry 10.

    Oracle’s Java Micro Edition platform, which runs mainly on less expensive feature phones, also dropped slightly, suggesting that more users than ever are upgrading to iPhones, and smartphones in general.

    Take a look at the Net Market Share graph below, and click the button on the top-left of the graph to see how the mobile market has evolved over the last five years:

  • Apparently, Steve Jobs Killed RIM with an Apple Crack Pipe and a Drive-By

    Confirming widespread expectations of a bleak earnings report, BlackBerry makers Research in Motion released their Q1 financials last Thursday. The really bad news came mainly in two announcements. Financially, RIM reported a net GAAP loss of $518 on $2.8 billion in revenues. RIM also announced that the launch of BlackBerry 10 is being pushed to 2013.

    In short, it was just a terrible report from RIM. Couple these new setbacks with the fact that they also reported down in Q4 2011, and just made some substantial job cuts, and you see why it’s do or die time for the company.

    Although the biggest cause of RIM’s steep decline can be argued, the fact remains that they have fallen. Big time. And according to NMA, it’s basically Steve Jobs’ fault.

    You remember NMA, right? The Taiwanese company that’s been animating the world’s biggest news stories for a couple of years? Next Media Animation is no stranger to giving their oftentimes hallucinatory take on tech news – and they happen to love involving Steve Jobs in their animations, whenever relevant.

    Well, today they tackle the RIM collapse, and according to them it’s Apple’s cofounder that takes most of the blame. Just how does Steve Jobs kill BlackBerry? In the same way the any gangster roots out a competing interest – hook their customers on your product and then gank their ass in a drive-by.

    Check out gangster Steve Jobs below:

  • RIM’s Q1 2013 Financials and Delay of Blackberry Ten

    Research in Motion just released their first quarter fiscal 2013 results for the three month period ending June 2nd. As you might have expected, the news is not great and it truly reflects their struggle to stay afloat in the extremely competitive smartphone marketplace.

    The big news from the release is the push back of the BlackBerry 10 release. While we have been patiently expecting the first BlackBerry 10 device to roll out sometime before the holidays, they are now saying we won’t see anything until somewhere in the first three months of 2013.

    Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research in Motion comments on the BlackBerry 10 release date:

    “RIM’s development teams are relentlessly focussed on ensuring the quality and reliability of the platform and I will not compromise the product by delivering it before it is ready. I am confident that the first BlackBerry 10 smartphones will provide a ground-breaking next generation smartphone user experience,”

    “We are encouraged by the traction that the BlackBerry 10 platform is gaining with application developers and content partners following the successful BlackBerry Jam sessions that we have held around the world since the beginning of May. Similarly, the reception of the BlackBerry 10 platform by our key carrier partners has been very positive and they are looking forward to going to market with BlackBerry 10 smartphones in the first quarter of calendar 2013.”

    First Quarter Fiscal 2013 Highlights:

    * Cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments increased to $2.2 billion at the end of the first quarter

    * Cash flow from operations was approximately $710 million in the first quarter

    * Revenue of $2.8 billion in Q1, down 33% from $4.2 billion in the prior quarter

    * GAAP net loss in Q1 of $518 million or $0.99 per share diluted; adjusted net loss of $192 million or $0.37 per share diluted

    * Shipments of BlackBerry smartphones were 7.8 million and shipments of BlackBerry PlayBook tablets were approximately 260,000

    * BlackBerry 10 smartphone launch now scheduled for Q1 of calendar 2013

    * Restructuring efforts underway that will include a workforce reduction of approximately 5,000 employees as part of RIM’s efforts to realize over $1 billion in cost savings, based on RIM’s Q4 FY2012 run rate

    * Launched World Tour BlackBerry Jam developer sessions in 23 countries resulting in strong adoption and support by application and developer partners for BlackBerry 10 platform

    * BlackBerry App World continues to grow with over 89,000 applications available

    * The overall BlackBerry subscriber base continued to grow, and the subscriber base grew in all regions except for North America

    * RIM names Steve Zipperstein, former General Counsel of Verizon Wireless, as Chief Legal Officer

    Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research in Motion comments on the financial results of the quarter:

    “Our first quarter results reflect the market challenges I have outlined since my appointment as CEO at the end of January. I am not satisfied with these results and continue to work aggressively with all areas of the organization and the Board to implement meaningful changes to address the challenges, including a thoughtful realignment of resources and honing focus within the Company on areas that have the greatest opportunities,”

    “Our top priority going forward is the successful launch of our first BlackBerry 10 device, which we now anticipate will occur in the first quarter of calendar 2013. In parallel with the roll out of BlackBerry 10, we are aggressively working with our advisors on our strategic review and are actively evaluating ways to better leverage our assets and build on our strengths, including our growing BlackBerry subscriber base of approximately 78 million, our large enterprise installed base, our unique network architecture and our industry leading security capabilities.”

    First Quarter Fiscal 2013 Results:

    Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 was $2.8 billion, down 33% from $4.2 billion in the previous quarter and down 43% from $4.9 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2012. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 59% for hardware, 36% for service and 5% for software and other revenue. During the quarter, RIM shipped 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and approximately 260,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.

    GAAP net loss for the quarter was $518 million, or $0.99 per share diluted, compared with a GAAP net loss of $125 million, or $0.24 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and GAAP net income of $695 million, or $1.33 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year.

    Adjusted net loss for the first quarter was $192 million, or $0.37 per share diluted. Adjusted net loss and adjusted diluted loss per share exclude the impact of pre-tax charges of $335 million ($326 million on an after tax basis), which are predominantly non-cash related to the impairment of goodwill.

    So obviously, things don’t look that great and I think many were counting on BlackBerry 10 to come and save RIM, but it looks like they will have to hang in there a little longer. Hopefully the huge cuts they are making to their workforce and manufacturing capabilities will be enough to keep them afloat. We’ll keep you up to dat on BlackBerry 10 and RIM’s longevity.

  • RIM’s Earnings Report Expected To Be Bleak

    RIM’s Earnings Report Expected To Be Bleak

    Research in Motion, makers of the once-might BlackBerry smartphone platform, has found itself in an increasingly bad situation over the last few years. Poor product performance and a string of bad business decisions – including failing to take the threat posed by the iPhone and Android seriously – have left RIM in dire straights. What’s more, it doesn’t look like anything will be improving any time soon. In fact, they may be about to get worse.

    RIM is scheduled to release their earnings report for the first quarter of the 2012 fiscal year this afternoon, and by all accounts there isn’t likely to be any good news. Last quarter RIM reported a significant drop in profits. Today, they’re expected to report significant operating losses for this quarter.

    While there has in the past been some hope that a successful launch of the BlackBerry 10 platform could turn the struggling company around, that’s looking less and less likely. In fact, there’s cause for speculation about whether RIM will ever get BlackBerry 10 off the ground at all. According to recent reports, the company is considering splitting up its handset and software businesses, selling off the handset business, and licensing software like BlackBerry Messenger.

    RIM’s stock price and market cap have been in steady decline for several months now. As of right now, RIM’s stock is trading at $9.11 per share with a market value of $4.82 billion. If this afternoon’s earnings report goes as poorly as expected, you can bet that that number will be going down even further.

  • BlackBerry Users Can Finally Snag The All New Foursquare

    Earlier this month, after a week-long teaser period, Foursquare finally unveiled “All New Foursquare” (#allnew4sq) for iOS and Android. Today, they’re announcing that the new version (v.5.0) is now available to download on BlackBerry.

    Like the iOS and Android apps, the new Foursquare looks quite different from the previous version. BlackBerry users will now see three main tabs at the top right of their stream (they’re on the bottom on iOS and Android) – the “Friends” tab, the “Explore” tab, and the “Profile” tab.

    The Friends tab shows a more in-depth news feed from all of your Foursquare pals, complete with photos and comments. Users have the ability to “like” specific check-ins from this stream.

    all new foursquare for blackberry

    The Explore tab is Foursquare’s big push to cement its place as a true recommendation platform with personalized suggestions, deals, and the ability to browse destinations by category or by “top picks.” These recommendations pull from the millions of public check-ins that Foursquare has accumulated as well as those of your friends.

    Like on iOS and Android, the BlackBerry update comes with a new Profile section that features a bio, stats, photos and badges. One interesting new feature is the ability to look at all of your past check-ins – just keep scrolling down the page.

    Foursquare says that #allnew4sq is a “completely re-imagined app, torn apart and rebuilt anew to make it even easier to share and save your experiences and discover amazing things nearby, as soon as you open up the app.” After playing around with the iOS version for about two weeks now, I can tell you that it’s a massive improvement from any other Foursquare version of the past. So, BlackBerry users, you’re going to want to grab that update ASAP.

  • Spotify Polishes The Brass On RIM’s Titanic

    With everyone speculating about the outcome of Apple’s WWDC, watching Samsung’s Galaxy S III succeed, and awaiting Google I/O this week, it would be fairly easy to over look the fact that Spotify has been officially released for Blackberry.

    The app, which is available for BlackBerry phones from 8520 and up, is a cloud music player that operates on a freemium model. Users can listen to nearly any music they want, though ads will also play on their music stream. An Unlimited or Premium subscription is required to eliminate the ads and raise the cap on how much music can be streamed. Spotify for BlackBerry can be downloaded for free through BlackBerry App World.

    While this is good news for Spotify fans on BlackBerry phones, it seems that niche demographic might soon become extinct. Research In Motion (RIM), the company that designs and manufactures BlackBerry phones, is on the brink of financial chaos. Last week, RIM let thousands more employees go to keep their financial position afloat.

    Today, RIM’s stock is nosediving due to a downgrade from Morgan Stanley. Bloomberg reports that a Morgan Stanley analyst said, “The only way RIM remains a viable entity is at a fraction of its current size, a transformation that erases much of its earnings power.” This is taking into account that the stock has been sliding downward for over a year, from a high of around $70 to its current $9.

    RIM is currently set to release its new smartphone, the BlackBerry 10, sometime this fall. From the previews of the device that have been shown, it’s clear that RIM has finally gotten the message that their old designs will no longer cut it. It’s too late, though. Apple is still gaining market share, as is Android, all at the expense of RIM. If there is a slot for a third competitor in the smartphone market, Microsoft might be able to force its way in with strong Windows Phone 8 integration into its new Windows 8 ecosystem. It’s also a possibility that Samsung might break off from Android and make itself the #1 competitor to Apple.

    The talk today isn’t whether RIM can regain its footing, its about whether the company should split its hardware and software divisions before its inevitable sale. Even if the company manages to actually release the BlackBerry 10, and even if that smartphone has Spotify, it isn’t going to save RIM.

  • RIM To Be Split Up And Sold Off In Pieces?

    BlackBerry maker Research In Motion may be looking to split itself up and sell off some, if not all, of the pieces. The company would divide into at least two divisions – handsets and software services (i.e., BlackBerry Messenger). The handset business would be the first on the block. RIM could then license the BlackBerry Messenger service to other companies, or sell it as well.

    This news comes The Sunday Times via The Verge. According to the Times, Facebook and Amazon are both possible buyers for RIM’s hardware division. They also say that this is one of the options drawn up by the financial advisors hired by the company to help it navigate through its current struggles. They expect RIM’s final plan to be unveiled sometime this summer.

    Despite once occupying a seemingly unassailable position at the top of the smartphone market, RIM’s situation has gotten consistently worse over the last few years. The company never managed to adequately respond to the threat Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform posed to its business. A series of failed products and bad business moves caused RIM to hemorrhage market share to its rivals. In January co-founders and co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie were replaced by Thorsten Heins. In March, though, their fourth quarter earnings report revealed little good news – revenues down 25% from the previous quarter and 7% for the year. Earlier this month the company’s stock hit a nearly ten-year low.

    All in all, these are not happy days for the once-mighty RIM. While there may be some hope left in the upcoming BlackBerry 10 release (assuming it actually happens), it’s looking more and more like RIM as we’ve known it won’t be around this time next year.

  • BlackBerry 10 Won’t Have a Physical Keyboard

    While RIM’s newest version of the BlackBerry won’t be ready until sometime later this year, they have confirmed that BlackBerry 10 won’t actually have a physical keyboard.

    While versions of the BlackBerry 10 operating systems will be available on devices with a physical keyboard at a later date, RIM spokesperson Rebecca Freiburger verified it is not part of the design right now.

    Actual details about the device itself are in short supply, there are many articles floating around by people who got a chance to sample the BlackBerry 10 software, and there is a consensus that it’s pretty nice.

    Take a look:

    There is a rumor floating around that RIM may release the first BlackBerry 10 devices sometime in October, but it has not been confirmed. It certainly seems like sooner would be better than later, at least for RIM.

    Just yesterday, we reported that RIM is downsizing departments by the dozen. The company is hoping to lean out their operations and reorganize in order to continue to compete in the consumer market.

    In April, after some substantial loses reported in their quarterly earnings, they experienced even more bad news as several top executives abandoned their positions at the company.

    Hopefully BlackBerry 10 will make it to the market before the company experiences any more major set back. Even then, it’s hard to say if RIM’s latest offering will be enough for them to stay competitive against the Androids and iOS’s of the world. We’ll keep you posted on any further BlackBerry 10 updates.

  • RIM Trims the Fat with Substantial Job Cuts as they Struggle to Stay in Business

    Research in Motion (RIM) has been struggling for awhile, and has definitely lost its foothold in the marketplace giving way to increasingly popular iOS and Android devices.

    While their BlackBerry line was once considered an enterprise communication standard, they are now struggling just to stay in business.

    The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, that RIM has already been proactive in cutting their workforce in order to reduce costs and make way for a much need reorganization of operations.

    The cuts are being made in the quality controls department, parts, and operations. According to inside sources, the layoffs have been taking place in batches of up to ten employees at a time. RIM also saw the resignation of many top executives in early April, just after they announced a less than stellar quarterly earnings report.

    The latest job cuts come after reducing their workforce by over 2000 people just before the beginning of 2012. In March, they still employed over 16,000 people, but it is unclear where that number stands after this last round of layoffs.

    Despite the challenges the company faces, they insist they are not abandoning the consumer market, and they plan to introduce a newly redesigned BlackBerry by the end of this year.

    So, while the fate of BlackBerry and RIM hangs in the balance, they continue to struggle and lose employees left and right. Hopefully we’ll see something come out of these job cuts and RIM will emerge as a leaner, meaner business machine.

    There’s definitely room for more competition on the smartphone and device marketplace, but the question is, does RIM have what it takes to deliver where others can’t? We’ll keep you updated as RIM struggles to reorganize and reduce their overhead.

  • BlackBerry Manufacturer Celestica To Wind Down Production As RIM Reorganizes

    Celestica, one of the main manufacturing partners responsible for Research In Motion’s BlackBerry devices, has announced that they will wind down production of the devices by the end of the year. The changes are coming as the struggling RIM is in the midst of changing its focus and supply chain strategy.

    Toronto-based Celestica has been one of the primary makers of BlackBerry products for several years. The wind down process is expected to take 3-6 months. The company said that it will make more details available during its second quarter earnings call, which is scheduled for July 27th.

    RIM, once the undisputed king of the smartphone hill, has been struggling severely over the last few years. Back in March they released their earnings report for the fourth quarter of the 2011 fiscal year, and the news was pretty bad. Revenue was down 7% for the year, and 25% for the quarter. As part of that report they announced the departure of several executives (who were followed by more later).

    They also announced changes to their strategy for the BlackBerry line. Moving forward, they plan to focus more exclusively business customers rather than the average consumer. This led many to conclude that they were abandoning the consumer market altogether. RIM denied this, insisting that they were actually focusing on a very particular segment of the consumer market – business people who supply their own devices for work.

    At any rate, it appears that this refocusing of RIM’s attention with the BlackBerry will mean fewer devices being made. It also means that businesses that depend on RIM for their revenues should start considering other sources of income, just in case.

  • RIM’s Former CEOs Get $12 Million Payout For Leaving

    Back in January Research In Motion – the struggling makers of the BlackBerry smartphone platform – appointed Thorsten Heins as the company’s new president and CEO. Heins replaced former co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. As part of that succession plan – reportedly proposed by Balsillie and Lazaridis themselves – Balsillie retained a seat on RIM’s board while Lazaridis became the vice-chair.

    The move wasn’t enough to save the struggling company, though, and in March they released a dismal quarterly earnings report, and announced the departure of several top executives. Among them was Balsillie, who surrendered his place on RIM’s board of directors. Even so, RIM’s problems have continued, with the company’s stock hitting an almost ten-year low earlier this month.

    Now it seems that the struggles of the company they founded were not sufficient incentive for Balsillie and Lazaridis to step down from their posts as co-CEO. According to a form 6-K document filed with the SEC earlier this week, the two were given a combined total of nearly $12 million as compensation for their departure.

    According to the document, Lazaridis will continue to serve as vice-chair of RIM’s board, while he and Balsillie will receive a variety of compensations for their work as RIM’s co-founders and co-CEOs. The total value of Balsillie’s severance comes to $7,929,229, while Lazaridis’s comes to $3,956,056, for a total of $11,885,355. The document also provides RIM’s reasoning for so handsomely rewarding its co-founders:

    Messrs. Lazaridis and Balsillie revolutionized the worldwide wireless industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry and forever changed how the world communicates. Under their leadership, the Company successfully navigated many challenges and quickly scaled to become a global company and industry leader with sales in over 175 countries and more than 17,000 employees worldwide. Over the last decade, the Company experienced tremendous growth, with annual revenues increasing from $294 million to just under $20 billion. Messrs. Lazaridis and Balsillie have also received many awards outside of the Company in recognition of their success and contributions to the Company, the broader mobile industry and Canadian business. These factors were taken into consideration by the Board in entering into the transition agreements. In addition, the transition agreements were entered into in recognition of Messrs. Lazaridis’ and Balsillie’s years of dedicated service and leadership as founders, Co-CEOs and Co-Chairs of the Company.

    Interestingly, the transition agreements do not appear to have taken into account their role in the company’s current (dire) situation. While it’s absolutely true that RIM “forever changed how the world communicates,” it’s also true that RIM’s response to the rise of the consumer smartphone – i.e., the iPhone and Android – was consistently poor. The iPhone’s initial success and popularity was met with a mixture of scorn and smugness born of absolute conviction that the BlackBerry’s position at the top of the market was unassailable. Once RIM recognized its competition as a credible threat, its responses were a string of too-little-too-late devices that simply failed to measure up to what the iOS and Android platforms had to offer. While Balsillie and Lazaridis are absolutely deserving of recognition for how high RIM had climbed by 2007, they deserve just as much blame for how far RIM has fallen since then.

  • RIM Pulls Plug On 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook

    BlackBerry maker Research In Motion appears to have discontinued the 16GB version of their PlayBook tablet, according to recent reports. Though nothing is certain yet, it appears that recent price cuts on the PlayBook have drastically reduced the 16GB PlayBook’s profit margins, to the point that RIM is barely making any profits at all from the sale of the device. Given RIM’s current financial woes, they can hardly afford to sell a product on which they turn almost no profit.

    According to Ubergizmo, RIM’s response to a customer email hinted that the PlayBook would be discontinued, though currently remaining stock would continue to be sold off. RIM has confirmed the cancellation earlier today. Here’s their statement:

    RIM will no longer be making the 16 GB model of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The 16 GB PlayBook will continue to be available for distributors and retailers while quantities last. We continue to remain committed to the tablet space and the 32 GB and 64 GB models of the BlackBerry PlayBook continue to be available from our distributors and retailers around the world.

    We have limited quantities remaining of the 16GB version of the BlackBerry PlayBook, however the 32GB and 64GB are still available and offer great value to our customers.

    The BlackBerry PlayBook hit stores in April 2011. With the iPhone and Android bleeding RIM dry of market share and the iPad having proven to be a mega-hit, RIM needed its own tablet. Unfortunately, the PlayBook’s reception was lukewarm, to put it kindly. Critics savaged the device for its lack of certain features that are regarded as must-haves for any tablet, e.g., standalone email and calendar apps. While the update to PlayBook OS 2.0 earlier this year alleviated some of those problems, PlayBook sales have still proven less than impressive.

    RIM, meanwhile, has been having severe troubles of late. The company’s stock recently hit a near-decade low when it fell below $10 per share.

  • RIM Facing Patent Lawsuit As Stock Woes Continue

    Research In Motion, makers of the once-ubiquitous BlackBerry smartphone, can’t seem to catch a break lately. They continue to hemorrhage market share to iOS and Android, and their stock recently tumbled below the $10 mark for the first time in almost ten years, bringing the company’s market cap to $5.09 billion, just one sixteenth of their value in 2007.

    Now, to add insult to injury, they appear to be facing a patent infringement lawsuit. Mobile Telecommunications Technologies (MTEL) has filed suit against RIM in U.S. District Court in Texas, claiming that RIM has infringed on two of its patents. The patents in question (see here and here) cover mobile telephone call back system involving a mobile phone and a pager, and a system for delivering messages between a system network and mobile units. In addition to being broad, both patents are quite old. They were issued in September and December of 1996 (though one was filed in September of 1994). The complaint, embedded below, accuses RIM of violating MTEL’s patents with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Infrastructure.

    Mobile Telecommunications Technologies v. Research in Motion

    It probably goes without saying at this point, but MTEL is pretty clearly a patent troll. What’s interesting about this case, though, is the timing. Any way you slice it, RIM is on the ropes. They’re limping along as best they can, waiting for the BlackBerry 10 launch later this year. If BlackBerry 10 fails to perform, it’s a fair bet that that will be the end of RIM as we know it. So MTEL appears to be striking while the iron is hot, as it were: if they have any chance of squeezing money out of RIM, now is probably their best opportunity. Even so, it’s a pretty slimy move. Patent-trolling a company in RIM’s current state is the epitome of kicking someone when they’re down.

  • RIM’s Business is in Trouble at BlackBerry 10 Launch

    Research in Motion says their business is in trouble and they expect to incur big losses throughout the rest of 2012. This news comes just as they are about to release BlackBerry 10. On June 2nd, RIM will be revealing their Q1 financial results and they want stockholder’s to be ready for the bad news, but they also want to spearhead a campaign for change to combat the poor financial performance before damage gets out of control.

    RIM president and CEO, Thorsten Heins comments on the challenges which lie ahead for the company:

    “RIM is going through a significant transformation as we move towards the BlackBerry 10 launch, and our financial performance will continue to be challenging for the next few quarters. The on-going competitive environment is impacting our business in the form of lower volumes and highly competitive pricing dynamics in the marketplace, and we expect our Q1 results to reflect this, and likely result in an operating loss for the quarter.”

    “We are continuing to be aggressive as we compete for our customers’ business – both enterprise and consumer – around the world, and our teams are working hard to provide cost-competitive, feature-rich solutions to our global customer base. On the positive side, we expect to further increase our cash position in Q1 from the approximately $2.1 billion we had at the end of fiscal 2012.”

    The company has been making strategic changes to their management team in order to gain a more competitive position in the market. They recently hired Kristian Tear as Chief Operating Officer, who posses a background in international sales from Europe, Asia and Latin America. Frank Boulben will now serve as Chief Marketing Officer and he brings vast experience from the mobile computing and communications industry. The duo will be instrumental in developing the new Blackberry 10 platform and pulling RIM’s business out of the flames.

    RIM will also be cutting jobs throughout 2012 in order to keep operating costs in check. They have hired JP Morgan and RBC to help them identify financial weaknesses at the company. The high churn in the U.S. marketplace threatens their overall livelihood, but they still see many advantages.

    RIM lists these accomplishments as assets to the company:

    * Our annual BlackBerry World conference and BlackBerry 10 Jam took place earlier this month and both were tremendously successful. More than 5,000 developers, partners, carriers and enterprise customers from 115 different countries saw the first glimpses of our next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform and their response was encouraging.

    * Our developer partners have been enthusiastic with the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha prototype unit we distributed at BlackBerry World and many are well underway in developing applications to be ready for the launch of BlackBerry 10 in the latter part of calendar 2012.

    * The support and enthusiasm from our developer community is also reflected in our app growth, where we now feature more than 80,000 apps, which represents a 220% increase from one year ago, and more than 15,000 apps for PlayBook compared to less than 2,000 last year. We believe this bodes well for our ecosystem as we get set to launch BlackBerry 10.

    * We are making steady progress with the innovation of our next-generation BlackBerry 10 mobile computing platform, which is still on track to launch in the latter part of calendar 2012.

    * Our global subscriber base continued to grow this quarter to approximately 78 million, driven primarily by growth in international markets, which is partially offset by high churn in the United States, and our BBM user base has grown to approximately 56 million users globally.

    * Our strong brand internationally was recently enhanced with the successful launch of two new BlackBerry 7 phones in India and Latin America.

    RIM president and CEO, Thorsten Heins once again comments:

    “Although we are facing challenges, we remain excited about BlackBerry 10 and believe that this platform coupled with the results of the strategic review will create long-term value for our stakeholders. We will provide another more detailed business update when we report our first quarter results in June.”

    You’ll be able to find those first quarter financial results here on Webpronews as soon as they are released along with any other news about RIM and the upcoming BlackBerry 10.

  • Apple Board Member Uses a Blackberry

    Apple Board Member Uses a Blackberry

    In a new CNBC documentary, J.Crew CEO and Apple Board member Mickey Drexler was filmed using a Blackberry instead of an iPhone. In the scandalous clip below, one can see said Blackberry, a Bold 9900 model, at roughly 21 seconds in:

    It’s not clear if Drexler was also wearing J.Crew clothing, head to toe. Still, who cares really? Drexler has been a member of Apple’s board since 1999, though appears to prefer his Blackberry device. Not everyone chooses to adopt the iPhone, even though Android and iOS have been steadily making gains in the mobile market, while RIM continues its decline. As of March, Android takes up roughly 51% of the market, iOS sits and 31% and RIM has dwindled to 12%.

    Still, not everyone likes the iPhone, even if they maintain a direct business interest with Apple. With Apple’s voice assistant Siri being a problem with many users, which has prompted an iPhone ban in all IBM facilities, some who have grown accustomed to a RIM device don’t want to make the change. I was recently speaking with a relative whose company made the switch from RIM to iOS, and the iPhone drives him insane. It happens.

  • RIM Appoints New Operating and Marketing Leadership

    RIM Appoints New Operating and Marketing Leadership

    Research In Motion (RIM) announced today that it has hired a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Kristian Tear will take over former COO Jim Roan’s position and Frank Boulben has been named the new CMO. This news comes just a month after a poor earnings report was announced and executives began fleeing the company.

    “Kristian and Frank bring extensive knowledge of the rapidly changing wireless global market and will help RIM as we sharpen our focus on delivering long-term value to our stakeholders,” said RIM President and Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins. “Most importantly, both Kristian and Frank possess a keen understanding of the emerging trends in mobile communications and computing.”

    Tear, pictured above, is leaving his position as executive vice president for Sony Mobile Communications to accept the new COO role at RIM. He will oversee operational functions for RIM handhelds and services, including research and development, products, global sales, manufacturing, and supply chain.

    “RIM is an important player in the mobile industry and I am excited to be a part of its future,” said Tear. “I look forward to working with the talented RIM employees and harnessing their ingenuity and creativity for the benefit of more than 77 million BlackBerry users around the world. I also look forward to helping RIM attract a brand new generation of BlackBerry users.”

    Boulben is a former executive vice president of strategy, marketing and sales for LightSquared. Boulben will oversee marketing efforts worldwide. RIM’s marketing efforts could certainly use a clear vision, judging from the recent “Wake Up” debacle in Australia.

    “RIM is a pioneer in the mobile world and the BlackBerry brand is a global icon,” said Boulben. “We all know how fast the mobile arena evolves and with the BlackBerry 10 platform, I believe RIM will once again change the way individuals and enterprises engage with each other and the world around them. I could not resist the opportunity to be part of that transformation.”

    Boulben sounds confident, but it is clear that RIM is in need of a shake-up if it hopes to stop hemorrhaging users and compete with Apple and Samsung in the smartphone market. RIM has been on a downward spiral for a while, and its upcoming Blackberry 10 smartphone, though met with positive reviews, hasn’t turned around industry expectations for the company.

    What do you think? Will these new appointments save RIM from performing large cutbacks and settling into a new defensive position as a software licenser and patent troll? Leave a comment below and let us know.

  • RIM’s “Wake Up” Campaign Reaches A Stirring Anti-Climax

    You may remember the peculiar “WAKE UP” marketing stunt pulled by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion about a week ago in Australia. If not, here’s a quick refresher: a big black bus emblazoned with the phrase “WAKE UP” on the side pulled up outside an Apple Store in Sydney and disgorged a crowd of black-clad protesters who stood outside the store shouting “WAKE UP” and holding black signs that said (you guessed it) “WAKE UP.”

    Initial blame for the stunt – which most agreed was pretty ridiculous – fell on Samsung. After all, Samsung is Apple’s biggest competitor, and has a history of ripping Apple in its commercials. Samsung, however, denied having any part of the stunt. A little more digging pointed a finger at RIM.

    After another day or so of speculation, RIM confirmed that they were, in fact, behind the campaign. They promised that the counter on the Wake Up Australia was leading up to a “reveal” that was designed “to provoke conversation on what ‘being in business’ means to Australians.”

    Well, that counter was set to expire yesterday, May 6th, and RIM’s big “reveal” is now available for your viewing pleasure. What is it, you ask? Is it a new BlackBerry 10 smartphone? The PlayBook 2? Some awesomely impressive business-related service that will bring RIM back from the edge of ruin? Well, if you were to head over to the original Wake Up Australia website today, you would be redirected to a different site: wakeupbebold.com. Once there, a speech given by a man with an Australian accent starts playing and scrolling up your screen. This grand speech, it turns out, is RIM’s big “reveal.” Check it out below:

    WAKE UP

    It’s time to mean business.

    Now before you go looking for your suit and briefcase, we’re not talking about that kind of business.

    Business is no longer just a suit-wearing, cubicle-sitting, card-carrying kind of pursuit.

    These days being ‘in business’ means you’re the kind of person who takes action and makes things happen.

    You don’t just think different… you do different.

    It’s a simple choice:

    You’re either here to leave your mark and eat opportunity for breakfast

    OR

    You’re satisfied to just float through life like a cork in the stream.

    Now, we know some people will choose to float on by and that’s fine.

    Being in business is not for everyone, but unfortunately… there is no middle ground. You’re either in business or you’re not.

    For those of us with our eyes wide open, we need to realise there’s only one device for people who mean business… the brand that’s been in business from the very beginning.

    Wake Up. Be Bold.
    BlackBerry

    Yep. That’s it. Clicking pretty much anywhere on the page after that takes you to BlackBerry’s Australian website. No new products, no major announcements, no persuasive rhetoric about why BlackBerry is better than the iPhone or Android, no actual facts about RIM’s products at all. Just that speech, with it’s not-so-subtle dig at Apple (“You don’t just think different…”), and a link to a BlackBerry website that is almost identical to the one that was up on Friday.

    It’s hard not to be unkind about this whole stunt, because frankly, it’s pretty ridiculous. RIM has sunk unknown thousands of dollars into a PR stunt that is almost guaranteed to accomplish absolutely nothing. RIM’s problem isn’t that people don’t know their products exist, and it isn’t that people don’t associate their products with business. If that were the problem, then this campaign might have helped. RIM’s problem, though, is that the products they make are considered passé and inferior to the iPhone (and Android). That can’t be fixed by a pointless PR stunt. If this had been the lead-up to the launch of the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone, it might have made sense. But it didn’t lead up to anything. It’s just a little spiel about how business-y BlackBerry is. Heck, if they had even linked to a page that talked about why, specifically, BlackBerry was better for business than the iPhone, even that might have been something. But they didn’t do that either.

    Ultimately, it’s hard to imagine that this little gimmick actually accomplished anything at all.

    What do you think of RIM’s Wake Up campaign? Does it make you more interested in using BlackBerry products? What does it accomplish? Let us know in the comments.

  • BlackBerry 10 Camera Lets Users Turn Back Time

    Instead of being excited for the most advanced BlackBerry phone ever revealed, the tech press greeted the BlackBerry 10 with a collective “meh,” and proceeded to speculate as to whether the phone was enough to save the company from death or becoming a full-time patent troll. But among the many announcements in the BlackBerry World 2012 keynote presentation was the demonstration of a remarkable camera feature RIM has been developing for its latest smartphone.

    The feature, demonstrated in the video below, allows users to detect where faces in photos are. Users can then select each face and skip back or forward in time, frame-by-frame, to get the perfect expression for the picture. Each face can be individually adjusted. That this type of “magic moment” software, as RIM has referred to it, hasn’t been seen before is interesting, as the cameras on phones have been able to record video for years now.

    I can’t help but think of it as cheating, though. Photographs are meant to capture a moment in time, and this warps that concept. I know that software such as Adobe’s Photoshop has been able to do similar things for some time, but being able to easily combine several seconds worth of time into one “best” image, and do it without video editing software, is a big change for the average smartphone user. I suppose this is the future of picture taking, though I think we may need a new name for it other than photography. Any suggestions? Leave a comment below and let me know.

  • RIM Admits Responsibility For “WAKE UP” Campaign

    BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has admitted that they were behind the “WAKE UP” protest outside a Sydney, Australia Apple Store last week. Initial reports linked the campaign to Samsung, which will be unveiling their Galaxy S III smartphone at the end of this week. Samsung, however, denied responsibility. Further digging into the source code for the campaign’s Wake Up Australia website uncovered evidence that RIM might have been the culprit.

    According to a report by The Age, RIM representatives in Australia have confirmed that they were responsible for the WAKE UP campaign, “which involves a series of experiential activities taking place across Sydney and Melbourne.”

    Though there was speculation that Australian blogger Nate “Blunty” Burr, who happened to be at the Apple Store when the protest was staged, might have been in RIM’s employ. He has done work for RIM in the past, including an extremely favorable review of the BlackBerry PlayBook. The company’s representatives denied that he was paid to be there. It’s worth noting that they do not say whether he was asked to be there, or forewarned that something would be happening at the Apple Store at that time. Burr’s video of the protest has featured prominently in coverage of the event.

    While initial reports suggested that the counter on the Wake Up Australia website might be leading up to Samsung’s announcement of the Galaxy S III, further investigation found that the counter would not run out on May 3rd, when Samsung is set to unveil the device. Further speculation suggested that perhaps the counter was leading up to the Australian launch of the device. In fact, according to RIM’s representatives, the counter is actually leading up to the launch of the BlackBerry 10 operating system, a “reveal” that is designed “to provoke conversation on what ‘being in business’ means to Australians.”

    When the campaign was thought to be Samsung’s doing, it was widely regarded as a fairly ridiculous stunt, but not terribly out of character for Samsung. It was seen as being an especially bizarre manifestation of the company’s peculiar fixation on its rival. The fact that RIM is actually behind the campaign puts a new and, frankly, rather sad perspective on the whole situation. The fact that it didn’t occur to anybody that RIM might be behind it shows a couple of things: first, this kind of stunt is way out of character for RIM, and hardly seems consistent with their stated intention to refocus on the business segments of the consumer market. Second, it shows that the majority of people don’t consider RIM in the same league as Apple anymore. When we began casting around for a culprit, Samsung made sense in large part because they are Apple’s chief competitor (and may be the top smartphone maker in the world). Once Samsung disavowed the campaign, though, still no one thought of RIM, because RIM isn’t a major competitor for Apple anymore.

    The simple fact is, RIM is in major trouble. The consumer smartphone revolution that was begun by Apple in 2007 and accelerated by Android in 2008 caught them completely off guard, and they have never managed to recover. The BlackBerry platform has suffered massive losses in market share to iOS and Android, even being passed by the iPhone in Canada, where RIM is based.

    The BlackBerry 10 operating system, which is set to release soon, is essentially the company’s last, best hope. Numerous products that have been designed to compete with iOS and Android have been unsuccessful – including the BlackBerry Torch and the PlayBook. If BlackBerry 10 is a success, it could bring RIM back from the edge of failure. If, on the other hand, it performs poorly, it could be the final nail in RIM’s coffin.

    The “WAKE UP” campaign is, it seems, intended to draw attention to BlackBerry 10, in hopes of drumming up interest in the platform before its launch. In the context of RIM’s recent performance, though, it smacks of desperation. What’s more, when the campaign was thought to be Samsung’s doing, I suggested that insulting the customer base that you’re trying to woo might not be the best marketing strategy. The fact that RIM is behind the campaign makes that issue all the more important. Samsung can afford to pick on Apple fans. RIM can’t. Whether BlackBerry 10 succeeds or fails, this campaign isn’t likely to do RIM any favors.

    Is this campaign a good move for RIM? Would you be more likely to try a BlackBerry 10 smartphone after being told to wake up by a bunch of shouting protesters? Can BlackBerry 10 manage to save RIM’s bacon? Let us know what you think in the comments.

  • RIM May Be Responsible For “Wake Up” Flashmob

    Last week we brought you a peculiar story about a flashmob protest that took place outside an Apple Store in Australia. It seems that a group of black-clad protesters pulled up outside the store in a black bus with “WAKE UP” emblazoned on the side and stood outside the store holding black “WAKE UP” signs and chanting “WAKE UP.”

    At the time, it was widely believed that Samsung was behind the campaign. Samsung has a history of taking shots at Apple fans, so it didn’t seem much of a stretch to think that they might be behind this protest. The protest drew a lot of confused criticism, and was widely regarded as pretty ridiculous.

    That it was a marketing stunt and not a legitimate protest was made pretty clear in a blog post by Mumbrella, which discovered the Wake Up Australia website and traced it to a marketing agency called Tongue (formerly New Dialogue). The page consists of the phrase “WAKE UP” above a counter that appears to be counting down toward May 6th, three days after the London unveiling of the Galaxy S III.

    The day after the news broke, though, Samsung denied having anything to do with it. That left us with a burning question: if Samsung wasn’t behind this nonsense, then who was?

    Well, the answer appears – appears – to be BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. After Samsung’s denial James Croft of MacTalk, did a little more digging. He looked through the source code for the Wake Up Australia website, and found the following:

    http://fls.doubleclick.net/activityi;src=2215527;type=black822;);

    It seems that the “src=2215527” is an account identifier for Doubleclick. A Google search for that Doubleclick identifier brought up lots of different RIM Australia websites. While that doesn’t constitute ironclad proof, it’s a lot more solid than the Samsung theory, which was based mainly on the timing for that counter on the Wake Up Australia site, and Samsung’s weird infatuation with Apple. On top of the Doubleclick ID, MacTalk also points out that Nate Burr, the blogger who happened on-site when the protest began, has done work for RIM in the past, including a highly favorable review of the BlackBerry PlayBook prior to its Australian release.

    A request for comment sent to RIM has not yet been answered.