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Tag: RIM

  • BBM Searches Are ‘Off The Charts,’ Especially For iPhone

    A week ago, BlackBerry announced that Blackberry Messenger (BBM) had rolled out to Android and iPhone users as a free app, and since then, there has been a great deal of interest in it.

    A spokesperson for Yahoo tells WebProNews that searches for BBM are spiking by 7,674%. Meanwhile, searches for [bbm for iPhone] are spiking 4,754% and searches for [bbm android] are “spiking off the charts.”

    “Yahoo users are obviously very excited to use this app!” the spokesperson says. “Searches for [bbm for iPhone] are over 3x more than searches for [bbm android].”

    Over the past week, 67% of searches for [bbm] come from men, with the largest percentage of searches coming from Yahoo users ages 25-29, according to Yahoo.

    Additionally, searches for [free download blackberry app] have spiked 306% in the last 7 days. The top blackberry related searches in the past 7 days on Yahoo, ranked by volume are:

    [blackberry pearl]
    [free download blackberry app]
    [blackberry.com]
    [app blackberry download]
    [lenovo blackberry]
    [blackberry z10]
    [blackberry curve]
    [blackberry bbm iOS or android]
    [blackberry bum download]
    [blackberry messenger]

    And here’s a look at blackberry searches on Yahoo for the past 180 days.

    Blackberry messenger searches

  • 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 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.

  • BlackBerry PlayBook Will Not Get BlackBerry 10

    Are you one of the few million people around the world to buy the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet? Were you hoping that BlackBerry would bring its latest operating system to the tablet? You might want to just give up hope now.

    BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has confirmed that BlackBerry 10 won’t be coming to the PlayBook. Now, you might not want to throw out your PlayBook in a fit of rage just yet though. Heins says that his company will continue to “support PlayBook on existing software platform and configurations.” In other words, you can look forward to a future of exciting security updates.

    So, why can’t BlackBerry brings its latest OS to the PlayBook? Heins says it’s all about system performance. He wasn’t satisfied “with [the] level of performance and user experience.” That almost sounds like the PlayBook is just too old to support all the brand spanking new features found in BlackBerry 10, like video chat and screen share.

    Of course, there could be another reason – sales figures. In yesterday’s quarterly report, BlackBerry only shipped 100,000 PlayBooks. In the same quarter, it shipped 2.72 million BlackBerry 10 smartphones. Why support an aging and apparently unpopular device when you can be supporting the few million smartphones that are your ticket out of irrelevancy? BlackBerry has limited resources and it must focus on what makes money. It may seem sad to you, but the PlayBook doesn’t make enough money to justify the R&D required to make BB10 work flawlessly on the device.

    After all this, there’s still hope that the BlackBerry faithful will get a BB10 powered tablet, right? I wouldn’t hold my breath. In a previous interview, Heins said that tablets were a dead end business model. He thinks that tablets will cease to be relevant in only five years. Instead, he feels that a “big screen in your workplace” will replace it. He never said what that “big screen” was, but I highly doubt BlackBerry will be getting into the quickly disintegrating desktop market.

    [h/t: TechCrunch]

  • BlackBerry Thinks Tablets Are A Dead End Business Model

    BlackBerry is still in the throes of reinventing itself, but it seems to have found some mild success with its new BlackBerry phones. The same couldn’t be said of its PlayBook tablets, but BlackBerry probably won’t try to take that market anytime soon.

    Bloomberg reports that BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins called the future of tablets into question at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. During an interview, he said that there will be no reason to have a tablet in five years. He topped that statement off by saying that “tablets themselves are not a good business model.”

    So, what does BlackBerry see as the future? Heins suggests that a “big screen in your workplace” will replace the tablet. That big screen may be part of the company’s future plans as he says BlackBerry is aiming to be “the absolute leader in mobile computing” in five years.

    It’s no coincidence that Heins wants the death of the tablet to coincide with his company’s resurgence as a leader in mobile computing. Of course, that resurgence will only come if BlackBerry can produce hardware that convinces people to drop their iPads, Nexus 7s and other tablets in favor of whatever “big screen” the company can come up with.

    That “big screen” may actually end up being a new PlayBook, but Heins says that any new tablet from BlackBerry must set itself apart. Maybe BlackBerry is looking at creating a desktop computer that can double as a large tablet. We’ve already seen this kind of stuff in the works at OEMs like Lenovo, but a BlackBerry-branded PC/tablet hybrid could prove interesting if the company could pull it off.

    Of course, people are right to be skeptical as BlackBerry hasn’t really innovated on the hardware side of things in recent years. The BlackBerry Z10’s only claim to fame is that its software is somewhat unique while the hardware itself is nothing new. BlackBerry could easily sell a “big screen” device with a great software backing, but Heins makes it sound like BlackBerry wants to start innovating in hardware again as well.

    At this point, we can only with the once mighty company all the luck in the world. Compelling hardware is hard to make and even harder to market after a strong incumbent has been on the scene for a few years. You only need to look to Microsoft for evidence of that.

  • Facebook And Twitter Get Updated On BlackBerry 10

    After posting decent Q4 results, BlackBerry seemingly celebrated by releasing updates for its Facebook and Twitter apps on BlackBerry 10.

    If you fancy yourself a Facebook user, the latest update for BlackBerry 10 is sure to delight with its latest features:

  • Friends Nearby – Now, Facebook for BlackBerry 10 allows you to discover if your Facebook friends are nearby. You’ll be able to see when they’ve checked in on Facebook to a location that’s close to where you are.
  • Photo Updates – There are new ways of interacting with your Facebook photos. Now you can now easily add photo tags to a photo you’re uploading within the Facebook application. Plus if you like that photo or funny picture your friend just shared on Facebook, you now have the ability save Facebook photos locally on your BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
  • Events – This improvement is designed to make it even easier to plan and keep track of your events. You can now view and respond to events, invite your friends to attend, create and view posts on the event wall, post photos, and even tag guests.
  • Sharing – Sharing information is at the core of BlackBerry 10 and now it easier than ever to share what matters to you with all of your contacts. Using the BlackBerry 10 share framework, you can now easily share links from your Facebook newsfeed to BBM, email, SMS, Facebook Twitter, and others.

    • Twitter users are getting a few less new features, but those that are being added still contribute to a better experience:

  • Your Connect Tab – View all interactions in one place, including new follows, favorites and mentions.
  • Enjoy More Content – Take a look at photos, article summaries and other updates within your Tweets.
  • Added Perspective – See the number of times a Tweet has been favorited.

    • You can download Facebook for BlackBerry 10 here, and Twitter for BlackBerry 10 here.

  • BlackBerry Makes $2.7 Billion In Q4, Sells 1 Million BlackBerry Z10s

    BlackBerry 10 launched in late January as an attempt to keep BlackBerry relevant in a world dominated by Android and iOS. Did it succeed? It’s still a little too early to tell, but early results are promising.

    In its Q4 results, BlackBerry reports that it had shipped 6 million smartphones through March 2. Out of that lot, 1 million were the new BlackBerry Z10. To ship 1 million BlackBerry Z10s in a little less than month is no small feat, especially for a company that’s recently been down on its luck.

    Beyond smartphone sales, BlackBerry had a decent fourth quarter. Here’s the full breakdown:

  • Revenue of $2.7 billion
  • GAAP income from continuing operations of $94 million, or $0.18 per share diluted
  • Adjusted income from continuing operations of $114 million, or $0.22 per share diluted
  • Gross margin of 40 percent driven by higher average selling prices and hardware margins
  • Subscriber base of approximately 76 million
  • Cash flow from operations of $219 million, cash and investments balance of $2.9 billion

    • The company notes that revenue is still down, but it’s not bleeding cash like it once was. From Q3 to Q4, the company posted a $49 million loss, or a loss of two percent. Compare that to the $1.5 billion loss it suffered from the same quarter last year, and its current losses don’t seem as bad.

    It will be interesting to see what BlackBerry’s results for the current quarter look like as it has just launched the BlackBerry Z10 in the U.S. The company notes that 61 percent of its revenue comes from hardware sales, and the U.S. market might provide the kick its premium hardware needs.

  • BlackBerry 10 Now Has Over 100,000 Apps

    When BlackBerry 10 was first unveiled, BlackBerry said that the devices would launch with over 70,000 apps. It’s been almost two months since then and the platform is starting to pick up the pace.

    BlackBerry announced today that the BlackBerry 10 platform now has over 100,000 apps. The company says that it added 30,000 apps over the span of seven weeks, which is pretty impressive no matter how you look at it. The platform isn’t slowing down either with BlackBerry 10 adding a number of new apps to BlackBerry World over the next few weeks:

  • Amazon Kindle
  • OpenTable
  • The Wall Street Journal
  • CNN
  • The Daily Show Headlines
  • eBay
  • eMusic
  • Maxim
  • MLB at Bat
  • MTV News
  • Pageonce
  • PGA
  • Rdio
  • Skype
  • Soundhound
  • Viber

    • “The response to the BlackBerry 10 platform and applications has been outstanding. Customers are thrilled with the applications already available, and the catalog just keeps growing, now with more than 100,000 apps,” said Martyn Mallick, Vice President, Global Alliances at BlackBerry. “Top brands and application providers are joining us every day and are seeing the benefits of being early supporters of the new platform. We constantly hear from developers that the BlackBerry 10 tools are easy to build with and that we provide opportunities for app differentiation that they do not see on other platforms.”

    So where does BlackBerry 10 stand in comparison to the competition? WIndows Phone 8 has only just recently passed the 130,000 app mark so BlackBerry 10 could very well eclipse Microsoft’s platform if the Redmond giant’s current plan to spark app development doesn’t work out.

    As for Android and iOS, it’s a little unfair to compare at this point. Both platforms have around a quarter of a million apps as they’re both well established. As Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10 become more established themselves, expect their respective app stores to grow.

  • The BlackBerry Band Gets Back Together For One Final Performance

    Last year, the company formerly known as RIM put together a “band” of sorts to tell developers that it was going to keep on loving them. It was probably the most cringeworthy corporate promo released in 2012, and the company is apparently competing for the same honor in 2013.

    BlackBerry got its band back together for a final performance in honor of BlackBerry 10’s launch. We won’t be seeing BlackBerry 10 until March 22, but at least you have a song to listen to until Friday’s launch.

    Let’s hope that BlackBerry doesn’t use this as its TV ad in the U.S. unless it intends to market to the hipsters whom ironically like bad things.

    [h/t: AllThingsD]

  • BlackBerry Z10 Hits AT&T March 22, Costs $199

    BlackBerry Z10 Hits AT&T March 22, Costs $199

    After rumors pointing to a March 22 release date, AT&T has finally come forward to confirm the U.S. launch of the BlackBerry Z10.

    AT&T announced today that the BlackBerry Z10 will indeed be available on March 22. The device will cost $199 under a two-year contract. There’s no mention of how much the device would cost off contract, but another U.S. seller was selling the Z10 for $999.

    “AT&T customers were the first to experience BlackBerry smartphones and services in the U.S. and we are thrilled to bring the next evolution, the BlackBerry Z10, to the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices and Developer Services, AT&T Mobility. “Customers who have grown to love the tried and true BlackBerry experience will continue to enjoy the easy typing and the secure platform they expect with a fresh platform that lets them get more out of their smartphone with easy access to all their messages in BlackBerry Hub.”

    Enterprise customers will be happy to know that AT&T will also be offering BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 alongside the Z10’s launch. It will be added as one of the many Enterprise Management options offered by AT&T.

    There’s still no word on when the Z10 will be available on other carriers. The official story for all carriers is that a March release is still in the cards so we’ll probably see some announcements from Verizon and T-Mobile later this week.

    If you find yourself craving a BlackBerry Z10, AT&T says that preorders for the device will open tomorrow.

  • BlackBerry Z10 To Launch On AT&T March 22 [Report]

    BlackBerry Z10 To Launch On AT&T March 22 [Report]

    The BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry’s latest push to become relavent, has proven to be a minor hit in some markets. It’s true test, however, will come when it launches in the U.S. this month. Those hoping for an early March release won’t be too pleased though as the Z10 will reportedly hit later in the month.

    Bloomberg reports that the BlackBerry Z10 will go on sale in the U.S. on March 22 at AT&T. The carrier won’t comment on the rumored launch date, and BlackBerry is remaining silent on its U.S. launch plans. All the other carriers planning to carry the Z10 aren’t saying anything either.

    We can assume that the BlackBerry Z10 is still on track to launch in the U.S. in March, but the company’s silence doesn’t inspire confidence. We’re already almost a quarter through the month and we don’t have any new details on the BlackBerry Z10’s U.S. launch. You would think that BlackBerry would want to announce a release date as soon as possible and begin advertising the launch, but that hasn’t happened yet.

    As Bloomberg points out, the U.S. market has to wait longer for phones as testing periods at carriers take longer than in other countries. It could be that the Z10 hit a snag in testing at one of the carriers and it pushed the launch back for everyone. The March 22 launch date could be when everybody is launching, or it could be saying that AT&T will have completed its testing before everybody else.

    Even if the Z10 launches on March 22, it may be too late. Samsung will be showing off the Galaxy S IV next week, and that alone may be enough to kill any chance BlackBerry had of catching a significant part of the U.S. market again.

  • You Won’t Be Seeing Netflix On BlackBerry 10 Any Time Soon

    Netflix is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, but not BlackBerry 10. That’s not going to change anytime soon.

    All Things D reports that Netflix is not building an app for BlackBerry 10. The service wouldn’t say why it’s forgoing the platform for now, but a spokesperson did say that there are “no current plans” for an app. So, there’s some hope for Netflix on BlackBerry 10 in the future, but it’s a no go at the present.

    It can’t look good for BlackBerry after it announced that its latest smartphones would have all the latest apps that its competitors have. Netflix is a name brand app that would have strengthened the BlackBerry 10 brand. It wouldn’t have a “major” loss, however, as most users still don’t watch Netflix on smartphones or tablets. The bigger concern for BlackBerry should be the news that Instagram is not developing a native app for the platform.

    Like Netflix and Instagram, most developers are probably taking a wait-and-see approach for now. BlackBerry 10 will be launching in the U.S. this month and it should give developers more realistic expectations as to the success of the product. Of course, people might not go with BlackBerry 10 over its lack of software support from app developers. If that happens, BlackBerry will be stuck in a cruel cycle of decreased software support leading to decreased hardware sales.

    Still, there are plenty of developers taking a chance on BlackBerry 10 with some big names in the mobile scene gambling on its success. If their bet pay outs, you can be rest assured that those sitting on the fence will come running.

  • BlackBerry 10 Gets Better Battery Life With New Update

    BlackBerry 10 smartphones will start launching in the U.S. in March, but folks in other countries have been playing around with the device for about a month now. For those consumers, RIM BlackBerry is releasing an update today that you won’t want to miss.

    BlackBerry upgraded the BlackBerry 10 software to 10.0.10.85 today, and the update contains a number of enhancements that the company thinks you’re going to love. Here’s the top five enhancements coming your way:

    3rd Party App Performance
    We’ve improved performance for 3rd party applications, so developers can build apps that run fast and smooth for you. With this update, you might want to keep an eye out for some fresh new app launches in March, like WhatsApp.

    Phone, Calendar, and Contacts
    Among the top improvements and features are fixes for Gmail calendars on BlackBerry 10. You’ll also find improvements in the BlackBerry Hub for logging calls log and how conversations are handled. We’ve also made general improvements to importing contacts from online sources.

    Camera
    We’ve optimized the camera for better photos in low-light situations. You’ll love the difference this makes for photos where you don’t use a flash – like the Time Shift Camera feature.

    Browser and Media
    With more and more of you using the gorgeous screen on the BlackBerry Z10 to consume online videos and media, we’ve made a number of improvements to the software in the way the browser handles video playback to provide a fantastic experience.

    Battery Life
    The software team has included a number of battery life optimizations with over 60 battery saving improvements since launch to keep you moving. These combined improvements are designed so that you see improvements in battery life and heavy users especially should see a longer average usage per charge cycle.

    BlackBerry says that the update should be delivered over-the-air automatically, but says you can manually check for an update as well. The schedule for update delivery is decided by the carrier with some already offering the update. Other carriers will be pushing it out as soon as possible.

  • Can The BlackBerry Z10 Help You Cheat At Scrabble?

    Reviews of the latest BlackBerry phone – the BlackBerry Z10 – have been generally positive, but are not asking the tough questions. Can the BlackBerry Z10 make phone calls? Can it help you cheat at Scrabble? Can it play obnoxious memes during lunch? These are the questions that one brave reviewer has agreed to tackle.

    Sortable has reviewed the BlackBerry Z10 by not comparing it to other phones, but rather testing it out in a variety of situations. The review should help you come away with a better understanding of what the BlackBerry Z10 is truly capable of.

    The BlackBerry Z10 has proven itself as a decently popular smartphone (in Canada), but it still has to prove that it’s the savior RIM BlackBerry is punching it up to be. We might be able to get a better grasp on its potential fortunes once the phone launches across all major carriers in the U.S. next month.

  • Home Depot Drops BlackBerry In Favor Of Apple’s iPhone

    When it was unveiled, BlackBerry 10 was seen as the shining light for RIM BlackBerry as it heads back to the path of profitability. The platform’s fans think this is the one that will succeed, but the company still has a major problem ahead of it. It’s traditionally strong enterprise customer base is shrinking.

    Tom’s Hardware reports that Home Depot is taking its employees off BlackBerry in favor of Apple’s iPhone. It’s a pretty hard hit for the company as Home Depot had 10,000 employees on the BlackBerry platform. It’s unknown if the transition to the iPhone occurred before or after the BlackBerry 10 announcement.

    This isn’t the first major loss for BlackBerry as other major businesses and government agencies have been moving their employees off BlackBerry in favor of iOS or Android devices. Late last year, Yahoo kickstarted the migration away from BlackBerry when the company offered to buy every employee a smartphone, but only offered iPhones or Android devices. Soon after, government consulting firm Booz Allen and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also moved their employees off of BlackBerry.

    Despite all of this bad news, BlackBerry 10 may be doing decently well. BlackBerry announced last week that first day sales of the Z10 was the best the company had ever seen. In a statement to Tom’s Hardware, the company also said that “over 2,7000 unique businesses in North America already registered for our BlackBerry 10 Ready Program.”

    In short, BlackBerry is losing business, and that’s a bad thing. To counter this, it’s Z10 handsets seem to be doing decently well, and it still has quite a few Enterprise customers. That’s a good thing. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see if the good outweighs the bad when BlackBerry 10 launches across all major carriers in the U.S. next month.

  • BlackBerry Z10 Available in the U.S. – For $999

    Mobile service provider Solavei this weekend announced it is the first U.S. provider to offer BlackBerry’s new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.

    Unfortunately, BlackBerry fans in the U.S. will have to pay-up significantly if they want to be early adopters. Solavei is offering the Z10 through its retail partner gsmnation for $999.

    Solavei is a contract-free mobile virtual network operator on T-Mobile’s network. The service offers a $49 unlimited everything plan, but does not sell or subsidize mobile devices. The company is attempting to grow itself through word-of-mouth viral marketing, rather than traditional advertising.

    “We believe in giving our members access to the latest phones and wireless capabilities,” said Ryan Wuerch, founder and CEO of Solavei. “Solavei not only gives its members the opportunity to pay less for unlimited mobile service, but even the opportunity to earn income by sharing Solavei with others.”

    It sounds sketchy when put that way, but it’s basically a referral discount. And BlackBerry Z10 users are going to need plenty of those to offset the huge upfront cost of their smartphone.

    Those who can’t afford, or don’t want to pay, the early adopter mark-up will have to wait around one month to grab the smartphone via a subsidized subscription plan. All major U.S. carriers have announced they will carry the BlackBerry Z10 or BlackBerry Q10 starting in March.

    (Via BGR)

  • BlackBerry Z10 Sales Break Company Records

    BlackBerry, the company formerly known as RIM, today announced that the BlackBerry Z10, the company’s first BlackBerry 10 device, is already breaking records. The device was only just released yesterday in Canada, and the hometown crowd seems to have backed the Ontario-based smartphone manufacturer considerably.

    BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins today announced that first-day sales of the Z10 in Canada were 50% better than for the launch of any other BlackBerry device. BlackBerry fans in the U.K., where the Z10 shipped on January 31, have stepped up as well, buying nearly three times as many Z10s during its first week on the market than they have any previous BlackBerry smartphone.

    “In Canada, yesterday was the best day ever for the first day of a launch of a new BlackBerry smartphone,” said Heins. “In fact, it was more than 50% better than any other launch day in our history in Canada. In the UK, we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone.”

    Of course, there is only one BlackBerry 10 smartphone model currently available, with the upcoming Q10 bringing a second physical keyboard option sometime this spring. RIM customers used to have the option of a wide range of BlackBerry choices. The reduction in options shows that handset manufacturers are truly beginning to embrace Apple’s “one phone fits all” philosophy.

  • Relive The Heavily Scripted Magic Of The BlackBerry 10 Launch Event

    RIM BlackBerry revealed its new BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 handsets at a packed press conference Wednesday morning. The event was live streamed, but it also took place at 10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST so some of you on the West Coast may have still been in bed for it. Fear not, lovers of sleep, you can now watch the keynote in its entirety.

    Sit down, grap some popcorn, and watch the obviously scripted keynote that caused BlackBerry’s stock to fall by 11 percent. Those without nefarious intentions might want to check out the keynote to see all the new features coming to BlackBerry 10, like Hub or BBM Video Chat.

    If the keynote has ignited your interest in BlackBerry 10, be sure to check out our extensive coverage of the new mobile platform from BlackBerry.

  • Gameloft Prepares 11 Games For BlackBerry 10

    BlackBerry 10, especially the Z10, is RIM’s BlackBerry’s best chance of getting back the average consumer. Of course, any good smartphone needs apps and BlackBerry 10 will launch with 70,000 of them. Joining those apps will be a number of games from Gameloft’s portfolio.

    Gameloft, developer of popular mobile titles like Ice Age Village and My Little Pony, announced today that it will be supporting the launch of BlackBerry 10 with 11 titles. None of these are new titles, but rather ports of the developer’s most popular titles on iOS and Android. The titles coming at the launch of BlackBerry 10 and the weeks after include:

  • UNO
  • N.O.V.A. 3: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance
  • Shark Dash
  • Oregon Trail American Settler
  • Ice Age Village
  • Real Soccer 2013
  • The Amazing Spider-Man
  • Six Guns
  • Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour
  • The Dark Knight Rises
  • Let’s Golf! 3

    • “We’re thrilled to continue supporting BlackBerry customers and to offer a selection of our most popular games for BlackBerry 10 smartphones,” states Ludovic Blondel, Vice President, OEM Division, at Gameloft. “With its native development kit and powerful hardware, we’ll be able to highlight our unique development approach and allow users to enjoy a fully immersive experience in the world of our games.”

    Gameloft says that Shark Dash, N.O.V.A. 3, Asphalt 7, and UNO will all be available around the launch of the BlackBerry App World on BlackBerry 10. Everything else will launch in the weeks following the launch of the handsets.

  • RIM Stock Takes A Hit After BlackBerry 10 Reveal

    RIM, now known as BlackBerry, unveiled its latest set of handsets today that run its latest BlackBerry 10 operating system. The crowd present at the launch event were excited about the product, but investors were less than impressed.

    RIM’s share price was at a little over $16 this morning before the BlackBerry 10 handsets were unveiled. After the unveiling, there was a substantial drop to $14.44. Shortly after, the share price climbed a little to only drop again to $14.25. Since then, it’s been steadily decreasing with its share price now at a little under $14, or a drop of 11 percent.

    So, what happened? A new product launch is usually something to celebrate, but the response from investors has obviously been less than positive. Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Dave Garrity of GVA Research says that RIM’s renewed focus as a smaller company may not help in the end as “the list of businesses which ‘successfully shrunk themselves to prosperity’ is short.”

    It also seems that many investors were not thrilled with CEO Thorsten Heins performance on stage this morning. The scripted event did little to sell any of them on the future of BlackBerry 10 as Heins’ excitement for the product rang hollow.

    RIM needs to boost investor confidence with its latest product, and it hasn’t exactly done that during this first impression. It’s important to remember, however, that today is just that – a first impression. Investors might change their tune once the phone gets in the hands of consumers around the world. It might even end up being more of a success than anybody could have hoped. We’ll all just have to wait and see.

    If you need to catch up on all the BlackBerry 10 news of today, check out our extensive coverage here.