Update: BlackBerry ships 1 million Z10 smartphones in move to profit
Research In Motion Limited, now doing business as BlackBerry, shipped about 1 million BlackBerry Z10 smartphones during its fiscal fourth quarter.
Anything more than a million in Z10 sales in the quarter can be considered a success for BlackBerry, anything less would have been disappointing, according to Ovum. The Z10 is the first BlackBerry 10 OS device.
BlackBerry shipped a total of 6 million smartphones in the quarter, the company said Thursday as it released its quarterly earnings.
Revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended on March 2, was approximately $2.7 billion, down 36 percent from the same quarter of fiscal 2012. Net income from continuing operations for the quarter was $94 million, compared to a net loss of $118 million during 2012. Read more...
PlayBook OS 2.1 update boosts security, management
Research in Motion Wednesday released a BlackBerry PlayBook OS update that adds full device encryption to secure personal data stored on the device to go along with the already-available encryption for corporate data.
The PlayBook OS 2.1 update, which is fully described on a BlackBerry site, is available for Wi-Fi-only BlackBerry Playbook tablets.
In addition to improved security features, the update simplifies deployment of tablets in workplaces, including over-the-air enrollment of a PlayBook to the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion service and ActiveSync authentication.
The update is available without charge via an over-the-air download. Read more...
RIM signs up to Microsoft’s ExFAT file-system standard
Microsoft today announced that Research in Motion (RIM) is licensing Microsoft's ExFAT file system for use in BlackBerry mobile devices.
Microsoft has also been increasingly successful at getting other tech companies to support ExFAT. For example, Apple incorporated ExFAT into Mac OS X "Lion" in 2011, providing interoperability for file storage between the Windows and Mac operating systems. And just over a month ago, Sharp licensed the ExFAT technology for use in its Android smartphones. Read more...
RIM begs devs: Build for BlackBerry 10, we’ll bung you $10K
Developers who get BlackBerry 10 apps in quick will get their income bumped up to $10,000 if they make more than $1,000, as RIM gets in the drinks at the last chance salon.
The "10K Developer Commitment" kicks in this autumn, and applies to applications submitted before BlackBerry World which will be early next year. Applications will have to generate more than $1K in revenue, including in-app purchases, but if they make less than $10K then RIM will make up the difference.
IBM wants RIM’s crown jewel — its enterprise business, report says
IBM has shown interest in acquiring the vital enterprise services business of struggling smartphone maker Research in Motion, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday.
The report cites two unnamed sources, including one person who said IBM has informally approached RIM about buying the unit. The unit is valued at at around $2 billion, industry experts say.
Officials from IBM and RIM declined to comment on the report.
However, one person with knowledge of the situation told Computerworld today that the report is "not true" and that IBM is not interested in buying RIM's crown jewel. Read more...
Samsung: We NEVER sniffed around RIM… or BlackBerry licence
Samsung has once again slapped down rumours that were circulating about Samsung licensing RIM's next OS. Yesterday's prediction, which came in the form of a note to clients from a veteran analyst, pushed RIM's shares up 6 per cent. But Samsung was in touch with news agency Reuters first thing this morning to say it wasn't even considering such a deal.
Analyst Peter Misek put out a note to his clients last night saying that Samsung was sniffing around RIM with a view to licensing the OS or even buying the company, assuming that Blackberry 10 arrives on time and impresses the market.
Samsung is anything but loyal when it comes to platforms. At one point the Korean company was making flagship handsets running Symbian, Android and Windows Phone, while at same time pushing its own Bada platform and any number of localised variants. Samsung was also a member of LiMo, and LiPs, and let's not forget Tizen - the MeeGo detritus which is still getting life support from Samsung and Intel. Read more...
BlackBerry App World hits 3bn downloads, 27bn more to go
BlackBerry's app store – BlackBerry App World – has notched up 3 billion downloads, parent company RIM boasted in a upbeat developers' blog post.
There are now over 90,000 apps in the store, the post says.
Apple's App Store has seen 30 billion downloads as of June and has about half-a-million apps on its books, but the 3 billion mark is still a bright spot for RIM at a time when its CEO has been forced to deny that the company is "in a death spiral". Read more...
RIM’s dual challenge: Build quality smartphones while boosting management software
BlackBerry 10 smartphones, delayed until early 2013, will have the "best browsers in the industry" and will come in touchscreen-only models as well as those with traditional physical keyboards, a Research in Motion executive said Thursday.
RIM's BlackBerry 10 devices, announced in May, will have an overall focus on communications that "drives efficient communications to a new level," said Peter Devenyi, senior vice president of enterprise software at RIM.
"We must build devices that appeal to everybody -- workers and consumers. That's what BlackBerry 10 is about, to be the most appealing smartphone that also works effectively and seamlessly in a person's work life," Devenyi said in a telephone interview. Read more...
RIM stock plunges after $518M loss and BlackBerry 10 delay
Research in Motion's stock price plunged 19% early Friday following RIM's announcement late yesterday of a $518 million first quarter loss and that its BlackBerry 10 smartphone has been further delayed.
At 11 a.m. EDT today, RIM's share price had dropped to $7.39 as investors reacted to Thursday's financial results that showed sharply lower revenue and a $518 million loss in the quarter ending in May.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported overnight that RIM may be considering a switch from its proprietary mobile operating system to the Windows Phone OS for future smartphones. Read more...
RIM loses another senior executive
Struggling BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd. is losing another senior executive as its chief legal officer is retiring from the company after 12 years.
RIM said Monday that Karima Bawa had been in discussions about her retirement for some time and plans to stay on to help with the transition once a replacement has been hired. Read more...
Crazy Geckos: Nitot on Mozilla’s post-Firefox mobile crusade
First came the BlackBerry, bringing the smartphones for suits perfected by RIM to consumers. Next came the iPhone, which quickly hoovered up 23 per cent of the market. But the iPhone came at a price: the freedom of users and coders. It is tightly controlled by Apple, as Adobe quickly found to its cost with Flash.
Next up was Android. In just four years, Android exploited consumers' desire to poke and stroke their phones to become the world's most popular smartphone OS – burying the iPhone – with 59 per cent of the market.
Android had a plus: freedom of choice for both coder and consumer thanks to an open-source code base.
Honeycomb changed things: the Android code was yanked back inside the Googleplex as Mountain View asserted control over builds and contributions. Read more...
RIM said to plan to lay off 2,000 staff
Research In Motion, the ailing maker of the BlackBerry, is planning to cut at least 2,000 staff as part of a global restructuring plan, according to reports.
The restructuring could begin in the next couple of weeks, and would affect staff worldwide, The Globe and Mail said citing several unnamed people close to the company. One person familiar with the company's plans said the layoffs may cut even deeper, the Canadian newspaper said on Saturday. Read more...
BlackBerry 10 to feature built-in video editing, screen sharing
RIM recently offered the world a limited peek at what’s coming in BlackBerry 10, but CrackBerry has been abuzz today with images that appear to have leaked out of Waterloo that show off several additional features. Among them: screen sharing during video calls, an integrated video editing app, and a completely redesigned lockscreen with a clever toast notification system.
The video editor is the least surprising revelation. Almost a year ago, RIM acquired JayCut — one of the first online video editing apps to hit the web. At the time, RIM noted that the BlackBerry PlayBook’s high-def cameras were crying out for better video capabilities, and a JayCut-based BlackBerry 10 app will certainly provide that. Read more...
BlackBerry-maker RIM unveils prototype
Research In Motion's new chief executive unveiled a newly-designed BlackBerry smartphone prototype powered by a re-imagined operating system —the very software the company has pinned its future on.
Thorsten Heins, who took the CEO job in January, on Tuesday revealed features of the BlackBerry 10 operating system running on a prototype device at the company's BlackBerry World conference in Orlando. He provided no update on the software's launch date. Read more...
RIM plans first BlackBerry store in the Middle East, in latest international sales push
RIM is close to opening its first retail outlet in Dubai, as it plans to build its sales presence across the Middle East, as it continues to focus on international markets following efforts in India and Asia.
Bloomberg reports that the company is “in the final stages” of securing the lease for a 140 square meter space in a Dubai shopping mall, that’s according to Sandeep Saihgal, its managing director in the Middle East.
There are plans to further expand the retail outlets once the United Arab Emirates-based store is established, as Saihgal explains. “We’re getting the first one up and running and then we’ll be looking at other cities across the Middle East, [including] Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar.” Read more...