“RIM likely agreeing to license Blackberry 10 to Samsung, HTC, and possibly others”, analyst says

Posted By Ray Nicolini

BASIS International hit RIM with a trademark infringement lawsuit over the use of term “BBX”. RIM started using BBX to describe the new BlackBerry smartphone OS, but to avoid a massive issue they quickly shifted its name to “BlackBerry 10″. According to Jim Balsillie, RIM’s co-CEO, these new devices will apparently “leap frog” the competition when they are released… but we can now expect them sometime during “the latter part of 2012“. The five rumoured “BlackBerry 10″ to be launched in 2012 is the London, Lisbon, Milan, Nevada, and Black Forest.

So until RIM gets their stuff in order, here’s a fresh, new rumour to ponder. Peter Misek, analyst from Jefferies & Co., stated in a note to his clients that he believes RIM has, or will, start to licence the BlackBerry 10 OS to other manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC. No other details are given, but personally I cannot see either of these companies licensing another OS. Both of them are deeply involved with Google’s Android OS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS. In addition, Samsung has their own bada OS (which isn’t widely adopted), and HTC has reportedly pondered creating or buying a mobile OS. Just like the note to his clients states, if RIM goes in this direction it will put pressure on their hardware business, but increase the service revenue.

“We think some of this has already been started with RIM likely agreeing to license Blackberry 10 to Samsung, HTC, and possibly others. This would help create a critical mass for the ecosystem and maintain RIM’s monthly service revenue; however, it puts more pressure on the hardware business in the short term. Longer term, it possibly gets people hooked on the RIM ecosystem and may in fact allow them to sell more BB 10 handsets (if they are able to create compelling handsets).”

Thoughts?

Source: Barrons

BBX Renamed to BlackBerry 10 After RIM Barred from Using BBX Name

Posted By Ray Nicolini

Now this is a sad day for RIM marketing. After solid names like the Bold and Curve and a very promising BBX name for the future BlackBerry QNX based platform we have RIM changing things again. BASIS has put out a press release that a US Federal court in Albuquerque has banned RIM from using the BBX name. That means RIM was immediately barred from using the BBX trademark at BlackBerry DevCon in Singapore.

That has not stopped RIM and they have now renamed BBX as BlackBerry 10 for RIM’s next generation smartphones. I guess RIM sees the need to jump directly from 7 to 10 but I think they should have gone with a totally different naming scheme. Still BlackBerry 10 is not a bad name but my guess is people will still call it BBX. 

Press release from Basis below:

US Federal Court Bars RIM (BlackBerry) from Using BASIS’ BBX Trademark

The United States Federal Court in Albuquerque today granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Research in Motion (RIM), immediately barring RIM from using BASIS International Ltd.’s incontestable federally registered BBX trademark at RIM’s Asian DevCon on December 7-8 in Singapore.

BASIS’ BBX running on a sampling of mobile devices available at http://links.basis.com/buidemos (Photo: Business Wire)

RIM had refused BASIS’ requests to stop the infringement at the DevCon conference, which resulted in BASIS filing for the TRO.

In rejecting RIM’s arguments against the issuance of a TRO, the court found that, “The BBX mark is identical to the mark which RIM is allegedly using to present its BBX product (TRO page 8).” and “despite the fact that the two companies are not direct competitors, the parties’ respective BBX products are highly related and target the same class of consumers, that is, business application software developers (TRO page 9).” The court went on to concur with BASIS that “The alleged infringement is likely to cause customers and prospective customers to wrongly believe that the software applications created using BASIS’s development tools are only compatible with RIM’s BBX operating system (TRO page 11).”

The order described how the “Courts use a well-established four-part test to decide whether to grant injunctive relief (TRO page 7)” and concluded that “Accordingly, after considering all the factors relative to a determination of whether an injunction should be granted, the Court finds that all factors weigh in favor of BASIS (TRO page 8).”

See BASIS’ latest generation of BBX in action by running the sample restaurant tip calculator and home mortgage calculator applications from links.basis.com/buidemos to experience BASIS’ BBX platform-independent solutions on your own smartphone or tablet.

Is this the first BlackBerry with the QNX OS?

Posted By Ray Nicolini

Via www.pinstack.com

Whoa. If this truly is the next-gen device from RIM, we could all be pleasantly surprised!

We've just gotten a look at what might be the first-ever photo of the next iteration of BlackBerry devices (based on the QNX operating system), and we wanted to share. The phone you see in the picture above is apparently dubbed the BlackBerry "London" (this could be a variant of the BBX, but that's unconfirmed), and is said to be headed for a June 2012 release. The phone allegedly is equipped with a TI OMAP dual-core CPU clocked to 1.5GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of onboard storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter. The London is reportedly "thinner than the iPhone 4" and roughly the same size as a Galaxy S II (though our source didn't say which S II specifically). Oddly, the source says that the phone can be stood straight up on one of its sides (suggesting more boxiness than can be seen in the picture).
As you can see, the phone is running some variation of the PlayBook's operating system, though coloring and icons have definitely been tweaked. For instance, the music app icon looks more like an evolution of the note you see on the PlayBook's version (this time appearing overlaid onto an optical disc). Our source says the phone shown was a "dummy" model, so it's likely the screen is nothing more than a static image.

What's strange about the phone design is that it closely resembles RIM's Porsche Design P9981. Given the source of this image, it's possible that this is also a Porsche-designed BlackBerry destined for countries other than the US or Canada. We're told that RIM is also showing off two lower-end devices, as well as the next version of the Torch, which is said be "very thin" with a 3.7-inch display and slide-out keyboard.

Even though we did multiple passes on this image for Photoshop and / or rendering artifacts, this could ultimately be someone's hilarious idea of joke. It's also possible that this is a prototype or concept design, and won't make its way to production. Still, given the detail in the image and some of the information we were given to back it up, we believe there's truth to this story. We're pounding the pavement for more info as we type, so stay tuned for updates as we get them.

BlackBerry's RIM co-CEO claims upcoming BBX OS platform will ‘leapfrog the competition'

Posted By Ray Nicolini

RIM is about to announce something huge, and it’s going to take the world by storm. At least that is according to co-CEO Jim Balsillie who, with the rest of his embattled BlackBerry team is going to announce the BBX Platform tomorrow at the keynote address at the BlackBerry DevCon Conference.

“We’ve leapfrogged everyone with what we’re announcing [on Tuesday] and you’re going to see it on display. We built an engine back in the mid-90s that served us incredibly well for 15 years, and in the past couple of years, we’ve had to build the engine of the future while still driving the engine we’ve got.”

The anticipation is high not only because of RIM’s fall from grace in recent months, but because just last week the company was dealt its biggest PR blow in nearly three years: for three days, service was interrupted in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and most of North and South America. What started out as a switching problem turned into a full-blown outage. Today, the company announced plans for restitution, a $100 app pack free to all BlackBerry users, regardless of whether they were affected by the outage.

BBX, which is expected to be based on the QNX platform that is used on the BlackBerry Playbook, is an industrial-strength OS that, before it was bought by RIM, was used by nuclear power plants, manufacturing facilities and oil rigs. The news couldn’t come at a better time, too: RIM’s share price has more than halved in the past six months, down from its high of $144 in mid-2008 to just $22 today. After the mild success of the Playbook, which has only sold 700,000 units to date, and the grudging welcome of the latest crop of BlackBerry phones, BBX is the company’s chance for greatness.

“Nobody wants success for this company and return to the shareholders, and nobody in this world wants it more than Mike [Lazaridis] and I,” Mr. Balsillie said.

Here’s hoping.

Source: Financial Post
Via: CrackBerry 

Why Blackberry Will Make a Comeback

Posted By Ray Nicolini

The night is always darkest before the dawn.  For Research in Motion, the former heavyweight champion of the smart phone world, it sure seems like it has reached a record darkness.  It has been caught flat footed when the iPhone started emerging as a contender, completely blindsided by Androids, and is taking some serious heat about its ability to perform as its usual reliable self.  Is this the case of an aging iconic figure incapable of mounting a comeback?

Media will have you believe the smart phone war is a two horse race with iOS and Android in the middle of a fight for dominance over the market.  Does this mean Blackberry is no longer in the picture? ... Well, not exactly.  CNET has reported Android having 43.7% of market share during the 3 month period ending August, 2011.  By comparison, Apple has 27.3% and Blackberry is at 19.7%.  However, Blackberry is the only OS of these 3 to have dropped in popularity having 24.7% market share in previous months.  Keep in mind that this market has increased 10% and TechCrunch has reported that the Smartphone market now accounts for 28% of the total phone market.

These numbers aren’t complementary to Blackberry, in fact, it’s quite the opposite.  With the release of the iPhone 4Gs timed exactly at the same time as the RIM servers shutting down things couldn’t possibly look worse for RIM.  However, where some see despair I see opportunity.  Why is it that I still believe in Blackberry and remain loyal?

The End is not Inevitable

Nintendo was in exactly the same situation RIM finds itself now. However, they managed to reinvent themselves by leveraging there already popular features (namely iconic games and characters) and creating a very unique experience never before experienced on previous systems yet still holding true to their roots.

Something about RIM’s script reads awfully similar to Nintendo’s.  RIM with the new QNX OS which will be in the next line of phones has an opportunity to completely reinvent itself and keep on leveraging their ever popular BBM and native email services.  Additionally, RIM has one ace up its sleeve that I believe has flown under the radar.  About a year ago, RIM acquired TAT, an expert User Interface Company.  While the latest round of BlackBerry 7 devices has a slightly better UI, I am not convinced it is incorporating TAT technology just yet.  Will we see the marriage of a new OS and an overhauled interface?  Possibly, and if this is the case prepare for a kickass experience.

Previous Customer Relationships

A big reason I believe Nintendo was able to come back with such authority is the fact that so many people are familiar with the product, and want to see it succeed.  RIM having been an innovator and leader in the section for such a long time will surely have a base of people that long for Blackberry experience that used to feel so great.

Of course, this experience has recently become sour with the latest server issue.  However, RIM has reacted fast and managed to present the impression that they will try harder and work better.  Although some find it to be the last straw, I believe they have a lot more fight in them.  I think that RIM should take a page out of Dominoes Pizza Marketing strategy when they created a new campaign surrounding their new recipe.  They admitted their mistakes, and emphasized they had changed.  If RIM employs this strategy and admits they have been lacking in the past, they should be able to recapture the hearts of many.

Great Competitive Advantage

Just because blackberry is falling behind, this does not make it a bad device.  In fact, there are really great aspects that competitors have yet to beat or match.  As you have been preached to time and time again, BB security is the gold standard.  The BB playbook is the only tablet to be certified for government use in the US; not to mention the President of the US also uses a Blackberry. 

BBM is now being rivalled by imessenger but there is no denying the BBM brand is still the most dominant mobile instant messenger.  It has been in our hearts for so long and withstood the test of time.  RIM is additionally making this ace up their sleeve even better by developing new innovation such as BBM music.

The form factor of a Bold, specifically the bold touch 9900/9930, is simply a thing of beauty.  If you need something with a bigger screen and still hold a keyboard they can offer a torch 9810 (slider).  If you really wish to have the big screen there is the torch 9850/9860 (touch); and if you want something a little smaller the curve 9360 should suffice.  It is a diverse set of phones that has a unified OS.  iPhones cannot say they have all these form factors, and Android has some real segmentation issues with their OS.

The lesser known advantage a blackberry has over Android or iOS is the efficiency of their data.  One can do twice the browsing and social media communication with a Blackberry compared to other devices and 4 times the email.  With the ever increasing need for data these days, this is actually quite a vital attribute to BB’s portfolio.

Blackberry is Canadian

Let me start by saying I mean no offence or wish to belittle any other nation. However, this is a Canadian Tech website, so I will proudly say that Blackberry is a Canadian product.  It is the very first Canadian mobile phone manufacturer and obviously the best Canadian mobile phone manufacturer.  BB phones are filled with diversity just like our country is.  Canadians have a certain attitude that allows us to take hits march forward and overcome. I believe this legend of a tech company, that has infiltrated the hearts of many worldwide over the years, is the same.  It may have been bruised, cut, and knocked down but it has not been knocked out.

People are already giving RIM the ten count but I believe it will get back up and be great once more.

Via TechVibes.com