rim

RIM's secret weapon is actually pretty cool

It's become fashionable of late to bash Research In Motion and the decline of all things BlackBerry. With the constant delays of BlackBerry 10, the flop that was the PlayBook, odd behavior by executives, sinking valuation and thousands of layoffs, the trash talk isn't without justification.

But as CEO Thorsten Heins recently implored the Canadian press, the one-time northern king of the smartphone realm shouldn't be counted out of the mobile game of thrones just yet. RIM has a secret weapon -- more overlooked than secret, actually -- and truth be told, it's got the potential … Read more

While laying off thousands, RIM is also hiring. Huh?

While Research In Motion is cutting about a third of its staff, the company is also psyched to be hiring a whole new crop of developers and developer-outreach folks. During this campaign season, I think it's safe to crown RIM's human resources department as King flip-flopper.

The few dozen positions posted today on the BlackBerry developer blog won't do much to replace the 5,000 jobs the struggling Canadian smartphone maker recently announced it would be shedding, but clearly RIM is attempting to beef up its pitch to developers ahead of the release of BlackBerry 10, while slimming down virtually everywhere else.… Read more

RIM bets on quality, not speed, as it fends off death spiral

With unprecedented losses, evaporating market share, and enough competitive pressure to smash it into irrelevancy, you'd think Research In Motion would show a bit of urgency.

In fact, it's showing quite the opposite.

Rather than rush out a half-baked product, the company said last week that it would push back the debut of BlackBerry 10 from later this year to the first quarter of 2013. Company executives say they believe the extra time will pay off with a more complete product.

"Doing it right is more important than doing it fast," Richard Piasentin, RIM's managing … Read more

RIM CEO: No, really, we're not in a 'death spiral'

Research In Motion, despite delays in its upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system and continued disastrous financial performance, is just dandy.

That's according to RIM CEO Thorsten Heins, who denied the company was in a "death spiral" and said on a radio interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that "there was nothing wrong with the company as it exists now." The comments were picked up by Reuters.

Heins' comments come amid already high concerns that escalated after the company warned last week that phones running on its next-generation operating system wouldn't hit the market until … Read more

BlackBerry 10 touch-screen phone could debut next year

RIM is looking to a host of new products to help it recover in 2013, according to details reportedly found in a leaked product road map.

The company is set to kick off the year by launching both touch-screen and traditional QWERTY keyboard phones in the first quarter, according to enthusiast site BlackBerryOS.com. The BlackBerry London will be RIM's first touch-screen phone, the site says, while the BlackBerry Nevada will carry on with a physical keyboard.

Both phones will sport the BlackBerry 10 OS, which is finally slated to debut in the first quarter of 2013 following a … Read more

Apple's iOS grabs 65% of mobile Web traffic

Android is often considered king of the mobile world, but Apple's iOS actually accounts for the lion's share of the mobile Web traffic, at least according to the latest stats from Net Applications.

iOS continues to grow, capturing a global traffic tally of 65.3 percent in June, up from 52.4 percent a year ago. Though in second place, Android has also expanded and now holds a share of 19.7 percent as of last month, compared with 14.3 percent in June 2011.

Breaking down the results by device, the iPad was the leader in June … Read more

It's looking grim for RIM

Friday's show may start off grim, but there's cake at the end. No lie!

It's a bad day for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. The company's earnings call was three layers of ugly. BlackBerry 10 devices will be delayed until the first quarter of 2013. The company is cutting 5,000 jobs (that's a third of its employees). And it suffered a huge operating loss for the quarter. (Hence the job cuts.) RIM's stock dropped 19% when the markets closed Friday.

Apple has a new stand-alone podcast app. It's a new a way … Read more

Google's advice for RIM (but they're not listening)

No one reason can fully explain why certain tech companies rock while others seem congenitally unable to add two plus two. Especially when you're talking about the soap opera atmosphere around Research In Motion, where the news goes from bad to worse.

On the back of new downgrades following the release of the company's fiscal first quarter earnings, RIM shares were trading down today more than 18 percent.

It was just happenstance, but RIM's earnings report hit the wire while Google was playing host to thousands of developers who had come to San Francisco to attend the … Read more

For RIM, 3 last-minute choices

Did you bring popcorn? Research in Motion's first-quarter earnings report was a blast -- in the literal explosive sense.

A little less than a year ago, ZDNet's Jason Perlow predicted three outcomes for the BlackBerry maker: independence, assimilation, or oblivion.

The company was given three valid options -- and it still had time on its side -- to pull itself out of the then-quagmire it had found itself in.

But RIM failed to adapt and compete, and announced its first ever quarterly operating loss.

RIM said yesterday it would layoff 5,000 employees, dropping the total employee count … Read more

RIM shares plummet as investors worry about the future

The bad news just keeps coming for Research In Motion.

In early trading today, the company's shares have shaved off 17 percent to land at $7.55. The trading is the first chance for investors to offer up their opinion on the company's bleak fiscal first-quarter earnings that made many wonder if the end is near.

RIM's shares ended the day down 19 percent to $7.39.

During its fiscal first quarter, RIM lost a whopping $518 million, a catastrophic decline compared to the $695 million profit it posted during the same period last year. Quarterly sales … Read more