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Blackberry 10 Launch Event January 30
Here Comes RIM's Last Gasp at Relevance

Research in Motion has announced that they'll be holding a launch event for their upcoming line of new Blackberry 10 smartphones on January 30. According to a company blog post, the event will take place at several locations simultaneously around the world, and will of course prominently feature the Blackberry L series (all touchscreen) and N series (physical keyboard) phones, as well as the new OS, new design elements (BlackBerry Flow and BlackBerry Hub) and new features. The devices are RIM's last chance to salvage their dwindling market position in a now-Apple and Android dominated market.

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The new platform and devices were unveiled back in May, but have seen consistent launch delays. New RIM CEO Thorsten Heins had this to say about the upcoming launch:
quote:
Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities. All of this will be integrated into a user experience – the BlackBerry Flow – that is unlike any smartphone on the market today. Thanks to our strong partnerships with global carriers and a growing ecosystem of developers, we believe our customers will have the best experience possible with BlackBerry 10. We are looking forward to getting BlackBerry 10 in the hands of our customers around the world."
RIM's biggest customers continue to be government and enterprise users, and the company notes they've received FIPS 140-2 certification for the platform, meaning it can be used as soon as it's available. Hopefully that's not too far after the January 30 announcement.
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amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America

amungus

Premium Member

good luck

Best of luck, RIM. Looking forward to checking one of these out.
Due to nearly everyone cycling over to other devices, we went from around 70 BES users, to under 10 in less than two years.

To be honest, it does look like "10" will be pretty slick.
corinthos
join:2007-10-09

corinthos

Member

Re: good luck

That is how it went where I worked. It was more like 300 down to under 60 from 3 years ago until two septembers ago when we stopped using BES. Set up crappy OWA access for the few that were left that forwarded through bis for email. They decided they could just go to computer to find their contacts since it wasn't worth managing it for the few that did still own it.
The funny thing is almost all of the people that still carried the blackberry phones all had old 2G ones. Mainly the 8300-30 curves.

BillRoland
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL

BillRoland

Premium Member

Hard sell

Missing the holiday shopping season this year is really going to put them on an uphill climb. Android and iOS are entrenched, and Windows Phone is a decent platform alternative.

The question in my mind is how patient the shareholders will be if this thing doesn't take off like gangbusters.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member

Re: Hard sell

said by BillRoland:

Missing the holiday shopping season this year is really going to put them on an uphill climb. Android and iOS are entrenched, and Windows Phone is a decent platform alternative.

The question in my mind is how patient the shareholders will be if this thing doesn't take off like gangbusters.

This is the problem, people like yourself who are more concerned about "markets" then product.

You need a new phone for Christmas , for back to school, for Valentines day.. etc.

Let the product stand on it's own and F the market.

scaredpoet
join:2001-03-26
Monmouth Junction, NJ

scaredpoet

Member

Re: Hard sell

said by elwoodblues:

This is the problem, people like yourself who are more concerned about "markets" then product.

You need a new phone for Christmas , for back to school, for Valentines day.. etc.

Whether you choose to accept it or not, mobile devices are now consumer-driven, and consumers tend to buy up at specific times of the year, like Christmas. And so, that's the "market." Whether that's fair to RIM, or fits in your little paradigm, is immaterial. Don't like it? Too bad. It's reality.

The fact remains that a very large portion of people likely to buy smartphones will be doing it around Christmastime. Which means millions of people will be locked into new contracts before a new Blackberry is worth even considering buying. That's the market. It is what it is.

Let the product stand on it's own and F the market.

That's like saying "F water." You can hate water all you like, but you must drink it to survive.

Likewise, you can dislike "the market" all you wish, but if a company's business depends on making money off a product (last I checked, most businesses DO depend on this), and people aren't willing to give you that money because they already spent it on something else that does the same job, well, that's a reality that must be faced.
markf
join:2008-01-24
Scarborough, ON

markf

Member

Re: Hard sell

Realistically RIM would have to have the phone ready and in full production right now to hit the Christmas season. Releasing in mid-February at the latest gives time to finish carrier testing and ensure the product is as perfect as possible before release.

They have another 6 - 8 weeks to get things finished, rather than releasing by the end of next week. They could have released for Christmas, but there are already a number of new phones on the crowded market this year.

Releasing in February will give time for people to learn about BB10, build a user base and create the necessary buzz for BB10 to take off for next year's back to school and Christmas seasons. By then it will be more mature, proven, yet still fresh unless Apple's next iOS is all new from the ground up.

I can see it now. "BB10 fails to impress with slow Christmas sales". Releasing on RIM's timeline gives the company an opportunity to build sales without the pressure of holiday competition.

People also replace phones all year, so there is always opportunity. There are 80 million BlackBerry users and growing (even though OS7 is months away from death).

I do wonder how many of those predicting RIM's imminent demise have actually seen BB10 in action. It is impressive and I am sure will do just fine. 5 or 10% of the growing pie is decent and enough to make good money on. They don't have to be number 1 to be considered successful.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Blackberry Balance makes the difference

I always loved my blackberries, except web browsing sucked big time and anything else to do with apps.

If RIM can get similar features, better office integration, and blackberry balance (separating user/corp) this would be a big win for those corporate types.

Even today my "progressive" company only allows blackberry and iphone on their network (they say android is a sieve).

This device probably will be aimed at business users, however I don't see this being a big hit with the kiddie types because that ship has already sailed and you will need a proper tablet ecosystem to compete in lifestyle segments.

The big competitors in this space will be winphone 8 and iphone. Android is still way too immature in this space. Obviously windoze will have office integration and the security holes that come with it, and the phone will have Jobs idea of openness on it.

The only clear feature that stands out is how "balance" works out.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Looks like an iPhone

Looks like everyone is copying Apple now. Hard to argue with success.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Looks like an iPhone

said by fifty nine:

Looks like everyone is copying Apple now.


gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Re: Looks like an iPhone

Why is that statement not accurate for you? The iPhone was released in 2007 as the first full fledged touch screen smartphone. Say what you want about Apple, but if it wasn't for the release of the iPhone, Android wouldn't be what it is today.

NOCTech75
Premium Member
join:2009-06-29
Marietta, GA

NOCTech75

Premium Member

Re: Looks like an iPhone

said by gigahurtz:

Why is that statement not accurate for you? The iPhone was released in 2007 as the first full fledged touch screen smartphone. Say what you want about Apple, but if it wasn't for the release of the iPhone, Android wouldn't be what it is today.

And if touch screens were never invented the iPhone would never be released.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

1 recommendation

88615298 (banned) to gigahurtz

Member

to gigahurtz
Yes Apple invented the concept of a rectangle phone with rounded corners


G1dd1ty
@start.ca

G1dd1ty to gigahurtz

Anon

to gigahurtz
And if it wasn't for Rim and Blackberry, Apple wouldn't be what it is today.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven to gigahurtz

Member

to gigahurtz
said by gigahurtz:

The iPhone was released in 2007 as the first full fledged touch screen smartphone.

Bull. Nokia did. »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_7710
said by gigahurtz:

Say what you want about Apple, but if it wasn't for the release of the iPhone, Android wouldn't be what it is today.

Oh, I can be thankful for the iPhone. Thanks for having my bill skyrocket and making truly unlimited plans history. Thanks for ditching OS upgrades on older devices and keeping third party OS devs locked out, thereby forcing you to buy yet another iPhone (or iPod/iPad/iWhatever).

It is a proven fact. Anytime a company starts selling the iPhone, the unlimited data plans go away and get replaced with tiers that are even more expensive.

I do find it funny that Apple is now copying Android.. yet they claim they're not.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer to fifty nine

Premium Member

to fifty nine
Well it does appear to be rectangular, and have rounded corners, and a touch screen. I guess the RIM lawyers decided that Apple would not consider the new BB to be as much of a threat as Samsung.

Subaru
1-3-2-4
Premium Member
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT

Subaru

Premium Member

Re: Looks like an iPhone

said by NetFixer:

Well it does appear to be rectangular, and have rounded corners, and a touch screen. I guess the RIM lawyers decided that Apple would not consider the new BB to be as much of a threat as Samsung.

I guess they figure the BB 10 wont out sell the iphone like the samsung did, so apple is not scared.
tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT

tcope to fifty nine

Premium Member

to fifty nine
Might want to check when the G1 was released...

In 2007... a few months after the iPhone. So obviously Google did not copy the iPhone... unless they are so good that they can do it in the matter of a few months.

Copy Apple... is that sarcasm?

bmetelsky
Premium Member
join:2005-10-16
Elyria, OH

bmetelsky

Premium Member

DOA

I saw somewhere, not too long ago, that predictions are this phone will be DOA. Too little, too late.......
st7860
join:2004-05-13
San Francisco, CA

1 edit

st7860

Member

research in motion

Business customers are the only thing keeping RIM afloat for now..
tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT

tcope

Premium Member

RIMs future....

Will the last one out of the building, please turn off the lights.