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Saavn has been hailed as India’s Spotify. But with much of its customer base being in India and much of its catalog being Bollywood fare, things work a little different for the company. One example: Saavn has high hopes for its Blackberry and Symbian apps. Read More »

New Research in Motion boss Thorsten Heins says that Europe — where the BlackBerry’s market share remains higher than in the U.S. — can save it from the brink of disaster. But he’s wrong: the reality is that the only thing that can save it is … Read More »

 
 

Research In Motion’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins, held his first conference call on Monday morning, reiterating his view that the company is not in need of a major shakeup but instead some improvements in processes, marketing and consumer focus. Read More »

Toronto-based Polar Mobile, which provides a digital media distribution platform powering the apps of some of the biggest media companies in the world, including Conde Nast, Sports Illustrated and The Wall Street Journal, announced a new $6 million funding round on Monday. Read More »

RIM has announced it has replaced co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie with Thorsten Heins, the current COO. The change was necessary but Heins will have to make a clear break from RIM’s past performance, which at least initially he doesn’t appear anxious to do. Read More »

IOS’ year end surge has helped close the gap on Android in the U.S., with December sales hitting 44.5 percent of all smartphones, just behind Android at 46.9 percent, according to new data from Nielsen. Android and iOS continue to separate from fast-fading BlackBerry. Read More »

What consumers need to understand and embrace NFC is a gateway drug. And that is not likely to be mobile payments, said Andrew Bocking, Vice President, Handheld Software Product Management at RIM. It’s more likely to be personal content sharing through NFC-enabled phones. Read More »

After the year RIM has had, it appears co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie may be losing their co-chairmen titles, according to a report in the Financial Post. But will such a move be enough to right RIM’s ship? Read More »

It wasn’t just here in the U.S. and it wasn’t just iPhone users; the mobile app obsession has gone global and is now bigger than ever. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting statistics involving the abundance of mobile apps we devoured this year. Read More »

Which apps were the best rated and most buzzed about in 2011? That’s a question that app rating analytics firm Mobilewalla tackled, coming up with a list of the top five paid and free apps on four of the biggest mobile platforms. Read More »

IOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 have collectively hit 991,524 apps available in their stores with the big million unit milestone set to be reached in the next day, said an analytics firm. It’s a reminder of just how big this modern app market is. Read More »

Research In Motion announced on Friday it was writing down the value of its BlackBerry PlayBooks, taking a mostly noncash charge of $485 million of $360 million after taxes, due to lower-than-expected sales of its tablet. The company also lowered its guidance and outlook. Read More »

More Must Reads

If you can’t beat iOS and Android devices in the market, you might as well secure them. That seems to be the stance of RIM, which is launching a device-management and security service for IT departments called Mobile Fusion that builds off its BlackBerry Enterprise Servers. Read More »

One in every two smartphones sold in the world is an Android device, according to Gartner, which said that Google’s mobile platform has doubled its share in the past year and surged to a 52.5 percent smartphone market share worldwide in the third quarter. Read More »

RIM is trying even harder to stoke some demand for its unloved tablet, introducing a new “buy two, get one free” offer on PlayBooks through the rest of the year. It’s a desperate move for a company that can’t seem to execute. Read More »

Research In Motion has another headache with a trademark lawsuit over its new BBX operating system name. Basis International, a New Mexico software company, has followed up with threats against RIM with a lawsuit claiming that it owns the trademark to the BBX name. Read More »

RIM responded to its worst outage ever by giving away $100 worth of apps. And it’s throwing in a month of free tech support. It’s an unsatisfactory gesture and another case of RIM not communicating well enough with consumers who need more reasons to stick around. Read More »

What started as a brief message interruption for BlackBerry users in Europe has now become a worldwide problem that has left millions of people unable to get service — and highlights the leadership problems at the top of Research in Motion. Read More »

Group messaging app Kik, which got off to a fast start before it was banned by Research In Motion, is back with a new app for BlackBerry devices. The new Java ME-based app will be distributed directly by Kik and brings back cross-platform support. Read More »

Appcelerator has built up a community of 1.5 million developers that have used its cross-platform development tool to build more than 25,000 apps for iOS, Android and BlackBerry. Now it’s looking to turn that community into a selling opportunity by launching a marketplace for software modules. Read More »

Research in Motion struggled through a tough quarter — with revenue, profits and shipments down as it waited for a new generation of handsets to kickstart sales. The newest BlackBerry 7 devices are selling well, but the real turnaround will hinge on QNX-based devices out next … Read More »

Proposals to give police the power to shut down social networks in Britain — proposed as a dramatic reaction to the riots that spread across the country this month — appear to have been dumped by the government. A victory for sensible people everywhere, or a … Read More »

After a weekend of riots in London, reports are spreading suggesting that mobs are using BlackBerry Messenger to organize themselves. That news may come as a surprise, but it’s really just evidence of how popular the brand is in the inner city. Read More »

While almost no one is looking forward to Los Angeles’ so-called Carmageddon, an upcoming closure of a busy freeway, crowd-sourced traffic app Waze sees an opportunity to shine. The company is teaming with the local ABC affiliate to beef up ABC’s real-time traffic information for drivers. … Read More »

An open letter by a RIM executive describes the problems the company is facing and what it needs to do to come back. But it also highlights how precarious the situation is for RIM, which can’t afford to lose the trust of its employees. Read More »

Mobile virtualization is hot topic today for businesses and consumers alike as enterprise employers keep their eye on security while employees just want a device that works for them, rather than one device for business and another for personal use. Read More »

Research In Motion, already struggling to keep up with nimble competitors, signaled that its attempts to catch up are falling behind. The company reported first quarter fiscal 2012 earnings, coming in below expectations for handsets sold and revenue with lowered guidance for the year. Read More »

RIM, the company behind the iconic BlackBerry line of smartphones is rumored to be teaming up with YOU i Labs, an Ontario-based company that is known for having developed Sense-like user experience layer. What does that mean? An enhanced Blackberry UI for starters. Read More »

Developers apparently were tuned into the tablet parade at CES and are making bets on the armada of Android tablets, the iPad and the BlackBerry PlayBook. This is the gist of the most recent Q1 2011 Appcelerator developer survey, which polled developers right after CES. Read More »

While Android surges among new smartphone buyers, Apple iOS continues to hold on to the overall marketshare lead, though still within spitting distance of a fading BlackBerry OS and a hard-charging Android OS, according to the latest figures from the Nielsen Company. Read More »

Research In Motion handset sales are up 40 percent from a year ago, but most of that growth was outside of the U.S. as consumers and enterprises adopt iPhones and Android handsets. RIM hopes to turn the tide with its enterprise-focused Playbook tablet next quarter. Read More »

There seems to be an app for everything these days, and that include crime fighting. The Dallas Police offer free software for most smartphone platforms that help residents report crimes, submit tips and even send pictures which can help law enforcement catch the bad guys! Read More »

Research in Motion still has a few months before it launches PlayBook, but the company showed it’s prepared to compete, with the announcement today that it has bought Swedish design firm The Astonishing Tribe, a respected team respected for its take on mobile screens. Read More »

Not content with pulling Kik’s cross-platform messaging app from BlackBerry App World, Research In Motion has filed a patent infringement suit against Kik in Canada. While RIM should protect its intellectual property, this is another example of companies attempting to maintain control of the mobile space. Read More »

The fast growing sales of Android-based smartphones and Apple’s iPhone means that the onus is on Nokia and Research In Motion to come up with compelling and competing products says Neville Ray, chief technology officer of T-Mobile USA. Read More »

The U.S. will join Japan next year in the $1 billion mobile advertising club, and is expected to generate five times that figure by 2015. Mobile ad dollars are flowing towards smartphone activities such as apps and media activities, but search ads still rule the roost. Read More »

The BlackBerry Partners Fund is reorganizing its management structure to help it focus exclusively on mobile ventures. The $150 million fund will now have a consolidated investment team based in Toronto and will open an office in Silicon Valley by early 2011. Read More »

How much time does the average Android smartphone user spend in third-party apps? Nearly 42 minutes daily, which is significantly higher than on competing platforms. So why does such facetime in apps matter? It’s all about the mobile advertising as Google’s competitors try to catch up. Read More »

Research In Motion today added purchase and download functionality to its BlackBerry App World website, which could increase the number of app installs. Apple’s web storefront only supports discovery and still requires iTunes on the desktop, while Google has only demonstrated a web-based store for Android. Read More »

Appbackr is introducing the wholesale model to iOS apps, giving developers a new way to move their apps. The Appbackr Marketplace, launching in beta this week, allows buyers to purchase a bulk number of apps from a developer at a lower price, then sell them. Read More »

Now that RIM, Nokia and Microsoft have new smartphones to challenge Apple and Google, a question of platform investment comes into play. At what point do consumers feel they’ve spent too much on mobile apps for one device to keep them from switching operating systems? Read More »

After watching a demonstration of Windows Phone 7, it’s clear that Microsoft is going “all in” by reinventing its smartphone OS. Nokia and RIM both recently introduced new platforms too, but chose not to alienate their current user base with radical change. What a missed opportunity. Read More »

BlackBerry phones in the United Arab Emirates will continue to operate following the news that RIM has reached an agreement with the country to avert a shut-off. The question: How exactly did RIM avoid an Oct. 11 deadline for the suspension of service? Read More »

There’s a reason why RIM unveiled its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet at a developer event. It’s because the device is the company’s best shot at greatly expanding its developer base well beyond the 300,000 or so developers it now has. Read More »

RIM confirmed rumors of a tablet by introducing the BlackBerry PlayBook, a powerful 7-inch device that will offer a dual-core 1GHz processor, full HTML 5 browser, Flash 10.1 with video acceleration, 1 GB of RAM, 1080p playback with HDMI output and two HD cameras, all built … Read More »

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