GigaOM » BlackBerry 10

With negative surveys, high return rates, BlackBerry 10 software improvements may be on the way

Kevin C. Tofel — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:09:47 +0000

Updated. BlackBerry’s next software update could arrive with the company’s second handset, the BlackBerry Q10. Pre-orders for the smartphone with physical keyboard have already started and now a BlackBerry enthusiast site claims to have information on the updated software, which will also be pushed to the currently available BlackBerry Z10.

Some of the expected improvements, says the BBNews blog, are support for sending PIN-based text messages in the BlackBerry Hub, an update to the camera to support HDR photos, and BlackBerry Link, which is a way to browse data files on a remote computer. The blog, based in Poland, isn’t one I’ve followed prior, but the reported features don’t sound far-fetched. Even if these functions do arrive on BlackBerry 10 devices soon, they can’t come soon enough.

A survey by Raymond James, reported by AllThingsD on Thursday, show that 71 percent of survey participants would never use a BlackBerry. That compares to 31.3 percent who have no interest in using Android, while 19.7 percent say nothing would get them to buy an iPhone.

Additionally, analysts are starting to dig deeper in BlackBerry 10 sales figures and finding that return rates are rising. “In several cases, returns are now exceeding sales, a phenomenon we have never seen before,” noted analyst Detwiler Fenton in statement to Bloomberg. Fenton says the unintuitive interface is a barrier, which could be the case, although there are only a handful of gestures needed to use the phone in my experience.

The bigger issue in my mind? Marketing. I haven’t seen the type of media blitz on television or elsewhere that Samsung and Apple typically use to promote their products. Software improvements are welcome — as are more native apps from top-tier development shops — but even the best products on the planet will never reach their sales potential without good old marketing.

Update: BlackBerry is refuting the return figures and seeking government review of the analyst statements.

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Did British spies shoot down BlackBerry 10 for security reasons? Not quite

David Meyer — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:50:13 +0000

According to a report in The Guardian (see disclosure), the latest BlackBerry devices have been deemed insufficiently secure for government use in the UK. The article maintains that Communications-Electronics Security Group (CESG) – the information assurance wing of intelligence agency GCHQ – examined the Z10 and its BlackBerry 10 software, concluding that their implementation of the BlackBerry Balance work-life-separation feature fails the government’s strict security requirements.

This would be a terrible blow to BlackBerry, which desperately needs BlackBerry 10 to succeed if the company as a whole is to survive. BlackBerry’s biggest selling point has always been its security, and indeed version 7.1 of the software was approved by CESG just last November. The only problem is that – according to both BlackBerry and CESG – the Z10 and its OS have not been nixed.

Here’s what CESG said:

“Discussions with BlackBerry are ongoing about the use of the BlackBerry 10 platform in government. We have not yet performed an evaluation of the security of that platform, but we expect to be issuing Platform Guidance in the summer. This will cover a number of platforms including Blackberry 10 (and the use of ‘Balance’).

“We have a long standing security partnership with BlackBerry and this gives us confidence that the BlackBerry 10 platform is likely to represent a viable solution for UK Government.”

As for BlackBerry itself, the company called The Guardian‘s report, and others repeating its claims, “false and misleading”:

“BlackBerry has a long-established relationship with CESG and we remain the only mobile solution approved for use at ‘Restricted’ when configured in accordance with CESG guidelines. This level of approval only comes following a process which is rigorous and absolutely necessary given the highly confidential nature of the communications being transmitted.

“The current re-structuring of this approval process, due to the Government Protective Marking Scheme review and the new CESG Commercial Product Assurance scheme has an impact on the timeline for BlackBerry 10 to receive a similar level of approval.

BlackBerry went on to point out that both the U.S. and German authorities have given BlackBerry 10 the all-clear, and it expects the British to do the same.

So what’s going on here? If you look very carefully at the wording of the denials, the anonymous sources that informed the original article may well have been correct – it could still be the case that the Z10 flubbed a specific test, resulting in CESG going back to BlackBerry and asking them to fix the problem. This would qualify as “ongoing discussions”, and when CESG says it has “not yet performed an evaluation of the security of that platform”, those words could be taken to mean the full evaluation has not yet been completed.

However, it is certainly not the case that the Z10 and BlackBerry 10 have been rejected outright by the UK’s spooks and their vetting processes. We’re probably looking at a situation where BlackBerry will update the platform, and CESG will take another look before drawing firm conclusions.

For now, BlackBerry can continue to claim the security cred it so desperately needs.

Disclosure: Guardian News & Media, which publishes The Guardian, is a minority investor in GigaOM.

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That Skype for BlackBerry 10 app? It’ll be an old Android port

Kevin C. Tofel — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:59:07 +0000

Updated. At the BlackBerry 10 launch event last week, Skype was mentioned as one of the apps “committed” to the new BB 10 platform. The app isn’t here yet, but there’s news about it: Skype for BlackBerry 10 will be a port of Skype for Android, per Skype’s own support page. The Verge spotted the information and notes that the supported Android runtimes for BB 10 are based on Android 2.3.3, which are more than two years old.

That means Skype for BlackBerry 10 — or any other Android port, for that matter — won’t have all of the modern feature or functions of a Android application supporting Android 4.0 or better. Earlier this week, BlackBerry said that Android 4.1 runtime support could become available in a future update. So once Skype for BlackBerry 10 does appear, don’t be surprised if it looks and feels a little different from the current Android app.

Having attended the BlackBerry 10 event, I’ll admit to feeling a little misled. When a company says it has application commitments for Skype, Amazon Kindle and other apps, I think it reasonable to expect it means native applications.

And what does it say that certain developers are simply going to port an existing app instead of optimizing their software for the platform? I see it as a general lack of confidence in the platform, although to be fair to BlackBerry, in this case, that developer is a close competitor: Microsoft.

I’ll be very curious to see when other high-profile apps that committed to the platform actually deliver the goods. Will they bring old Android apps or actually invest themselves in BlackBerry 10?

Update:

After publication of this post, I received the following quote from a Skype spokesperson:

“You are correct that the Skype app coming to BlackBerry 10 is our very popular Skype for Android app. We are excited that BlackBerry is enabling Android apps like Skype for Android run great on BB10, and are fully supporting the Android runtime environment and Android tools for BlackBerry 10. This allows us to leverage our existing Skype for Android development efforts to quickly have the latest version of our app (Skype for Android 3.1) ready for BlackBerry 10. We are closely collaborating with BlackBerry to ensure the app runs well and that BlackBerry 10 users will have a great Skype experience. To that end, we are working closely with BlackBerry to open up some of the integration points available to native apps in the OS so that they can also be used by the Skype application and we expect the app will allow Skype users to see notifications, to start the app from the Hub, and to see their Skype contacts in the native phone book.”

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Two days with the BlackBerry Z10: Some likes, some dislikes

Kevin C. Tofel — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:38:33 +0000

It hasn’t quite been 48 hours since I left Wednesday’s BlackBerry 10 event with the new Z10 handset, so I can’t provide a full review yet. Stay tuned for that next week. However, as I formulate the review, I’m definitely seeing things I really like about the new product, as well as a few aspects that have me scratching my head.

In no particular order then are some thoughts on the experience, both good and bad. I think many of the shortcomings can (and will) be resolved over time, but of course, you should always buy a product for what it does now, as well as for your specific needs.

The Z10 hardware is impressive. Great display, responsive and has a nice texture on the back, making it comfortable to hold. It weighs a little more than the iPhone 5 and is a smidge thicker, but doesn’t feel bulky at all.
I haven’t used the camera except for a few stills, so I can’t comment. I did read about poor low light camera performance, which I’ll test.
Battery life has me concerned, particular because I’ve been using the device on Wi-Fi only until this morning; I’m now using a nano SIM with adapter. I got through the day yesterday but not with heavy usage; I’ll say moderate with little video playback. Battery level was 20 percent at the end of the day.
I like that there’s no hardware “home” button. BlackBerry’s gestures are quite good — they were on the PlayBook too — and bring more functionality.
There’s also no “home” screen in the traditional sense. If no apps are running, you start with a grid of apps. Open an app, slide up to minimize it and it dynamically becomes a widget on a new main screen. Eight of these are supported at one time; plenty for me and easy to switch through. I can navigate through my open apps and tasks quite fast. Here’s a look:
Love the “peek” gesture which shows the number of messages; to see this, you slide up the screen from the bottom during any activity.
While the BlackBerry Hub function is smart — this consolidates mail, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, BBM — it is slow to start up when powering on the device and it can be lacking. You can reply to a Tweet, for example, but I don’t see a way to retweet; for that I seem to have to go into the Twitter client. It’s also a pain to delete all of the tweets and Facebook updates from the Hub to remove clutter. Here’s an example with tweets, Facebook status updates and read email:
The software keyboard is outstanding. So much so, that on a recent podcast, I said it may be the best for any platform. Even though I generally use two thumbs for on-screen keyboards, I’m cranking out text with one hand due to the word prediction over the next letter of each typed word.
Email is generally good, but you can’t move from message to message; every email action takes you back to the inbox. Ugh.
The web browser is solid and fast. Adobe Flash is supported for those that care, but turned off by default. Search suggestions are good. Zooming and scrolling is fluid; page loads appear fast. I like the Reader function; same as in iOS.
Sharing information is similar to Android, meaning: great! Sharing a web page, for example, brings up options for BBM, mail, Facebook, Twitter, Bluetooth, NFC, etc…
The lack of apps that I use on other devices is concerning. BlackBerry has commitments for Skype, Amazon Kindle and others, but they’re not there. Nor is Netflix, any recognizable top-tier games, or my offline reading platforms. Google Talk is there, but no Google Voice; a must for me on any phone. YouTube is the HTML 5 mobile site wrapped up.

I have plenty more to test; as I said, the full review will be coming soon. For now, my gut still says what it said before I even used the phone and platform: Existing BlackBerry users will be happy, but at this point in time, I don’t see many people switching to BB 10. That may change over time as more apps arrive and the platform matures.

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Video: First look at the Z10 with BlackBerry 10

Kevin C. Tofel — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:50:18 +0000

After sitting through the BlackBerry 10 Experience launch event on Wednesday morning — here’s the liveblog if you want a recap — I left the venue with two things: A Z10 review phone and a question about who BlackBerry 10 will appeal to. I can’t answer the latter yet, although I think the main audience will be existing BlackBerry users. As far as the phone: My very first limited impressions are generally positive.

Here’s a quick unboxing of the device which will launch in the U.S. in March. Overall, the hardware is very solid and the performance of BB 10 is spritely. I also run through the full specifications as they weren’t covered at the event.

Watch this video for free on GigaOM

I couldn’t yet get the phone set up as I’ll need a micro SIM card, so I’ll tackle that upon returning home later today. That’s when I’ll take a deep dive into the new BB 10 features, gestures software and services.

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BlackBerry 10 smartphone launch gets a few cheers, a bunch of jeers and a lot of meh

Mathew Ingram — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:21:39 +0000

Research In Motion, the perennial also-ran of the smartphone world, took a bold step towards reversing its declining fortunes on Wednesday, with the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 line of phones — and a surprising re-branding of the company that will see it become BlackBerry instead of RIM. Amid the deluge of live-blogs (including our own, from Kevin Tofel in New York) and embargoed reviews, the reaction to the launch included some expressions of grudging respect for its new products, but also a lot of “where was this two years ago” responses.

On the positive side, a number of those watching either live or on a livestream said that BlackBerry had caught up and possibly even surpassed other platforms like Apple’s iOS, Android and Windows 8, and that the company had a fighting chance of remaining relevant:

I am actually genuinely excited about BlackBerry 10. It looks like it has potential.
—
Tom Warren (@tomwarren) January 30, 2013

.@Pogue on the BlackBerry Z10: "It's lovely, fast and efficient, bristling with fresh, useful ideas" nyti.ms/WBgM4j
—
The New York Times (@nytimes) January 30, 2013

#BB10 definitely meets needs for launch. Momentum, execution and of course perception will be key.
—
Michael Gartenberg (@Gartenberg) January 30, 2013

I said it before and I'll say it again: If RIM/Blackberry is indeed on its last legs, it's going to go down swinging.
—
Arik Hesseldahl (@ahess247) January 30, 2013

At least one enthusiastic BlackBerry supporter even went so far as to say that Steve Jobs would be jealous of what the company had announced:

Can someone check Steve Jobs' grave? This #BlackBerry10 is looking like a major threat to $AAPL. Steve might be spinning right now.
—
Michael Hainsworth (@hainsworthtv) January 30, 2013

But there were just as many — or more — responses that criticized BlackBerry for being late to the party, and for only now coming up with the kinds of features and apps that iPhone and even Android have had for some time. CNN Money said that the Z10 was the kind of phone BlackBerry “should have made years ago” and that while there were some good ideas in it, “Everything still feels a generation behind.”

BB10 pitch so far: "You like Instagram? FaceTime? That Apple collage-maker thing? We have stuff like that now!"
—
Omar El Akkad (@omarelakkad) January 30, 2013

Breaking news: The Titanic has just been renamed Blackberry
—
Cathleen Ritt (@CathleenRitt) January 30, 2013

congratulations blackberry on creating an operating system that is competitive with Palm OS
—
Ed Zitron (@edzitron) January 30, 2013

RIM will announce today that they’re almost feature parity to 2010 with other major smartphone platforms.
—
Glenn Fleishman (@GlennF) January 30, 2013

You've had exodus of millions of Blackberry users to iOS/Android now. To think that a clone touchscreen will save you is business insanity.
—
Shervin Pishevar (@shervin) January 30, 2013

In his review, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and All Things Digital said that the company had “reinvented itself” with its new devices, but also called it a “work in progress” and noted that the new phones lacked some of the features — and many of the apps — that users of other platforms were used to:

“Overall, it worked fine in my tests, but I found it a work in progress. I liked some things a lot, including the way RIM has designed its new virtual keyboard and camera, and the way it gathers all your messages into a single Hub. But it will launch with just a fraction of the apps available from its competitors, and is missing some very popular titles…. and there are other missing or lagging features.”

One of the early awkward notes in the presentation — at least for some attendees and observers — was a public thank-you from CEO Thorsten Heins to former co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis:

"Thank you for guiding us in the future" says RIM's CEO to the ex-co-CEO that drove it into the ground. live.theverge.com/blackberry-10-… #BlackBerry10
—
Ross Miller (@ohnorosco) January 30, 2013

Only RIM would salute the two gentlemen who put the company in a desperate hole at the event designed to get out of that hole.
—
Tom Krazit (@tomkrazit) January 30, 2013

The renaming of the company sparked some positive comments, but also drew a lot of snarky responses about how no one really knew what Research In Motion stood for anyway — and also a comment about how much pressure the name change puts on the company to succeed with the BlackBerry revamp:

Research in Motion has renamed itself Blackberry. Everyone outside Waterloo: "You mean Blackberry isn't their name?"
—
David J. MacKay (@DavidJMacKay) January 30, 2013

So the guys who joked that RIM would die before it launched BlackBerry 10 were technically accurate.
—
Vlad Savov (@vladsavov) January 30, 2013

RIM is now just BlackBerry. Less confusing! Also a reminder if the new phones don't work the company is dead. They have nothing else.
—
John Herrman (@jwherrman) January 30, 2013

The RIM rebranding news is arguably a bigger deal than either individual device.
—
nilay patel (@reckless) January 30, 2013

Funny, when Apple Computer -> Apple, it signaled a broadening of focus/products. RIM -> BlackBerry doesn't quite make the same statement.
—
Jeremy Horwitz (@horwitz) January 30, 2013

Then it was on to the details of the two handsets, the Z10 and the Q10 — the former a touchscreen model and the latter featuring a QWERTY keyboard, which has been BlackBerry’s key differentiator from other smartphones for some time. After some talk about the hardware design, the company went into details about what apps would be available, and there was some optimism but also much skepticism:

@kady @thehartley Yes, whatever will we do without 457 flashlight apps?
—
Anthony Reinhart (@ajreinhart) January 30, 2013

…..Who the hell requires you to reboot your device when you install apps?
—
Armando Rodriguez (@megapenguinx) January 30, 2013

BB10 has 70,000 apps to choose from at launch. About one-tenth what you'll find on Apple/Android.
—
Omar El Akkad (@omarelakkad) January 30, 2013

Fun seeing BlackBerry users discover video chat seemingly for the first time. FaceTime, Google Talk and Skype would like to say hi!
—
Jon Fingas (@jonfingas) January 30, 2013

In a mammoth review of the touch-screen Z10, Joshua Topolsky of The Verge said that there were many things to like about it, but lots of things not to like as well — and the bottom line seemed to be a definite “meh”:

“The Z10 is a good smartphone. Frankly, it’s a better smartphone than I expected from RIM at this stage in the game. It does everything a modern phone should do, usually without hesitation. It doesn’t do everything perfectly, but it does many things — most things — reasonably well. The problem with the Z10 is that it doesn’t necessarily do anything better than any of its competition.”

Towards the end of the presentation, the BlackBerry CEO announced that singer Alicia Keys would be the company’s new “global creative director,” and like most of the other announcements by the company at the launch, this also drew a lot of snark:

Everything about this #BB10 keynote impressed me, up until the point where they jumped on the Celebrity Executive Announcement trend. Sigh.
—
Jon Crowley (@joncrowley) January 30, 2013

Because the celebrity creative director thing worked out so well for Polaroid and @ladygaga.
—
(@joemfbrown) January 30, 2013

Appropriate Blackberry pick Alicia Keys. She was last relevant what seems like a lifetime ago too...
—
Luke McGee (@lukemcgee85) January 30, 2013

BlackBerry announces Alicia Keyes as its new "global creative director." I am really not sure what that means.
—
(@Dan_Rowinski) January 30, 2013

So does the BlackBerry 10 launch mark the rebirth of a revitalized company, ready to take on Apple, Android and Windows for smartphone supremacy? It’s probably safe to say that view would be in the minority — and the most common response was a virtual shrug:

I give #Blackberry10 a solid meh.
—
Romit Mehta (@TheRomit) January 30, 2013

It’s still early days, of course, but that’s not a great harbinger of success for the company, which has so much riding on a recovery — and perhaps even more important, the stock market seemed to be shrugging its shoulders (or even frowning) at the announcement as well:

In his review of the Z10, New York Times technology writer David Pogue apologized for saying RIM was dead before, but still wound up sitting on the fence about whether the device would be enough to save the company:

“These days, excellence in a smartphone isn’t enough. Microsoft’s phone is terrific, too, and hardly anyone will touch it. So then: Is the delightful BlackBerry Z10 enough to save its company? Honestly? It could go either way. But this much is clear: BlackBerry is no longer an incompetent mess — and its doom is no longer assured.”

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Live blog: RIM hopes for a revival with BlackBerry 10

Kevin C. Tofel — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:40:41 +0000

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Live blog: RIM hopes for a revival with BlackBerry 10

Kevin C. Tofel — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:00:53 +0000

Research in Motion executives delivered what was probably the most important product presentation in the company’s history Wednesday. After years of struggling in the wake of Apple’s iPhone launch to come up with an answer to a product that changed the world, RIM is finally ready to unveil its BlackBerry 10 handsets, the first RIM devices to use a modernized mobile operating system.

I described the morning’s events as they unfolded here. I’ll have more coverage soon, but for a preview, check out my story earlier this week, “After a rise and fall, BlackBerry 10 is RIM’s last, best comeback attempt.” And for the early peanut-gallery reaction to RIM’s (now known only as BlackBerry) announcements, check out this story.

These were the highlights:

Research in Motion will now be known simply as BlackBerry, according to CEO Thorsten Heins.
Two BlackBerry 10 handsets were shown off: the touchscreen Z10 and the QWERTY keyboard Q10
Some interesting features such as BlackBerry Hub, Story Maker, and others were shown off. 70,000 apps will be available.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the phones won’t be available until mid-March in the U.S. They’ll be available in other countries much sooner, with the U.K. able to purchase the devices tomorrow.

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After a rise and fall, BlackBerry 10 is RIM’s last, best comeback attempt

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:59:09 +0000

The year was 1999 when Research In Motion first unveiled its initial BlackBerry email pager, the beginning of a strong product brand that continues to this day. In that time, the ubiquitous BlackBerry has grown beyond a simple email machine to capable smartphones in 2003, gathering a cult-like following of “crackberry” users.

Given that success, it once seemed unfathomable that RIM wouldn’t easily be one of the world’s top 5 smartphone makers, yet in 2012 it barely held on to the fifth spot as Samsung, Apple, Nokia and HTC sold more smartphones. Put in perspective: RIM’s 32.5 million smartphones sold all year were easily trumped by Apple 47.8 million handsets sold in the final quarter of 2012 alone.

As quickly as RIM’s BlackBerry rose to the top in the first half of the last decade, it just as quickly fell behind the touchscreen smartphone revolution started by Apple in 2007. Now, after several years of losing market share and stalling growth of its BlackBerry subscriber base, RIM is rebooting the product line this week with the debut of BlackBerry 10.

Not the first time for a comeback effort

This isn’t the first of RIM’s attempts to compete with the current crop of smartphones. 2008 saw RIM debut the BlackBerry Storm, an all touch device that created little more than a drizzle in the market. In 2010, the company launched the BlackBerry Torch 9800 along with the BlackBerry 6 operating system and a WebKit browser. But after using an evaluation device, I felt — as did others, based on meager sales — the Torch was an evolution of the same old BlackBerry experience, not the revolution that RIM really needed at the time.

Aware that it needed something new for the future, that same year saw RIM purchase QNX Software Solutions from Harman International. At the time, QNX was used for many in-car information and entertainment systems. RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet was the first RIM product to use a QNX-based platform and while it was good at what it did, the slate was missing key features: A native email client for one, and direct access to RIM’s popular BBM messaging service.

Amid those feature misses and lackluster sales, I suggested that RIM made a mistake by putting QNX on a tablet before using it to power BlackBerry smartphones. In hindsight, however, it appears that RIM had little choice: It was reportedly having problems getting the BBM service on PlayBooks because the service is limited to a single device per user. And it took nearly a year to get a native email app on the tablet. It appears to me now — as it did then — that RIM was simply trying to beat others into the nascent and quickly growing tablet market that began in earnest with the iPad in 2010. As a result, it launched a product well before perfecting the experience.

So why is this time different?

We’ll know more after Wednesday’s BB 10 launch in New York City, but hints of potential success for RIM are popping up all over the web. First up is the hardware, expected to be two initial handsets; one with a physical keyboard and one, dubbed the Z10, without. From the various leaked images and video of what’s likely a developer phone model in use, they appear perfectly capable and comparable in performance to other high-end smartphones available today.

What about the operating system? Considering that RIM originally planned to have a new platform on phones by early 2012, it has had an extra year to work on BB 10. That year proved tumultuous with the co-CEOs stepping down, market share dropping, pleas to developers to stay the course and barely any growth in BlackBerry subscribers. From the little bit of BB 10 I’ve seen so far, however, the wait may be worth it.

Expect to hear much about BlackBerry Flow at the launch event: This is RIM’s tightly integrated method of quickly navigating through the operating system in a consistent manner. BlackBerry Hub is the centralized communications center while the BlackBerry software keyboard should provide for fast, accurate entry.

There’s more to smartphone success than hardware and the OS, however. It seems like RIM has also learned the lesson that mobile apps and content deals are also important. On the app side, the company has put enormous effort into courting developers, even poking fun at itself in a music video. (Hear what RIM’s Alec Saunders has to say about that in our podcast interview.)

As a result, tens of thousands of apps are likely to be available once the new devices launch. And just today, RIM shared details of its unified content store, listing out all of the media partners, along with news of next-day television content availability. Add in support from carriers — all four major operators in the US plan to sell the new BlackBerry devices — and the puzzle pieces of potential are all there.

The most likely outcome

What are the odds that Research In Motion has a hit with the new BlackBerry 10 devices? I’ll have a better idea when I attend the launch event, of course — and I’ll be live-blogging from there — but based on the limited information I have so far, RIM should at least be staying in the smartphone game.

As I’ve said to many over the past few months, the new devices should appeal to current BlackBerry owners. My unanswered question now is: Will there be enough to sway people away from iOS and Android phones? Until we know more, I think it’s a safe bet that RIM keeps its current user-base happy and possibly steals some market share from its peers.

Either way, if RIM delivers what I expect in BB 10, it stays relevant in a market where nearly 6 billion people don’t yet have a smartphone. There’s much growth to be found yet, even if BB 10 doesn’t unseat the current smartphone incumbents. But even with the right recipe and ingredients, there’s no guarantees for RIM. Challenges still loom for the company as whole and maintaining a sliver of market share may not be enough for the long road ahead.

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Don’t count out RIM in US, 4 top carriers to sell new BlackBerry 10 phones

Kevin C. Tofel — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:33:57 +0000

Research In Motion isn’t out of the woods yet, but at least one obstacle to the success of its new BlackBerry 10 phones is out of the way. This week, all four major U.S. carriers said they would sell RIM’s new handsets this year. Details of product launches aren’t yet available as the actual new devices have not even been announced yet; that happens on Jan. 30 when RIM will share information on its next generation of devices.

Sprint was the last of the big four to admit it would sell BlackBerry 10 devices. An official Sprint statement made to BGR confirmed it on Friday, while AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile all confirmed their plans to Reuters on Wednesday.

The world is certainly bigger than just the U.S. but this development is still a largely positive one for RIM. We’ve seen in the past the good products without the proper marketing and support from carriers have largely failed. Palm’s exclusive deal to sell the Palm Pre only on Sprint initially, is a good example, although there were obviously other issues at play. Look at the original Motorola Droid, on the other hand: Verizon pumped millions into promoting it and the phone kicked off a string of Droid successes for Motorola and the Android market at large.

That’s exactly the kind of success RIM needs with its BlackBerry 10 handsets. The company was ill-prepared for the transition to touchscreen hardware and interfaces that started in 2007 and has generally been losing customers and market share ever since. A feeble attempt to graft touch onto a traditional BlackBerry in 2010 — remember the Torch? — wasn’t the answer.

RIM’s best response is sure to be the completely new BlackBerry 10 system, which is looking good so far. Clearly, it’s good enough for the carriers to show interest, and in the U.S., the carriers are still the kingmakers … unless your name is Apple, that is.

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