BlackBerry devices took the world by storm and enjoyed several years of dominance. But a slow reaction to a changing market brought RIM’s fall. Now, all of the right pieces are in place for BlackBerry 10. Read more »
Research in Motion must regain the confidence of the U.S. smartphone buyer if it wants to once again thrive. CEO Thorsten Heins thinks that support from U.S. carriers is going to help in a big way, as those companies look for a third handset supplier. Read more »
RIM’s QNX has pulled the wraps off the developer program for its new connected car platform, Car 2. Launching in early 2013, the SDK uses the same WebWorks tools as BlackBerry 10, creating the industry’s first dev program that bridges the smartphone and dashboard. Read more »
Apple and Google still dominate the smartphone space, but look out for Microsoft, which finally has some muscle behind its mobile strategy. Meanwhile mobile-browser developers went head-to-head with native apps, and Facebook continued to buy mobile expertise via acquisition. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Research In Motion continued to outline its BlackBerry 10 strategy at its annual developer event, saying customers will need to buy new phones for the BB 10 experience as the company confirmed it won’t be upgrading any BlackBerry 7 phones to the new operating system. Read more »
Tablets represent the next evolution in the advancement of mobile computing, and by 2015 or 2016, the tablet will begin to replace the laptop and the desktop operating systems market will begin to level off or perhaps decline. Our latest forecast examines these trends in detail. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
This year’s CES was the biggest in the show’s 44-year history. It boasted 15 miles of exhibit hall aisles, 3,100 booths and 153,000 attendees. It is easy to be jaded by the endlessly repetitive products, but the thousands of innovations point toward a future of connectivity. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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 »
The line between car and home entertainment center is getting blurrier by the minute as electronics makers and car companies take to the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 and concurrent Detroit Auto show to strut their stuff. Here’s a sampling of the news. Read more »
Yet another analyst report has joined the chorus of those claiming Apple will see its majority market share for tablet devices slide to less than a majority by 2014-2015. It’s quickly becoming a theme, but one which I find hard to back up in reality. Read more »
A new survey of business professionals out of the U.K. reveals that RIM’s recent network problems could work out very well for enterprise adoption of Apple’s iPhone. A survey revealed a lot of individuals interested in defection, and Apple’s platform as the life raft of choice. Read more »
Research In Motion’s BlackBerry platform has long ruled the mobile enterprise, but the end of its reign appears to be near. A recent survey of enterprises that have 10,000 or more BlackBerry users show that 30 percent are planning to leave RIM’s platform. Here’s why. Read more »
As our demand for data increases, so too do the number of mobile devices and services. Add to that the infrastructure needed to support such connectivity, and a wide, complex picture of the mobile industry emerges. This report examines the various sectors of the mobile landscape and what the future holds for each. Hardware, cloud services, mobile search, advertising, location-based services and the growing ubiquity of the Internet of Things will all play an important role in the concept of mobility as it shifts and evolves over the next several years. With the help of more than a dozen contributors, GigaOM Pro presents a comprehensive analysis of the companies and trends that will lead us into the next era of mobile. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Tablet sales will continue to rise from 17.6 million sales last year to 326.3 million by 2015, says Gartner, but the iPad will still dominate the market. There’s good reason to believe Gartner’s iPad estimates, but some of the other platform numbers don’t quite make sense. Read more »
Amid lackluster BlackBerry PlayBook sales, 1,000 production line workers have been let go at Quanta in Taiwan where the tablets are made. Instead of jumping in the tablet game with an incomplete product, RIM may have been better off to get QNX on its smartphones first. Read more »
The number of connected devices is steadily on the rise, but it’s not smartphones or computers that will lead us to the 50 billion connected devices expected by the year 2020. Rather, the Internet of Things — numerous smart objects that speak to the web and ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
There’s no question that Research in Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) is under the gun to deliver new BlackBerry handsets based on the QNX operating syst… Read more at paidContent »
After months of getting its teeth kicked in by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, things appear to be looking up for Research In Motion. All Things D claimed this week that RIM is “on the rebound,” thanks to a new pair of handsets running BlackBerry 7. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
After bringing QNX to it’s PlayBook tablet, Research In Motion is reportedly planning a QNX-powered BlackBerry handset, the Colt, for the first quarter of 2012. The hardware is rumored to be relatively low-end, but that could easily change. More important is the company’s transition to QNX. Read more »
Research In Motion announced five new BlackBerry 7 handsets, which will start to arrive in stores by the end of this month. BlackBerry faithful will be happy, but the handsets still represent a transition for the company, which will use QNX software to power newer phones. Read more »
The second quarter of 2011 in mobile was all about smartphones, thanks to Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS and mobile data consumption ramping up. In the tablet space, the iPad lacked any real competition, though that dominance will surely fade as more and more alternatives — from Cisco, HP and others — emerge. Elsewhere, location-based marketing finally made some headlines, and the groundwork for near-field communications looks to be finally falling into place. Additional companies in this report include Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Research In Motion. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Recent developments in the vehicle industry suggest that 2011 could be the year of the car as a major platform for apps. From BMW’s support for Apple’s iPod Out feature to the emergence of Nokia’s Terminal Mode, a system that integrates mobile applications and the car, automakers and app developers are jumping on board the in-vehicle app movement. This report examines that landscape, its major players and their offerings, and how the market is shifting from device to car and, eventually, to the cloud. Increased broadband speeds, electronic vehicles and social apps such as those powered by Twitter will play major roles on this journey. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Ford, BMW, Geely, Nissan and Google. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The market for enterprise tablets shows enormous promise as end users take their own devices to work and IT departments begin to deploy the new gadgets. But a small army of manufacturers is vying for a slice of the market, and competition will be fierce. Read more »
Seesmic, a popular third-party Twitter client for desktop and mobile devices, today announced it would end support for BlackBerry handsets at the end of June. One developer doesn’t make a trend, but this could be the start of one, given RIM’s struggles as it slowly transitions. Read more »
If I said one of the leading smartphone companies faces a decline in market share as it works to transition to a new mobile operating system, would you say I was talking about Nokia? That would be right, but Research In Motion is just as correct. Read more »
Despite a series of promising announcements at this week’s BlackBerry World, Research In Motion’s share of the smartphone market continues to erode, and no QNX handsets are yet on the horizon. Apple, meanwhile, could be poised to take RIM’s crown as king of the mobile enterprise. Read more »
The mobile landscape is entering a new, consolidation phase as late-comers are banding together to fight against Apple and Google. The latest loose alliance is between Microsoft and RIM as Bing will be integrated as the default search and map engine for future BlackBerry products. Read more »
It’s easy to hate on RIM’s new BlackBerry PlayBook, but are some people overlooking the positives that RIM’s new tablet offers? Here’s a list of my favorite selling points, which actually provide a solid foundation for the PlayBook to mature and be successful in the future. Read more »
Opinions on the new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet vary in small ways, but many reviewers agree that the device is lacking some features and functions, making it appear unfinished. But a few reviews are forward thinking; the tablet wars won’t be won or lost on today’s products. Read more »
Cloud computing, a surge of smartphone growth and increased wireless connectivity have created an ideal environment for the introduction of the media tablet — a consumer-grade device best suited to leisure-based computing activities such as gaming and social networking. This report forecasts the media tablet market, which is expected to grow at a 54 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years. We forecast revenues and regional growth, including China’s growing importance in the market, and provide a competitive analysis of tablets from Cisco, Research in Motion, Apple, HP and others. Additional companies in this report include Samsung, Dell, Microsoft and Motorola. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Research In Motion’s PlayBook Wi-Fi tablet is available for pre-order at the same pricing as Apple’s iPad 2. The device arrives on April 19 at more than two dozen online and brick-and-mortar retailers. That answers some questions, but others about the device still remain. Read more »
Over the next month, at least three new Wi-Fi tablets are expected to launch from Samsung, Motorola and Research In Motion. Without mobile broadband, each should compete well on price to Apple’s iPad 2, which starts at $499. But odds are still stacked against their success. Read more »
In a short private session with Research In Motion, I finally got a hands-on look at the BlackBerry PlayBook. It’s better than I expected: elegant, intuitive and speedy when running multiple apps. I finally found out why Flash runs well on the PlayBook. Hint: think cars. Read more »
Research In Motion’s pick-up of The Astonishing Tribe should bring polish to the aging BlackBerry OS and improve the upcoming QNX platform. But RIM’s challenge will be losing as little ground as possible as it moves from one OS to the other. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Research In Motion’s pick-up of The Astonishing Tribe should bring polish to the aging BlackBerry OS and improve the upcoming QNX platform. But RIM’s challenge will be losing as little ground — not to mention, money — as possible as it moves from one OS to the other. Read more »
General Motors moved this week to link its upcoming Chevrolet Volt and in-vehicle communications system, OnStar, with Google navigation tools and smartphones based on the search giant’s Android platform. This marks a key intersection in the trajectories of automakers and Internet giants and could pave the way to much more comprehensive partnerships across previously disconnected industries and systems. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
