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There's still a lot to like about RIM. Seriously

commentary OK, so I've been as hard as anyone on Research In Motion. But it's not all bad.

Sure, the company is burdened with a bloated management structure, leaders who in recent months just can't do anything right, and a trajectory that only seems to be headed further south. It's in the doghouse with investors after losing more than three quarters of its market value last year. More importantly, RIM's share in its home market of North America is slowly being ceded to Apple and Android.

But with all of the RIM bashing in recent … Read more

RIM's BBM service targeted for name infringement

Research In Motion could once again face a legal fracas over the name of one of its software products.

Broadcast measurement firm BBM Canada has taken offense with RIM's use of the "BBM" shorthand moniker for its BlackBerry Messenger service, Reuters reports. That's RIM's software that lets BlackBerry users communicate with one another, and comes pre-installed on many of the company's devices.

BBM Canada, which formerly went by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement until a name shortening in the 1960s, sent a cease and desist letter to RIM for using the BBM naming on … Read more

Still love BlackBerrys? Two more are on the way

Research In Motion today unveiled two more BlackBerrys to its current lineup, continuing an impressive run of new product rollouts.

The company showed off the BlackBerry Bold 9790, which looks like a compact version of its flagship Bold 9900 phone, as well as the all-touch-screen Curve 9380, which looks like a slightly smaller version of the all-touch-screen Torch, and shares similarities with the original--and glitch-plagued--Storm.

The two phones augment an already plentiful lineup of BlackBerrys for RIM, which is hoping its revamped BlackBerry 7 operating system will at least draw in its more loyal customers. While the company is rolling … Read more

Amazon Prime adds book borrowing

eBay speaks out against the latest Internet sales tax proposal, BlackBerry Messenger adds a music service, and Amazon sweetens the Kindle with free book-borrowing for Prime subscribers.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

BlackBerry Messenger vs. Apple's iMessage

One of iOS 5's most anticipated features is iMessage, an Apple instant-messaging service that can be used only among iOS devices. This is essentially Apple's answer to BlackBerry Messenger, RIM's own internal messaging system. The idea behind both messaging services is that they don't cost anything extra and won't deduct from your text messaging plan.

The catch, of course, is that both exist only in either the iOS or the BlackBerry ecosystem. Here, we take the opportunity to compare both messaging services. … Read more

BlackBerry outage hits e-mail, messenger access

Talk about bad timing for Research In Motion.

On the heels of another disappointing quarterly report, RIM is suffering from an outage that has hit its e-mail and BlackBerry Messenger services today. BlackBerry customers took to Twitter to voice their complaints. The company later acknowledged problems.

"Some Canada & LatAm customers report BBM issues. Our support teams are investigating. We apologize for any inconvenience," the company said in a tweet.

A RIM representative wasn't immediately available to provide further details on the extent of the problem to CNET.

The outage appears to be more widespread. The Huffington Post reported seeing tweets complaining about service in the U.K. and the Middle East. … Read more

Apple CEO Steve Jobs steps down

In an unsurprising but still shocking move, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs resigns as CEO but remains with the company as chairman. Tim Cook is promoted from chief operating officer to chief executive officer.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Steve jobs resigns as Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple CEO RIM unveils BBM Music BlackBerry to support Android apps Facebook launches photo filters Windows Phone 7 "Mango" gets Skype Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (HD) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS HD

RIM unveils music-sharing service for BBM

Research In Motion is hoping to bolster the popularity of its BlackBerry Messenger service with the launch of a music-sharing service as companies focus more attention on social networking.

The maker of BlackBerry smartphones announced late this evening the launch of BBM Music, a cloud-based service intended to allow users to create an ever-evolving library of music that can be shared with other BBM Music users. The service will offer millions of songs from the catalogs of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI. (CNET first reported that RIM was in talks with the major labels … Read more

Best of Buzz Out Loud 13: U.K. riots,Chinese smugglers, and solar storms set to hit Earth. (Podcast)

BlackBerry to help police probe Messenger looting "role"' in U.K. riots; Chinese smugglers use epic zip-line to transport iPads and iPhones; and power companies prepare as solar storms set to hit Earth.

Facebook Messenger: Reach out to friends, contacts (podcast)

Facebook's new standalone Messenger app for iPhone and Android is designed to help you reach out to Facebook friends or people in your mobile contact list in what Facebook spokesperson Meredith Chin described as a "fast and easy way."

The app can be used to reach out to a single friend or a group of friends but you have to select each member of the group individually. It doesn't support the "group" or "list" functions in Facebook that make it possible to post messages to entire groups on the Facebook Web site. … Read more