Talk of Research In Motion being acquired just won't go away. But this time, it might be RIM's fault.

The BlackBerry maker has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to help it field potential buyout offers, according to the rumor mill on the Wall Street trading floor. According to Reuters, one unidentified trader said yesterday that RIM is "up on Goldman," but cautioned that it doesn't mean a sale is coming anytime soon.

Even so, all that speculation was enough to see RIM's shares jump over 5 percent yesterday to settle at $16.44. It … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Pretty soon, pointing out 4G LTE on a Verizon smartphone will become an exercise in redundancy.

From now on, nearly every smartphone, wireless hot spot, tablet, and Netbook that Verizon offers will come with LTE guns a-blazing. Yes, Virginia, that includes Windows Phone and BlackBerry devices, too.

There will be the occasional exception, however. For instance, phones on Verizon's push-to-talk network are 3G-only for now, and will remain that way until further notice.

Verizon's clear, unyielding stance on 4G--"a hard requirement," according to Verizon--may partially explain why it has picked up only one Windows Phone so far.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Verizon isn't holding a press conference at CES, but that hasn't stopped the carrier from spilling a ton of announcements on the show's official Press Day.

Just before it showed off the Motorola Droid 4, a Droid Razr in purple, and the new Droid Razr Maxx this morning, Big Red also unveiled a new BlackBerry world phone with the Curve 9370.

Part of the new 9350/9360/9370 Curve series that RIM debuted last summer, Verizon's handset has the same design, 2.44-inch display, and BlackBerry 7 OS. You'll also find an entry-level feature … Read more

Just when we were all convinced it would be a quiet CES for RIM, the BlackBerry-maker springs this, an invitation to an event showcasing the PlayBook and smartphone operating systems.

Positioned more as an educational session rather than a product launch event, RIM's CES presence is clearly all about the BlackBerry App World catalog.

RIM's activity this year stands in sharp contrast to last year's show, which featured a gigantic booth overflowing with conference-goers eager for a glimpse of the yet-unreleased BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, and its celebrity spokesperson, actress Olivia Wilde.

I'm glad that RIM is … Read more

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

Research In Motion may be gearing up for an overhaul in its leadership.

Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie are preparing to relinquish their titles as co-chairmen, possibly giving way to independent director Barbara Stymiest, according to a report by the Financial Post. Stymiest is the leading candidate to replace the two, the Post said, citing anonymous sources.

RIM said in a statement that a committee of independent directors was reviewing the company's governance structure, and would report its findings by January 31. It added the committee is on track to meet this target, and that the board would … Read more

Samsung is still the biggest maker of mobile phones, but Apple is gaining ground, according to data released today by market researcher ComScore.

Samsung accounted for 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers for the three months ending November 11, a slight increase of 0.3 percent over the previous three months. While Apple came in fourth with 11.2 percent, its 1.4 percent increase was the greatest market share increase for the previous three months.

Samsung and Apple were the only mobile phone makers in the top 5 to boost their share of the market during that … Read more

As Microsoft and Nokia were working out their Windows Phone 7 plans earlier this year, the companies were also considering a joint bid for Research In Motion, a new report claims.

Citing anonymous sources, The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Microsoft and Nokia neared a joint bid for RIM "in recent months" before deciding against it. The Journal's sources also said that while RIM co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis won't necessarily turn their backs on any buyout offers, the executives are waiting until next year's launch of the company's new mobile … Read more

Smartphones continue to be a changing category at the Consumer Electronics Show. Though they started out by taking a relatively low profile in the face of giant TVs and fancy Blu-ray players, over the past couple of years they've gone big.

In 2009, for example, the Palm Pre swept the show and just last January the Motorola Atrix 4G and the Xoom took three CNET Best of CES awards.

So what does the 2012 show hold? Considering that the industry never stands in one place for more than a week, it will be an exciting few days for mobile … Read more