play books

Wall Street has already been down on Research In Motion, but one analyst says the negative sentiment enveloping the BlackBerry maker may not be sufficient yet.

The latest concern about RIM is its margins. Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, in a downgrade of the company's stock rating to neutral from buy, said the company's margins faces pressure from the need to remain competitive in the face of lower-priced devices that are benefiting from carrier subsidies. In addition, the freebies and likely discounts RIM will have to provide to angry business customers after last month's widespread outage will … Read more

commentary RIM's Blackberry PlayBook tablet is now on sale for $199 at Best Buy. A price it should have had all along.

Like Hewlett-Packard's ill-fated TouchPad, which stalled at $499 but became an instant hit at $99, the PlayBook is now seeing newfound popularity at $199 (16GB), discounted from $499.

In fact, the $199 BlackBerry tablet is now listed as "unavailable" at most Best Buy stores in the U.S. For example, a Best Buy in suburban Los Angeles said it had sold out of the $199 PlayBook "a couple of days ago," according … Read more

It's official--the price of BlackBerry's PlayBook tablet will soon be dropping into the Kindle Fire range at a number of big-time retailers... for a limited time.

When it launched earlier this year, the slate from Research In Motion started at $499. A few months ago, the price dropped as low as $299 through a combination of credits and rebates from retailers like Best Buy.

Today, RIM announced via Twitter that the rumored $199 price drop is for real "for a limited time only."

The PlayBook Web site lists Best Buy, Wireless Giant, Staples, OfficeMax, Office Depot, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart as participating retailers. RIM has offered no confirmation of when the price cut will go into effect, but current prices have remained in place on the retailers' sites this morning, and previous reports suggest that the $199 price may be a Black Friday deal.… Read more

Research In Motion is stuck between an Apple and an Ice Cream Sandwich.

After some initial excitement for the new line of BlackBerry 7 smartphones and a strong launch--both unusual for RIM for the past year--sales are starting to sputter. That's according to Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley, who said his checks indicate a slowing trend for BlackBerrys.

It's likely sales have been blunted by the release of the iPhone 4S, as well as the lower price of the legacy iPhone 4 and 3GS models as well. The coming release of the Galaxy Nexus and phones running … Read more

The month is almost up, and Karyne is beating Emily by a smidge. With only two shows left, however, it's time to start thinking of embarrassing things for Emily to do when she loses.

On this week's show, we cry over CDs going the way of the dodo; we laugh about Staples selling the PlayBook for $199; Google Music is going to 11, whatever that means, at an event on Wednesday; and according to nobody, the iPad 3 will be able to fly.

Things are heating up in the Twitter wars, too! Stephen, at the time of the … Read more

When Alec Saunders put up his e-mail address while on stage at Research In Motion's developer conference last month, it wasn't just a showy stunt.

In fact, he spent the entire following weekend responding to e-mails from curious developers.

"My wife wasn't too happy with me," he quipped.

Saunders intends to answer every e-mail that comes in, and plans to aggressively court developers as he makes the case for why it's worthwhile to work with RIM. That's the kind of attention the company has failed to pay in the past, much to its … Read more

The iconic BlackBerry Bold look may be going the way of the dinosaurs once Research In Motion introduces its line of next-generation smartphones.

BlackBerrys running on RIM's next-generation platform, dubbed BBX, will use the same screen aspect ratio as the PlayBook tablet, RIM said yesterday in PC Magazine. RIM's head of developer relations, Alec Saunders, said apps that run on the PlayBook will run on BBX phones.

The PlayBook runs at a 16:9 ratio, which PC Magazine points out hasn't been seen on other mobile devices. But it suggests the first BBX phone will eschew the … Read more

The discounts keep coming for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

The latest comes from a leaked Staples ad found by TechCrunch. The office-supply retailer appears to be offering the 16GB PlayBook for $199 as part of its Black Friday special. A full listing of Staples' Black Friday specials can be found here.

This marks the steepest price cut yet for the PlayBook, which stumbled out of the gate and hasn't sold particularly well despite a spate of recent discounts. RIM has seeded the developer community with thousands of PlayBook tablets and is pushing heavy promotions to move its inventory. More importantly, it wants more consumers using its next-generation operating system, which will eventually power its high-end smartphones. … Read more

Maybe one PlayBook wasn't enough to get you interested in Research In Motion's tablet. But three? That's a whole different story.

At least, that's what RIM is banking on in its latest promotion. Business customers who purchase two PlayBooks through a designated reseller get a bonus one for free. In addition, they get their choice of accessories for each tablet.

It's the latest in a line of promotions offered by RIM and its retailer partners as it attempts to spruce up sales of its PlayBook tablet. After a bungled launch and a tepid response to the product, RIM is working aggressively to move the devices off the shelves.

The latest promotion, of course, isn't directed at consumers, but at the business customers that make up the most loyal part of its base. Companies can take advantage of this promotion to outfit their staff with PlayBooks, which are ideal for sales staff, field technicians, or any employee who works remotely. The offer represents a discount of a third off of any bulk order of PlayBooks.

Retailers have already begun offering discounts to consumers, bringing the price down to as low as $299 through a combination of in-store discounts and rebates. … Read more