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Even with all the competition it faces across the tablet space, and the fact that iPad owners recently updated their software to iOS 5, Research In Motion said yesterday that it's holding off on launching the second generation of its tablet software until next year.

"As much as we'd love to have it in your hands today, we've made the difficult decision to wait to launch BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 until we are confident we have fully met the expectations of our developers, enterprise customers and end-users," RIM senior vice president for the BlackBerry … Read more

RIM blew a chance to re-energize developers and BlackBerry consumers by announcing new smartphones and tablets at its annual BlackBerry Developers Conference today in San Francisco.

RIM's founder, president, and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis proudly unveiled BBX--the next-generation marriage of its QNX-plus-BlackBerry OS operating system for future devices--but failed to connect vague descriptions of the forthcoming platform with real-life devices.

There was a smattering of demos, some technical details, and a lot of hot air when it came to describing the benefits of BBX, but none of the concrete details, like release dates or a glimpse of a tangible … Read more

Struggling BlackBerry maker RIM knows it has to change if it's to hold the interest of developers--and that means making the new operating system, BBX, a friendlier place for Android developers to play.

That's the subtext at the BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco today, which played out in live demos of Android games that have been ported over to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The real message, however, is evident in the new PlayBook OS 2.0 beta software for developers.

RIM stressed in a press release that the PlayBook 2.0 beta includes the BlackBerry Runtime for … Read more

Research in Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis unveiled a new name for its next-generation operating system, BBX, as he made the case for developers to stick with BlackBerry.

BBX combines the best qualities of RIM's older BlackBerry operating system and its QNX platform, which powers the PlayBook tablet, Lazaridis said during the company's developer conference today.

RIM intends to use its BlackBerry DevCon conference to inject some life into its developer support, which is crucial to keeping its mobile ambitions alive. Lazaridis, in a number of demonstrations, promised an easier process for developers, more profits, and the ability to … Read more

What's the sweet spot for tablet pricing? We're finding out as Hewlett-Packard, RIM, HTC, and others learn that trying to sell a tablet at the iPad's starting price of $500 may be a fool's errand.

Lenovo and Best Buy are the latest to bring down pricing, selling the 10-inch Lenovo IdeaPad K1 tablet with 32GB today and Monday for $329, down from $499. And that 10-inch tablet comes with a dual-core Nvidia processor and Android 3.1.

At Best Buy, HTC also recently knocked down the 7-inch HTC Flyer to $299 from $499. This happened--probably not … Read more

Research In Motion has pushed out an update for its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with the latest version of Flash but still no native e-mail or instant messaging, at least not yet.

Described yesterday in the official BlackBerry blog, the new BlackBerry Tablet OS version 1.07.3312 offers a security fix to the Flash Player that Adobe rolled out on September 21. Available now for all PlayBook users, the new BlackBerry update can be downloaded over the air.

As usual, PlayBook owners will receive a message notifying them of the new update, or they can manually check for it under Software Updates in the settings menu. Customers who buy a PlayBook as of yesterday will automatically receive the latest Adobe Flash Player already installed.… Read more

Research In Motion's stock may look like a bargain, but looks can be deceiving.

RIM has seen its shares tumble by 71 percent since February, and many of its problems are well understood at this point. But the unlikely scenarios of a takeover or drastic strategy change suggest that the company will continue to be mired in its problems, leaving little opportunity for optimism, according to Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu.

"On the one hand, we must admit RIM is today a bargain in many respects, and we can imagine new directions to get the company out … Read more

Is Amazon losing money or earning a profit from the sale of each Kindle Fire tablet? Analysts seem to be at odds over that question.

In an investor note issued last Wednesday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster calculated the manufacturing cost of each Kindle Fire at $250, leaving Amazon with a $50 loss on each $199 tablet that it sells. Munster said he based that estimate on the cost of the iPad.

But other analysts have chimed in with different opinions and estimates.

UBM TechInsights believes Amazon is actually making a profit on each Kindle Fire. Estimating manufacturing costs as low as $150, the research firm pegs Amazon's profit per tablet at $49.

In comparison, RIM spends around $170 to make its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, which reportedly gave Amazon some "design clues" for the Fire. The retailer was able to cut its costs by eliminating certain features found in the PlayBook, according to EE Times, which is published by UBM's parent company.… Read more

The mobile world moves at a breakneck pace, and it's difficult to keep up--even without the technical jargon most industry insiders throw around. And they do love to toss those terms about.

This week, I explain what a geo-fence is, why a feature phone is really just a dumb phone with a niftier marketing title, and why companies love rebates.

So for some light reading, here are a few terms (and definitions) commonly used by telecommunications experts who assume everyone understands them.

Alignment: Look, it's another code word for layoffs. While not exactly the best example of telecom jargon, it's a relevant term given Nokia's decision to "align" its workforce, which means shedding 3,500 jobs on top of a prior plan to cut thousands of other jobs. It's in the same vein as synergy and redundancy, fancy words that mask the ugly truth that a lot of people are getting canned.

Feature phone: This is the industry's term for any phone that isn't a smartphone, which runs on a more complex operating system that can run applications. You have to admire the marketing spin on what is essentially a dumb phone.

I, for one, hate using the term, and have largely stuck to calling them basic phones.

Feature phones are in a phase of gradual decline as people jump to smartphones, which are getting more affordable. Leap Wireless CEO Doug Hutcheson said he expects smartphones to cost $100 or less without a contract by the holidays, just slightly more expensive than a feature phone.

HTC's global marketing chief, Jason MacKenzie, boldly said he sees his Rhyme smartphone as a better upgrade for feature phone users than the iPhone.

Geo-fence: It's a virtual perimeter you can set up anywhere to ensure your child or pet stays in a certain zone. If they leave the designated area, an alert is sent to your phone. … Read more