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Verizon CEO: Samsung may be 'dark horse' with own mobile OS

Samsung Electronics could be a major player if it launched its own mobile operating system in a big way, according to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam.

"There's a potential elephant in the room with Samsung," McAdam said at an investor conference today.

While Google Android and Apple's iOS continue to dominate the market, the carriers are anxious for a third alternative. A number of companies and platforms are competing to be that strong No. 3.

Samsung is a massive conglomerate with the resources to pull off a strong third mobile platform, McAdam said. The company is already … Read more

Android, Apple capture still more U.S. smartphone users

Android and Apple continue to bite bigger hunks out of the U.S. smartphone market.

As of the three months ended July, Google's mobile OS held a 52.2 percent share of the market, a gain of 1.4 points from the prior three months, ComScore said today. In second place, Apple's iOS grabbed 33.4 percent of the market, up 2 points from the prior period.

That left the rest of the top five platforms still spinning down the drain.

RIM's BlackBerry OS took third place with a 9.5 percent share, down 2.1 points … Read more

RIM: Next server will work with all BlackBerry devices

Research In Motion said today that the next iteration of its BlackBerry Enterprise Server will be able to handle both past and future BlackBerrys, assuaging concerns about compatibility issues and the need for companies to run multiple servers -- sort of.

RIM said it would launch BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 at the same time as the launch of the first BlackBerry 10 phone early next year. Existing BES customers will get an upgrade to BES 10 to ensure they'll be able to handle both new and legacy devices.

The comments answer a concern that RIM would move on to … Read more

RIM reshuffles European execs as BlackBerry 10 looms

Research In Motion, the beleaguered BlackBerry maker, has appointed a new managing director for its U.K. and Ireland business.

Rob Orr, currently vice president for product management for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, will replace Stephen Bates as the firm's U.K. and Ireland managing director on September 1. 

Outgoing managing director Stephen Bates will take up a newly created role as regional managing director for Europe, responsible for customer engagement and market responsiveness across the firm's European base. 

A RIM spokesperson told ZDNet that Bates' move is:

...part of plans to ensure the … Read more

Rumor Has It: $199 for Microsoft Surface tablet? Yes, please.

The latest rumors say so, but we'll explain why the latest rumors are probably wrong. Also on today's episode, we learn why IBM might want to buy RIM's secret treasure chest, and we decipher the tea-leaves of iOS 6. What is Apple not telling us about the new OS for fear of giving away iPhone 5 secrets?

And finally, the next Xbox may hit soon, another rumors suggests. This tweeted image of a swirl of colors supposedly indicates that the Kinect 2 might be awesome. To us it just looks like, well, modern art. But you guys … Read more

RIM aims to recapture start-up mojo with fresh blood

A year and a half ago, T.A. McCann was working on a BlackBerry version of his contact manager app Gist.

Today, he is running two of Research in Motion's crown jewels -- BlackBerry Messenger and Contacts -- while ensuring that current and upcoming lines of BlackBerrys are properly tied into various social networks.

McCann's rapid advancement through RIM underscores some of the sweeping changes CEO Thorsten Heins has put in place since taking the reins of the company. McCann represents the new guard of leadership, individuals who weren't around to witness the company crater from its … Read more

BlackBerry 10 road show: Can it revive RIM?

Research in Motion CEO Thorsten Heins said the company is planning to take its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones on a road show to woo carriers, developers and ultimately consumers.

In two separate interviews with CNET News' Roger Cheng and ZDNet, Heins outlined RIM's product cadence, roughly six new devices and smartphones that look and feel better than previous efforts.

RIM has two devices that will launch almost in tandem---a touchscreen only device similar to a test device unveiled in May as well as QWERTY version similar to the Bold. Heins said the hardware is largely complete, but the software &… Read more

RIM chief: BlackBerry 10 could be licensed to handset rivals

Research In Motion's upcoming operating system, BlackBerry 10, could soon be made available for non-BlackBerry devices, according to the company's chief executive, Thorsten Heins.

Heins told Bloomberg that QNX, the software that BlackBerry 10 is based on, is "already licensed across the automotive sector... we could do that with BlackBerry 10 if we chose to."

"The platform can be licensed," he added -- but did not confirm the software would be licensed. Samsung, which was recently rumored to be considering using BlackBerry 10, said last week it had not considered buying any licenses for the software. … Read more

RIM CEO: Health care, smart-grid markets interested in BB10

If you take CEO Thorsten Heins' word for it, the next Research in Motion operating system -- BlackBerry 10 -- isn't intended just for mobile devices, and is already drawing interest from other industries.

In an interview with CNET, Heins said businesses in the health care and smart-grid fields have already expressed interest in using the operating system. The company likes to tout that QNX, the software BlackBerry 10 is based on, powers a number of different systems, including cars.

Eventually, BlackBerry 10 will power devices and equipment in multiple industries, Heins said. For instance, he said, the auto … Read more

RIM looks to offload NewBay in bid for cash

Research In Motion is trying to find suitors for a cloud-services provider it bought back in October, according to a report.

According to Reuters, citing sources, RIM is trying to find buyers that would take NewBay off of its hands. NewBay, which RIM acquired back in October for a reported $100 million, offers cloud services to operators and device makers trying to deliver multimedia to handsets, PCs, tablets, and televisions. Reuters' sources didn't say how much RIM might be trying to fetch in a sale.

RIM's reported NewBay move is just the latest rumor to fly about its … Read more