rim

RIM is officially on notice: Start a hype machine

With the iPhone 3G launching worldwide, consumers standing in line, and journalists salivating at the thought of talking about it, we've suddenly forgotten about RIM, Motorola, Nokia, LG, and the rest of the major players in the cell phone space.

Right now, Leo Laporte is getting ready to finish his 24 hours of iPhone coverage and my colleague Tom Merritt over at CNET TV came in to the office at 5 a.m. PDT to discuss the launch live. Techmeme is overloaded with iPhone coverage, and even major media outlets are jumping on the bandwagon, calling this "the biggest tech day of the year."

Wow. Have we really ever seen anything like this before? Some might say that last year's iPhone release was huge--and it was--but it's as if the hype machine came out in full force this year and did everything it could to eclipse last year's performance.

And so far, it has.

But what about RIM? The BlackBerry is, for all intents and purposes, the only real competitor to the iPhone now and with its stranglehold on the enterprise space, the only device that can keep Steve Jobs' juggernaut at bay.

That said, I can't help but wonder if RIM has learned something today. Has it learned that the Apple onslaught is real and very (very) powerful? Has it learned that hype is an incredibly powerful tool and should be used as much as possible? Has it learned anything?

I certainly hope so.… Read more

Hot on iPhone's heels: BlackBerry Bold gets FCC approval

Amid all the iPhone 3G and App Store talk today, another rising star in the smartphone world got its FCC wings today. Yes, the much-anticipated RIM BlackBerry Bold received FCC approval, bringing it one step closer to a real-world debut. We already know that the Bold is headed for AT&T, but the exact availability date has been in question. Some sources, such as the Boy Genius Report, say it will be released some time in mid-August.

Many are already calling the BlackBerry Bold an iPhone competitor, which frankly bugs me. While I certainly understand the inclination to do … Read more

Oracle is up, but is the technology economy down?

Oracle knocked another quarter out of the park, with fourth-quarter profit up 27 percent and revenue climbing 24 percent to $7.2 billion. Life is good, yes?

Well, maybe. Oracle President and CFO Safra Catz indicated that she is expecting a tough summer quarter, with tightened technology spending on the horizon. This, coupled with RIM's quarter, which was strong but below analyst expectations, suggests that we may be in for a long, hot summer.

Yes, open-source companies and software should fare well in a down economy as buyers search for bargains. But in such an economy, buyers are also … Read more

RIM hammered on forecast for current quarter

Updated 3:15pm PT with comments from conference call.

Doubling revenue and earnings per share wasn't good enough for Research in Motion's investors, who punished the company Wednesday after its outlook fell short of expectations.

RIM recorded first-quarter revenue of $2.24 billion, up 107 percent from last year's first fiscal quarter. Earnings per share were 84 cents per share on net income of $482.5 million, compared to last year's first quarter, when earnings per share were 39 cents per share. Both of those numbers were within guidelines set by the company last quarter but … Read more

The Digital Home 21: Can RIM control the cell phone industry?

Don Reisinger sits down with RIM for a discussion on the BlackBerry and what the implications of the company's plans are on the entire cell phone industry. It's a must-see interview! Also listen to Don tackle Gene Simmons, Yahoo, Blockbuster, and more! Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 21 … Read more

Symbian deal a catalyst for smartphone competition

We're about to see what full-blown competition for the future of the computing industry looks like when multiple players get a shot to make an impact.

The next great operating systems wars are about to be fought, as traditional computing companies collide with teams representing the mobile phone industry. Nokia's decision Tuesday to unify, then open-source, the Symbian operating system for smartphones clarifies how today's most-widely used handset operating system will evolve to match the open-source initiatives headed by Google and the LiMo Foundation and competition from companies like Microsoft, Research in Motion, and Apple.

Forget RIM … Read more

iPhone and the demise of the BlackBerry/Exchange duopoly

The big news this week for Apple wasn't the new 3G iPhone. It was the business model behind the next-generation iPhone, and the threat it poses to Research in Motion (RIM). Apple's model depends on developers. RIM's model depends on devices.

If history repeats itself, the developers will win. Just ask Microsoft.

More on that in a minute. For now, consider the superior TCO (total cost of ownership) argument that Apple now has for both developers and end-users. Many enterprises are going to find the cost/benefit analysis of RIM vs. iPhone favoring the iPhone. RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) solution costs $5 to 10 per mailbox per month (for Exchange), plus an additional $10 per mailbox per month for BES, which includes a combination of licensing plus the cost of administering BES. Not so cheap.

The iPhone? It's still going to cost $5 to 10 per mailbox per month (for Exchange or Zimbra or whatever your mail service happens to be), but the extra $10 charge is wiped away. Gone. This leaves the enterprise with a two-times price advantage for the SaaS/iPhone world, which doesn't even include the cost of the device, which also continues to plummet.

Again, RIM's business model depends on extracting maximum value from each device/user, and it does so to good effect. Apple's business model is shifting to be about ubiquity of devices, and then the monetization of the applications.

Which will be better? Well, that depends on how one feels about developers and their impact on markets.… Read more

Microsoft's pre-iPhone 'salute' to Apple

Apple fan boys (and girls) are counting down the days before Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Everyone and their mother-in-law expects Steve Jobs to use his keynote at the event introduce new iPhones, including new 3G models and a less expensive refresh of the 2.5G version.

Microsoft marked the occasion with a reminder to Windows Mobile partners that the company "will sell nearly 20 million Windows Mobile smartphone licenses."

In an e-mail, Andy Lees Sr., the company's vice president of Mobile Communications, heralded this as a "milestone" adding that year-over-year Q1 unit growth in … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 737: Tom gets lucky with Jason

Oh, come now, we mean in a search on Goosh, the command-line search interface for Google. What were you thinking? Meantime, the Internet has docked in New York and Natali Del Conte is on the show to share the details of what all those Internet sailors are doing on the streets of Manhattan. Apparently they're at the mayor's house. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 737

Internet Week in New York http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9956754-36.html

Wikia Search launches the hackable search engine http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9958036-2.html

Time Warner Cable ready to test metered … Read more

India to gain access to BlackBerry e-mail?

Research In Motion, the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, will meet with Indian officials again Thursday to hash out an agreement over security concerns, Reuters reported Wednesday.

India's security agencies have been pushing RIM to allow it to intercept e-mail that travels across its secure network. Under Indian law, the government has a right under certain circumstances to intercept electronic communications for security purposes. The Indian government believes that it needs access to these mobile e-mails to help thwart terrorists, who are increasingly using the Internet and e-mail to communicate with each other.

According to Reuters, Andimuthu Raja, India's … Read more