Research in Motion renames BlackBerry App World, extends deadline for app submission

Research in Motions' big BlackBerry 10 is now just days away and the company seems to be busy getting all the last minute things in place. The Canadian software maker has now rechristened its BlackBerry App World as BlackBerry World. The desktop version of the renamed store is already live and the company has begun a phased rollout for its existing smartphone and tablet users.

The name change is in line with BlackBerry's plan to reposition its store as not merely an app store but to add mobile and video content as well. According to RIM, BlackBerry World will be a one-stop destination to cater to users' mobile entertainment needs.

In the new app store, the content is divided into different channels. There is a separate channel for games, apps and themes.

In the past RIM has been criticized for lagging in the app eco-system and this move is one significant step in rectifying its mistake. Apart, from renaming the app store, BlackBerry also announced a few days back, that it has received 15,000 apps for its BlackBerry 10 devices in under 40 hours,  37.5 hours to be exact. These apps were submitted under the Port-A-Thons event that RIM had organised to encourage developers to brace the new platform.

Excited by the response the company has received for this incentive program, RIM has now extended the deadline apps submission to February 18, 2013 20:00 hours Eastern Time. The major reason for the extension is said to be the backlog of applications submitted for review.

In its official blog RIM posted, "The fact is, the volume of apps being submitted for review and entry into the program has been remarkable. Due to that large volume of apps, we are extending the deadline".

RIM has had a turbulent 2012 as the company struggled to survive against mighty rivals, Apple and Android. To make a comeback, the Canadian software maker has put all its eggs in the BlackBerry 10 basket and will be showcasing at least two new smartphones based on the BlackBerry 10 OS at an event on January 30, 2013.

RIM shares dive as fee changes catch market off guard

RIM shares dive as fee changes catch market off guard

Shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd plunged more than 20 percent on Friday on fears that a new fee structure for its high-margin services segment could put pressure on the business that has set the company apart from its competitors.
It was the stock's biggest, single-day, percentage price drop since September 2008. But shares were still nearly 80 percent above the year's low, which was reached in September. They started to rally in November as investors began to bet that RIM's long-awaited new BlackBerry 10 phones, which will be unveiled in January, would turn the company around.
The services segment has long been RIM's most profitable and accounts for about a third of total revenue. Some analysts said there was a risk that the fee changes could endanger its service ecosystem and leave the Canadian company as just another handset maker.
The fee changes, which RIM announced on Thursday after market close, overshadowed stronger-than-expected quarterly results. The company said the new pricing structure would be introduced with the BlackBerry 10 launch, expected on January 30.
RIM said some subscribers would continue to pay for enhanced services such as advanced security. But under the new structure, some other services would account for less revenue, or even none at all.
Chief Executive Thorsten Heins tried to reassure investors in a television interview with CNBC on Friday, saying RIM's "service revenue isn't going away".
He added: "We're not stopping. We're not halting. We're transitioning."
Since taking over at RIM in January, Heins has focused on shrinking the company and getting it ready to introduce its new BB10 devices, which RIM says will help it claw back ground it has lost to competitors such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.
But the new services pricing strategy came as a shock to markets, and some analysts cut their price targets on RIM stock.
RIM will not be able to sustain profitability by relying on its hardware business alone, said National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson, whom Thomson Reuters StarMine has rated the top RIM analyst based on the accuracy of his estimates of the company's earnings.
Thompson downgraded RIM's stock to "underperform" from "sector perform" and cut his price target to $10 from $15.
Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said the move was likely about stabilizing market share: "At the moment, they need to stem the bleeding."
He said the tiered pricing might line up better with RIM's subscriber base as it expands in emerging economies.
RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares closed down 22.7 percent at $10.91 on Friday. The stock fell 22.2 percent to C$10.86 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Countdown to launch
The success of the BB10 will be crucial to the future of RIM, which on Thursday posted its first-ever decline in total subscribers. Heins said on CNBC that the company expected to ship millions of the new devices.
He cautioned that this will require heavy investment, which will reduce RIM's cash position in its fourth and first quarters from $2.9 billion in its fiscal third quarter. He said, however, it would not go below $2 billion.
Still, doubts remain about whether RIM can pull off the transformation. Needham analyst Charlie Wolf said the BB10 would have to look meaningfully superior to its competitors for RIM to stage a comeback.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said it was highly unlikely that the market would support RIM's new mobile computing ecosystem, and he remained skeptical about the company's ability to survive on its own.
"We believe RIM will eventually need to sell the company," said Walkley, who cut his price target on RIM shares to $9 from $10.
Baird Equity Research analysts said BB10 faced a daunting uphill battle against products from Apple, as well as those using Google Inc's Android operating system, and, increasingly, phones with Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 operating system.
Baird maintained its "underperform" rating on the stock, while Paradigm Capital downgraded the shares to "hold" from "buy" on uncertainty around the services revenue model.
"RIM has gone from having one major aspect of uncertainty BlackBerry 10 adoption to two, given an uncertain floor on services revenue," William Blair analyst Anil Doradla said.
RIM will have to discount BB10 devices significantly to maintain demand, Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said.
The BlackBerry, however, still offers the security features that helped it build its reputation with big business and government, a selling point with some key customers.
Credit Suisse maintained its "neutral" rating on the stock, but not because it expected BB10 to be a big success.
"Only the potential for an outright sale of the company or a breakup keeps us at a neutral," Credit Suisse analysts said.
Separately on Friday, ailing Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia said it had settled its patent dispute with RIM in return for payments. Nokia did not disclose detailed terms, but said the deal included a one-time payment to be booked in the fourth quarter, as well as ongoing fees, all to be paid by RIM.
© Thomson Reuters 2012

RIM agrees to pay Nokia to settle patent claims

RIM agrees to pay Nokia to settle patent claims

Finnish mobile giant Nokia said on Friday it was withdrawing all its lawsuits against Blackberry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) after reaching an agreement on patent licencing.
Last month Nokia filed lawsuits in the United States, Britain and Canada against RIM claiming it had breached an agreement on using Nokia patents on WLAN local area network technology.
"We are very pleased to have resolved our patent licensing issues with RIM and reached this new agreement, while maintaining Nokia's ability to protect our unique product differentiation," said Paul Melin, chief intellectual property officer at Nokia, in a statement.
The Finnish company said the agreement includes a one-time payment and on-going payments, all from RIM to Nokia, with the specific terms confidential.
The dispute arose from different interpretations of which technologies were covered by a 2003 licensing deal that allows RIM to use Nokia's patented technology.
RIM had sought arbitration in 2011 to get the deal modified, but a Swedish court ruled in November it was in breach of contract and could not use the technology without reaching an agreement with Nokia.
Nokia may have lost the title as the top-selling mobile phone maker, but the Finnish company holds patents to over 10,000 types of technology after having invested approximately 45 billion euros ($60 billion) in research and development over the past two decades.
RIM has also seen its market share eroded by competition from Apple's iPhone and devices powered by Google's Android system.

BlackBerry Z10 reportedly set to be unveiled as first BlackBerry 10 smartphone

BlackBerry Z10 reportedly set to be unveiled as first BlackBerry 10 smartphone

Twitter user @evleaks has done it again. The subject of the latest leak is the much-awaited BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

According to @evleaks, RIM plans to ditch 4 digit names (like BlackBerry Curve 9300) and call the forthcoming full-touch BlackBerry 10 smartphone the 'BlackBerry Z10'. So far we've known this phone as the BlackBerry L-series smartphone. @evleaks further states that the BlackBerry Z10 will be available in black and white colour options.

@evleaks also mentioned that the QWERTY BlackBerry 10 device, expected to be unveiled later next year, might be called the BlackBerry X10.

As the January 30 launch date draws closer, we've seen several leaks, but this is the first time we've heard an official name for the phone being mentioned. We've also heard rumours that RIM plans to release two BlackBerry 10 smartphones on launch, so it'll be interesting to see if details of the second device pop-up in the near future.

The BlackBerry Z10 seems to be the same device that a Vietnamese blog had posted pictures of last week. They later released a detailed hands-on video with the same.

We've also seen the BlackBerry 10 OS being demoed across various official and unofficial videos. The BlackBerry 10 operating system has been designed afresh from the ground-up, with an interface optimised for touch-screen devices. At the heart of BlackBerry 10 is the BlackBerry Hub, which is the focal point of the new operating system. BlackBerry Hub is the one-stop place to access all your messages - from social networking to work and personal emails, from BBM to text-messaging and voice calls. BlackBerry 10 comes with a new soft-keyboard that learns user habits and gets better at predicting input over time.

Earlier, RIM sent out media invitations for a special event to be held in New York on January 30 where it will officially unveil BlackBerry 10 smartphones and brand-new operating system. The event is one of multiple events that RIM is expected to hold across the world, as it prepares for perhaps the most significant launch in its history.

RIM reports first-ever dip in BlackBerry subscribers

RIM reports first-ever dip in BlackBerry subscribers

Research In Motion's stock plunged in after-hours trading Thursday after the BlackBerry maker said it plans to change the way it charges fees.
RIM also announced that it lost subscribers for the first time in the latest quarter, as the global number of BlackBerry users dipped to 79 million.
In a rare positive sign, the Canadian company added to its cash position during the quarter as it prepared to launch new smartphones on Jan. 30. The new devices are deemed critical to the company's survival.
RIM's stock initially jumped more than 8 percent in after-hours trading on that news, but then fell $1.48, or 10.4 percent, to $12.65 after RIM said on a conference call that it won't generate as much revenue from telecommunications carriers once it releases the new BlackBerry 10 platform.
RIM is changing the way it charges service fees, putting an important source of revenue at risk. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said only subscribers who want enhanced security will pay fees under the new system.
"Other subscribers who do not utilize such services are expected to generate less or no service revenue," Heins said. "The mix in level of service fees revenue will change going forward and will be under pressure over the next year during this transition."
RIM's stock had been on a three-month rally that has seen the stock more than double from its lowest level since 2003.
But Mike Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said BlackBerry 10 will change RIM's services revenue model dramatically. He said that instead of getting about $6 per device each month from carriers and users RIM could get as little as zero.
"That's what turned the stock from being up 10 percent to being down 10 percent," Walkley said. "That's been part of our worry. How do they come back with a new platform and get carriers to continue to share the higher revenue -which sounds like they are not going to- and then subsidize the phone to make it affordable for consumers and enterprises."
"People are seeing that the services revenue has a lot of risk to it now with the BlackBerry 10 migration."
Three months ago, RIM had 80 million subscribers. Analysts said the loss of 1 million subscribers was expected. Once coveted symbols of an always-connected lifestyle, BlackBerry phones have lost their luster to Apple's iPhone and phones that run on Google's Android software.
RIM is banking its future on its much-delayed BlackBerry 10 platform, which is meant to offer the multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers now demand.
"We believe the company has stabilized and will turn the corner in the next year," Heins said. He noted that the company's cash holdings grew by $600 million in the quarter to $2.9 billion, even after the funding of all its restructuring costs. RIM previously announced 5,000 layoffs this year.
Heins said subscribers in North America showed the largest decline, but said there is growth overseas.
Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Financial, said before the conference call that the company bought itself more time.
"It doesn't mean (BlackBerry) 10 will gain traction. A lot of people said 10 would be DOA, but I don't think that's going to be the case," he said.
Jefferies analyst Peter Misek also earlier called the results better than expected, noting that RIM added a significant amount of cash. RIM will need the money to advertise the new BlackBerrys and operating system.
Misek also called it a positive development that RIM said there would not be another delay to BlackBerry 10.
"The success or failure of this company will be on BlackBerry 10," Misek said.
RIM posted net income of $14 million, or 3 cents per share for its fiscal third quarter, which ended Dec. 1. That compares with a profit of $265 million, or 51 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
The latest figure includes a favorable tax settlement. Excluding that adjustment, RIM lost 22 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a wider loss of 27 cents.
RIM reported revenue of $2.7 billion, down 47 percent from a year ago.

RIM outlines programme for enterprise clients to adopt BlackBerry10

Research In Motion outlined a step-by-step programme on Thursday to help its large base of enterprise clients transition across to its soon to be launched new BlackBerry 10 platform.
RIM is betting that the new devices, set to be launched on January 30, will revive its fortunes. But the fate of the BB10 smartphones will in a large part be decided by corporations and government agencies the world over that are big users of RIM's BlackBerry devices, which have long been renowned for a strong set of security features.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, once a pioneer in the smartphone arena, has ceded market share to Apple Inc's iPhone and devices powered by Google's market-leading Android operating system.

RIM promises its new devices will be faster and smoother than previous smartphones, and will have a large catalog of apps that are crucial to the success of any new line of smartphones.

While RIM's low-end smartphones still enjoy strong sales in emerging economies across the globe, sales of its higher-end phones, especially in the developed world have fallen sharply.

RIM, which initially plans to launch only a high-end touchscreen and a high-end QWERTY keyboard-based device on the new platform, is hoping that these two BB10 devices will reverse this trend.

The new operating system can only be used on the new handsets.

Early adoption of BlackBerry 10 by government and corporate clients, who have been abandoning RIM's currently aging line-up of devices in droves, will go a long way in easing the concerns of both RIM's clients and investors. Many fear that a lackluster market reception to BB10 could seal RIM's fate.

BB10 ready
RIM said the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program for its enterprise customers will be introduced in a phased approach over the next two months.

"We will be aggressively reaching out to our customers to make sure they are aware of this program," said Bryan Lee, who is senior director of enterprise at RIM. "We see this as really the lynchpin for helping our customers to transition to BB10."

The first two components of the program, which include online training and a webcast series, are already in place. The latter two portions that include a free trade-up of BlackBerry Enterprise Server licenses and services around the migration to the new platform will be available ahead of the January 30 launch.

"We remain committed to our enterprise customers and want to provide them with a head start on understanding the power of BlackBerry 10 and preparing their existing environments for the new mobile computing platform," said Lee.

"The BlackBerry 10 Ready Program gives customers access to a variety of services, information, tools, and special offers to help ease their transition to BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10," he said.

Lee said he sees tremendous excitement and anticipation from enterprise customers who want to transition to the new platform, but he would not speculate on what percentage of the enterprise customer base would be ready to transition to the new platform come launch day.

RIM, last month, said BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10, which runs the devices on corporate networks, is in beta testing with around 20 key government agencies and corporates.

Views split
So far feedback from both carriers and developers, who have tested the new devices and platform, has been largely positive. But views among financial analysts have been widely split, while some analysts have recently upgraded their ratings and targets on RIM's share price in anticipation of BB10, others have opined that the new platform has little chance of succeeding.

TD Securities analyst Scott Penner on Wednesday raised his price target on RIM to $12 from $9.50, but cautioned that the company still faces significant hurdles ahead.

Despite lingering doubts RIM's stock, which is still more than 90 percent below an all-time high of around $148 touched in 2008, has surged over the last two months as the launch date for the new devices nears.

Shares in RIM, which fell to $6.22 in late September, closed on Wednesday at $11.94 on the Nasdaq. Its Toronto-listed shares have also jumped about 90 percent in the same period and closed at C$11.84, as investors bet that pent-up demand will result in a large number of users upgrading to BB10.

The latest TSX data also indicates that short positions in RIM shares have fallen dramatically in the last two weeks. The total short positions in RIM on the TSX fell to 15.2 million as of November 30, down from 20.6 million in the prior two weeks.

© Thomson Reuters 2012