RIM co-CEO Hints To BlackBerry Touchscreen

hellno
#1. February 13th, 2008, at 9:54 AM.

Balsillie knows RIM better try and follow Apple and it’s revolutionary iPhone before RIM and the Blackberry are completely shown as obsolete. Every couple months we get the reminder of RIM’s single point NOC, it’s failures showing RIM’s data service end isn’t at all mission critical. For a year now when comparing any BB to the iPhone it’s very easy to see which device is years behind the iPhone. But RIM is going to have to do much more than introduce a touch screen to get BB devices up to the iPhone’s technology level.

portorikan
#2. February 13th, 2008, at 12:42 PM.

I don’t know hellno. I just picked up my BB, and while the iphone is revolutionary, it certainly is missing features that are deal breakers for me. Right now, my phone is too cool to drop for an iphone. I’ll just carry my ipod with me.

Shredney
#3. February 13th, 2008, at 2:10 PM.

I am very happy with my Pearl 8130, For sure it doesn’t have all of the flash of the iPhone, but I don’t need all of it and I have most of it anyway. No I don’t have the flashy touch interface, but the allmighty iPhone lacks more than I do. Saying that however, RIM does have to keep up, no ahead, in order to keep it’s position in the market. I am very confident and happy to wait for the next gen Blackberry when I am finally ready to upgrade in a couple of years.

SK

maersies
#4. February 13th, 2008, at 7:45 PM.

While the features of the iphone look great, the speed is nothing. I have many ceos who emailed my tech support company that I work with complaining about the speeds and email functions. So for me I still will go with what I know will give me what I need. I will wait until bb comes out with the touch screen before I loose any of the features I love.

bluehorseshoe
#5. February 14th, 2008, at 12:13 AM.

Yeah, companies are just going to start dumping BB’s because they lack a touch screen. Let’s do a rollout so everyone can watch their favorite movie during that sales meeting. Oh, and those songs I just downloaded from the iTunes application that IT installed on my system, I used the corporate card for those. Gotta open that excel file? Too bad. Battery just died? Hope you brought a kite and key. Tethering on Edge? Who needs it. Dropped call? Hit redial.

Yeah, I’m running out right now to make that exchange.

Thought
#6. February 14th, 2008, at 1:02 AM.

Though a touchscreen BB doesn’t seem to be right for me, I guess it’s different strokes for different folks, and if RIM wants to roll on out that’s OK. I still think that a BB without a keyboard makes no sense whatsoever, but I am sure some will buy one.

As for the iPhone/BB comparison: really right now it’s comparing apples to oranges (no pun intended). The BB is first and foremost a utilitarian business device, with some multimedia features kind of stuck in there. The iPhone is a multimedia powerhouse that may start adding in some business apps.

The 2 companies are approaching the market from opposite sides: RIM is coming from a stronghold on the business market trying to make inroads with the consumer. Apple is coming from a position of strength with consumers trying to make some inroads with the business user.

At this point there’s no real need to pit one device against the other. I say the ideal option is to have both.

hellno
#8. February 14th, 2008, at 10:52 AM.

Thought
#6. February 14th, 2008, at 1:02 AM.
“At this point there’s no real need to pit one device against the other. I say the ideal option is to have both.”

Not sure both are needed although having both one can make a valid argument. IMO I find my iPhone does everything my Pearl does and then some. It’s good to be able to form a valid opinion instead of throwing a fit and posting FUD like a child every time someone posts something bluehorseshoe doesn’t agree with.

bluehorseshoe
#9. February 14th, 2008, at 11:25 AM.

Form an opinion? You should talk. You’re the biggest offender on this board when it comes to that. Have you read the other threads in which everyone basically is in agreement?

You’re off your rocker.

hellno
#10. February 14th, 2008, at 12:14 PM.

“Apple undeniably accelerated the drive to smart phones. It educated the consumer to the benefits of these types of phones. We saw our sales go up with AT&T after the iPhone came out.”
Research in Motion co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis

Nokia Adds Touch Screen Interface to S60……
A Research in Motion (RIM) patent application points to the possibility of a touchscreen BlackBerry in the near future……
LG’s Touch-Screen Voyager…..

All jumping on the bandwagon, but there is none which will come close the the revolutionary iPhone.

hellno
#11. February 14th, 2008, at 1:44 PM.

“The iPhone has become such a popular thing,” said Bob Stutz, a SAP senior vice president who is responsible for developing customer relationship management software. “Everybody wants the ease of use of the iPhone.” (Even RIM apparently with filing for a touch screen patent)

SAP’s first generation of the iPhone software will load business contacts, information on sales prospects and account data onto the device, Stutz said.

Stutz said SAP decided to introduce the iPhone software ahead of programs for other devices at the request of its sales people, saying they prefer using iPhones to the other devices.

Apple iPhone and BlackBerry Coopetition
Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 1:10 PM - by John Martellaro
http://www.ipodobserver.com/story/32133
There are problems, however, with RIM’s public posture. Apple won’t be standing still. All the attention is on Apple. RIM only has a short window in time to measure up to the iPhone design or face serious image problems. Apple could expand into, say, Best Buy, and expand the device as a platform and its capabilities faster than competitors, [thanks to Mac OS X in the iPhone.]
The author, Jeremy MacNealy, sees the iPhone as a serious threat to the BlackBerry, despite the coopetition factor, and, despite RIM’s temporary happiness with the rising tide of smartphones, they’re going to have to react very quickly to avoid becoming the victim of obsolescence in very new kind of race.

It’s been over a year now…. Not quick enough RIM…. A quick glance at each device speaks volumes.

FUD
#13. February 15th, 2008, at 3:15 PM.

Here we go again with hellno. I’m surprised he hasn’t told us how much Verizon sucks. I agree the the markets are different, but are coming closer together. I want the Curve for its form factor, and Verizon for the data speeds. Its a no brainer. (Sent from my Verizon Wireless Blackberry).

hellno
#14. February 16th, 2008, at 1:50 PM.

Thats great FUD, you “want the Curve” fantastic, good for you, oh and your a verizon customer too, great, lucky you. Enjoy the crippled Curve coming to verizon a year after it was available for open, standard, global GSM. RIM and other top tier mobile device manufactures still have no answer for Apple’s revolutionary iPhone.

This thread is about RIM’s touchscreen device in response to the iPhone, It’s been over a year now…. Not quick enough RIM…. A quick glance at each device speaks volumes.

hellno
#15. February 17th, 2008, at 4:12 PM.

Apple’s iPhone gaining ground on RIM’s BlackBerry
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/309978

The Canadian Press

MONTREAL

The BlackBerry mobile communications device is hard to beat in the corporate world, where it got its start, but it’s expected have a tougher time winning the hearts of consumers who are being wooed by Apple’s iPhone and other smartphones.

While there’s an opportunity for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion to fill a void in Canada while the iPhone isn’t yet available, Apple’s phone is a real threat, says tech analyst Jesse Hirsh.

He adds the BlackBerry is still cool but it’s no longer “uber-cool.”

“Technology fetishists are discarding their BlackBerrys and they all drive to the States and buy an iPhone and look on the Internet for how to hack into them and they are all running iPhones,” said Hirsh, who runs a tech advice website.

The consumer marketplace is “incredibly competitive” and if the BlackBerry doesn’t live up to its brand’s billing, consumers will make the switch to other smart phones, he said.

Hirsh also said the Apple’s touch-screen technology is pushing ahead of the BlackBerry’s trackwheel and the more innovative trackball on the consumer-oriented Pearl smartphone and some newer models of the BlackBerry, which revolutionized wireless e-mail with features such as a full QWERTY-style keyboard for rapid two-thumbed typing.

“Research In Motion — they have absolutely been threatened by the iPhone and the design revolution that the iPhone has introduced in both the touchscreen and the way that the device is used,” Hirsh said.

Alan Sawyer, who runs Two Solitudes Consulting, said consumers may just shrug off the BlackBerry’s capacity for providing e-mail security.

That is, however, a key selling point for many business customers and especially for the U.S. defence establishment and police forces that are major users of the Canadian-invented devices.

“You will never see, in my opinion, Research In Motion get the sort of market share in the consumer world that it has traditionally been able to garner in the corporate world,” said Sawyer, a media strategist in Toronto.

It won’t even be close to RIM’s corporate dominance, especially if the iPhone becomes available in Canada, Sawyer said.

“That’s going to take a big chunk of that share probably,” he said, but added the BlackBerry Pearl model does put RIM on a competitive footing with the iPhone and other smartphones.

Smartphones are wireless phones that allow users to make calls, send e-mails and surf the Internet, for example. They also have keyboards for inputting text but are generally more limited than the BlackBerrys.

The Pearl, first introduced in September 2006, was the first RIM product to include consumer-friendly features such as a camera and MP3 player. It came out about half a year before Apple’s iPhone became available in the United States.

A recent upgrade to the BlackBerry wireless system appears to have been the cause of a three-hour service disruption on Monday that affected millions of users in North America.

Research In Motion, based in Waterloo, has said the routine upgrade was part of its efforts to increase system capacity for increased growth.

“They probably still have one of the most, if not the most secure way of getting e-mail around when it’s working,” Sawyer said.

“On the corporate side, I think there will be slow erosion of the market share, but the market (size) is going to keep growing.”

For consumers, Hirsh said Internet search engine Google has introduced a mobile phone and many cellphone makers including Nokia and Samsung also offer smartphones, and some of them are cheaper.

Japan’s HTC offers handsets that look and act like BlackBerrys that use Windows Mobile software, he said.

“Nokia is the world’s largest mobile company. They dominate Europe, Asia and the African markets. They have devices that I feel are far superior to BlackBerrys.”

Tech expert Elias Makos believes the BlackBerry is still dominant in the business world because computer technicians are reluctant to abandon them and RIM’s system. (The latest RIM outage and the next will take care of that)

“I really don’t think that RIM has shown anything that’s going to lead me to believe they’re going to be a success in the consumer market,” said Makos, a technical instructor at Concordia University’s journalism department.

Makos said RIM will have to make some improvements to win big among consumers.

cellphoneunlock.net
#16. March 16th, 2008, at 11:17 PM.

RIM will be coming out with something huge (or try at least) within the next couple months. They are losing a lot of ground to HTC and other devices with WM6
As much as I love my bb the menu is looking a bit ancient