RIMarkable

The Unofficial BlackBerry Weblog

You are here: Home / Archives for Android

Android

SMRpodcast #51 — BlackBerry Is About To Get Rolled

by 1 Comment

Listen Now: [podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/simplemobilereview/blackberry-is-about-to-get-rolled.mp3[/podcast]
Hosts: Rod Simmons, Chris Ashley,Brent Harman, Robb Dunewood

  • Recorded: January 16th, 2011
  • Published: January 17th, 2011
  • Duration: 1hr 31min 31sec
SUBSCRIBE FOR AUTOMATIC DOWNLOADS

Instructions to subscribing to podcasts

SHOW TOPICS

CES

  • We cover some of the announcement from CES
  • Rod talks about the Playbook as one of the best devices
  • Brent said he has no interest in the Motorola Atrix
  • Robb got an iPad

We discuss if the Verizon iPhone will impact Android sales

  • Robb says no
  • Brent says no
  • Chris says yes
  • Rod says yes
  • hard discussion begins

We discuss Google

  • Rod is wondering if anyone cares about Chrome OS
  • Chris says no
  • Robb isn’t sure where they will fit in
  • Brent makes the case on how Chrome OS will work

BlackBerry Playbook

  • Rod mentions that the Playbook is coming out on Sprint
  • Robb clarifies that they are getting the 4G device everyone else can get the WIFI

Why were there no Windows Phone 7 devices at CES

  • Chris says that the Mobile World Congress is more the venue for Microsoft and Phone 7
  • Argument ensues

PICKS OF THE WEEK

Opening Song

Santa Clause Is Coming Town by Pleasure – Amazon

Both Apple And RIM Soon To Be Overtaken By Android In U.S. Smartphone Market Share

by 7 Comments

It’s been just over a month since the iPhone overtook the BlackBerry in total U.S. market share and as we begin 2011, Apple still is in the top spot.  This may not be the case for to long, however, because Android is poised to overtake RIM and Apple with the ridiculous growth that the platform is experiencing.

According to November 2010 data, Apple holds 28.6 percent of the U.S. smartphone market up slightly from 27.9 percent in October. Meanwhile, BlackBerry OS slipped again in November to 26.1 percent, down from 27.4 percent in October and 33.9 percent in June. Android OS closed the distance on Apple and RIM reaching 25.8 percent in November, compared to 22.7 percent in October and 15 percent in June.

It’s pretty clear that Android will over take RIM relatively soon.  This would probably be true for Apple as well if it weren’t for the the fact that the iPhone is soon coming to Verizon.  My gut tells me that the Verizon iPhone will become the fast selling smartphone ever and will probably hold of Android for a bit longer, while increasing the speed of the BlackBerry’s decline as the churn of current Verizon BlackBerry users that switch to the iPhone will probably be at all time high levels.

[Via Gigaom]

“RIM doesn’t have a competitive smartphone now, nor will it have one any time in the near future” — Editorial from a BlackBerry Addicted Engadget Editor

by 12 Comments

There is a really good editorial over on Engadget by tech editor Joanna Stern. I recently damaged my BlackBerry Storm and found myself in almost exactly the same situation. I wanted to buy a new BlackBerry, however, no BlackBerry exists that does all the things that, going by today’s standards, smartphones should do.

Check out “RIM seems to be as lost as my BlackBerry”…  It truly is a good read.

Verizon BlackBerry Sales Down 45% Since Last Year

by 10 Comments

I just took a look at Verizon sales metrics from ITG Investment Research analyst Matthew Goodman, and, to make a long story short, the numbers aren’t pretty for Research in Motion and the BlackBerry on the nation’s largest network.  BlackBerry sales dropped 45 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of this year, and Goodman sees them trending down 49 percent YOY in the fourth.

80 percent of smartphone sales at Verizon in November were Android devices (46 percent of those were Droids). Which is astonishing for two reasons. 1.) That’s a huge percentage for a relatively new mobile OS in a very competitive market. 2.) In December of 2008, RIM was touting the BlackBerry as Verizon’s best-selling device. In two years, it’s gone from a flagship to a johnboat.

[Via AllThingsD]

BlackBerry Falls To Number 2 In U.S. Smartphone Market Share

by 9 Comments

Research in Motion’s BlackBerry no longer sits atop the U.S. smartphone market share hill as it has been knocked down a spot to number two by the iPhone according to Nielsen’s numbers for October 2010. The iPhone has moved up to 27.9% share while the BlackBerry has moved down to 27.5%. Both RIM and Apple, however, lost share to Android who moved up to 22.7% with no sign of slowing down.

Perhaps a bigger issue for Research in Motion and the BlackBerry than its statistical dead heat with the iPhone is that feature phone owners looking to upgrade to a smartphone don’t want BlackBerry devices. Only 11% plan to get a BlackBerry compared to 28% wanting Android devices and 25% wanting iPhones. What may even be more alarming for RIM is that existing BlackBerry users don’t even really want new BlackBerry devices with only 15% looking to get a new BlackBerry.

[Readne]

Research In Motion Is Giving Me No Option But To Make Android My Primary Device…

by 13 Comments

My BlackBerry Storm is on it’s last leg.  I got it the day it came out over two years ago and am in dire need of something to upgrade to.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a new BlackBerry on Verizon that I am at all interested in and my little journey over to AT&T to try out the BlackBerry Torch didn’t work out too well.  I really would like to upgrade to a new BlackBerry, however, there aren’t even any new high-end BlackBerry devices on Verizon let alone any new Touch screen BlackBerry devices available on the carrier that introduced them.

I am not going to buy Bold 9650… It came out over 5 months ago and still doesn’t officially run BlackBerry 6.  It doesn’t have a touch screen, and, I can’t honestly see myself using it for anything other than email if I had one.  The Storm2 is over a year old and, from what we’ve heard, won’t run BlackBerry 6.

As many of you know, I’ve been carrying around an HTC Droid Incredible as a secondary device for some time now.  It looks like Research in Motion is giving me no option but to make Android my primary device…

BlackBerry To Maintain Top Spot Among Smartphones Until 2015

by 5 Comments

Despite the onslaught of rival smartphones like the iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7,  Research in Motion will maintain the top spot when it comes to worldwide market share until 2015, according to a study from ABI Research.

The study found that RIM will lose market share by 2015. The research firm expects RIM’s BlackBerry to maintain 26% of the mobile operating system world market by 2015, matched by Google’s Android OS with 26%. Nokia’s Symbian OS will take 16%, Microsoft Windows OS 11% and Apple iOS 14%.

What do you think?  If RIM continues to lose share as fast as they have for last two quarters they will lose their spot atop the smartphone market share hill much sooner than 2015.  Can RIM do enough to hold their competitors off for the next 4 years or so?  Time will certainly tell…

[Source]

5 More Reasons Why RIM Should Build A Device That Runs Android

by 21 Comments

A couple of years ago I wrote a fairly popular post titled  “5 Reasons That RIM Should Make A BlackBerry That Runs Android“.  Today, I feel even more strongly about this so I am doing a follow up with 5 More Reasons RIM Should Build a Device That Runs Android. I’ve changed gears just a bit and am making the distinction between BlackBerry and device in this update, but, at the end of the day, RIM is a company that makes most of its revenue by selling hardware and they need to get on board when it comes to Android regardless of if they call such a device a BlackBerry or something else…

[Read more…] about 5 More Reasons Why RIM Should Build A Device That Runs Android

Verizon 2010/2011 Roadmap Leaked… BlackBerry Not Even Mentioned

by 3 Comments

A BGR Source has leaked Verizon roadmap plans for the remainder of 2010, 2011, and even a bit of 2012.  There is a lot of focus on LTE and Android, however, news about Research in Motion and upcoming BlackBerry devices was not present on the roadmap at all.

It is clear that Verizon is putting its money on Android, however, it will be interesting to see if big red, who once accounted for 40% of all of Research in Motion’s revenue, will continue to push BlackBerry devices, or, relegate it’s former flagship smartphone line to “devices they still sell” status.

[Read more…] about Verizon 2010/2011 Roadmap Leaked… BlackBerry Not Even Mentioned

Rumor: BlackBerry 6 May Not Come To CDMA Networks Until Next Year

by 5 Comments

Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu said in a research note yesterday that BlackBerry 6, the next version of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry operating system, may not come out on CDMA networks like Sprint and Verizon until 2011.

Almost 80% of all wireless networks use GSM technology, so, it makes sense that RIM would target the biggest audience for the release their newest OS.  We believe that the BlackBerry 9800 (BlackBerry Slider) will be the first device to run BlackBerry 6 and that it will come out on AT&T in the August / September timeframe.  The problem for RIM, however, is that most BlackBerry devices are purchased here in the United States where the majority of BlackBerry users are CDMA BlackBerry users.

[Read more…] about Rumor: BlackBerry 6 May Not Come To CDMA Networks Until Next Year