When is BlackBerry 10 Coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook?

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Yes, I was one of those folks who went out and bought a BlackBerry PlayBook the first day the device was available back in April of 2011.

To this day I say that the PlayBook has one of the best mobile browsers available, although, I fully admit that I rarely ever use my PlayBook.

The hardware in the PlayBook was pretty good, but, the OS and lack of application support relegated  my device to electronic junk drawer status.  Today I use my PlayBook to check out new applications, and, quite honestly, nothing more.

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Listen to the SMRpodcast Interview with Alec Saunders to get the Full Context of Why RIM is Disabling Sideloading of Apps on the PlayBook

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There is a bit of buzz in the BlackBerry world surrounding comments Alec Saunders, VP of Developer Relations at Research in Motion, made about RIM disabling the sideloading of apps in the the next update of the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Well, those comments actually came from an interview we did with Alec on the SMRpodcast, episode #111, last Tuesday April 3rd.

To get the full context of what Alec said, start listening at about (22:12).
[podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/simplemobilereview/smrpodcast-111_-all-blackberry-with-alec-saunders.mp3[/podcast]

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Amazon looked into buying RIM last summer, but, RIM wasn’t interested…

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Word on the street is that Amazon was interested in buying Research in Motion last summer and even hired an investment bank to review a potential merger, but, never got to the point of making a formal offer because RIM’s management did not want to sell or break up the company.

(Reuters) – Research In Motion Ltd has turned down takeover overtures from Amazon.com Inc and other potential buyers because the BlackBerry maker prefers to fix its problems on its own, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

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RIM issues statement on Adobe’s decision to stop developing Flash for the mobile web

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Adobe Systems yesterday announced that it will no longer develop Flash for the mobile web instead focusing on HTML 5 and porting Flash Apps to stand-alone Adobe AIR mobile apps.

One of the big differentiators of the BlackBerry PlayBook from the iPad is its full support of Adobe Flash, so, after yesterday’s Adobe announcement, RIM, issued this statement…

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Android App Player for BlackBerry PlayBook delayed until late fall

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Back in March before the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook Research in Motion officially announced the Android App Player which allows Android applications to run in a virtual machine on the QNX powered BlackBerry PlayBook.  We were told that the PlayBook would support native Android Applications by this summer, however, a reliable Engadget source is reporting that the Android App Player for BlackBerry PlayBook has been delayed until “late fall”.

[Via Engadget]

RIM to officially announce new BlackBerry 7 devices tomorrow (7-26)

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Even though the touch BlackBerry Bold 9900 was the only next-generation officially announced back at BlackBerry World 2011 this past May, several new BlackBerry 7 devices or in the works, and, it looks like they will be officially announced tommorow, July 26th at an event RIM is calling #BB7FanNight.

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RIM acquires Swedish online video editing service JayCut…

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To the list of acquisitions Research in Motion has made recently, Sweden based online video editing  and streaming service start-up JayCut, teams up with RIM.

The BlackBerry PlayBook offers users premium multimedia features, including dual HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing, HDMI output and high resolution video playback. By working with JayCut to add video editing capabilities to the BlackBerry platform we can further enrich our customers’ multimedia experience with BlackBerry.

It will be interesting to see what type of video capabilities JayCut brings to the BlackBerry PlayBook and how quickly they do so…

[Via Inside BlackBerry]

More Defections From RIM – BlackBerry PlayBook Sr. Product Manager Ryan Bidan leaves for Samsung

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It comes as no surprise that you would start to see RIM employees resign after company executives announced, back on RIM’s Q2 Fiscal 2012 earnings call, that they would “streamline operations” by eliminating jobs and reallocating resources to high-growth projects like the BlackBerry PlayBook.  It doesn’t, however, look all that good when high profile employees like Ryan Bidan, Sr. Product Manager for BlackBerry PlayBook, who work in the one specific area RIM mentioned they would reallocate resources to, not only resign, but head directly to a competitor in the tablet space like Samsung to become their new Director of Product Marketing.

[Via CrackBerry]

RIM Tweets to BGR that Wi-Fi BlackBerry PlayBook discontinuation rumor is pure fiction…

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BGR was the first big time blog to post on RBC Capital Markets Managing Director Mike Abramsky’s reiteration of an an OTR Global report stating that Research in Motion may be planning to discontinue the Wi-Fi only version of the BlackBerry PlayBook.  From the official @BlackBerry Twitter account, RIM replied to BGR’s Tweet announcing said post.

@BGR -> RIM to discontinue BlackBerry PlayBook? http://goo.gl/fb/rO0Zn
18 hours ago

@BlackBerry -> @BGR Pure fiction. No plan to discontinue. In fact, WiFi PlayBook is launching in new countries practically every week.

I wonder what RIM tweet to the analysts?