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Mike Lazaridis

Press Release: Research In Motion Names Thorsten Heins President and CEO

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Waterloo, ON – The Board of Directors of BlackBerry® maker Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced that, acting on the recommendation of its Co-Chief Executive Officers to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the Board, it has unanimously named Thorsten Heins as President and Chief Executive Officer.  Mr. Heins was also appointed to RIM’s Board. The Board acted after conducting its own due diligence. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Mike Lazaridis, former Co-Chair and Co-CEO, has become Vice Chair of RIM’s Board and Chair of the Board’s new Innovation Committee. As Vice Chair, he will work closely with Mr. Heins to offer strategic counsel, provide a smooth transition and continue to promote the BlackBerry brand worldwide.

Mr. Heins said he looks forward to continuing to work with Mr. Lazaridis, globally recognized as a technology pioneer. He said, “Mike created a whole new way of communicating and I look forward to continuing our close collaboration.”

On the transition to CEO by Mr. Heins, Mr. Lazaridis said, “There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now.  With BlackBerry 7 now out, PlayBook 2.0 shipping in February and BlackBerry 10 expected to ship later this year, the company is entering a new phase, and we felt it was time for a new leader to take it through that phase and beyond.  Jim, the Board and I all agreed that leader should be Thorsten Heins.”

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Research in Motion board looking to replace Lazaridis and Balsillie with new Chairman of the Board: Sources say

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According to a  report in the Financial Times, Research in Motion’s board is preparing to oust co-chairs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie due to intense pressure from shareholders who watched RIM’s stock price drop over 75% in 2011.  Independent director Barbara Stymiest is rumored to be the front runner to replace Lazaridis and Balsillie who will remain co-CEOs of the company.

RIM… When Can I Get A Dual-Core, QNX Running BlackBerry?

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One of the things that Research in Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said at the All Things D: Dive Into Mobile conference last week was that we will see QNX on the BlackBerry when dual core processors became available.  LG, today, has launched the LG Optimus 2X with Tegra 2, the first dual-core smartphone, so, clearly dual core processors are available.  Lazaridis said also, however, when talking about BlackBerry 6 that, “It really is the foundation of us going forward on the BlackBerry“, which to me sounds like it will be some time before we see a QNX BlackBerry.

I don’t want to say that Lazaridis’ comments are conflicting, but, they definitely are confusing.  All I really want to know is when can I get a dual-core, QNX running BlackBerry?

All Things D Posts Full Mike Lazaridis Interview From Dive Into Mobile Conference

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You may have already seen the video of Research in Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis demonstrating the BlackBerry PlayBook at the Dive Into Mobile conference last week.  All Things D, however, has posted the video of the entire interview online.

RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis On BlackBerry 6… “It really is the foundation of us going forward on the BlackBerry”

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Earlier today we showed you the video of Research in Motion’s founder and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis  giving a live demo of the BlackBerry PlayBook at the Dive Into Mobile conference yesterday evening.  What may even be of more interest, however, are some of the comments he made during his time on stage with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg from All Things Digital…

Of particular note were Lazaridis’s comment’s on BlackBerry 6.  When asked about the latest incarnation of the BlackBerry OS, Lazaridis had this to say… “It really is the foundation of us going forward on the BlackBerry”.

As the co-CEO of Research in Motion, unless RIM isn’t looking to sell another BlackBerry device between now and the time a QNX OS based BlackBerry hits the shelves, Lazaridis really couldn’t have said much else.  If he had, much like when Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7 and their Win Mo 6.5 sales all but completely came to screeching halt, no one would buy a new BlackBerry device if they new RIM was putting all there efforts into a new OS.

Let’s just hope that BlackBerry 6 is the foundation of BlackBerry operating systems going forward for no longer than the time it takes a hardware manufacture to squeeze a dual core processor into a phone small enough to fit into my front pants pocket….  RIM needs a QNX powered BlackBerry ASAP…

Video: Mike Lazaridis Demos The BlackBerry PlayBook At Dive Into Mobile Conference

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Mike Lazaridis gives a 6 minute hands-on demo of the the BlackBerry PlayBook at All Things Digital’s Dive InTo Mobile Conference.  The PlayBook looks smooth, fast, and, if enough developers create engaging applications for it, like it could be a hit once its released next year.

I love how Mike just pulled his PlayBook out of his jacket pocket.  Everyone that is saying that a 7-inch tablet is just too small is flat out wrong.  My guess is that most of them will come around once Apple makes it seem like 7-inch tablets was their idea, but, I digress…  It looks like the PlayBook will eventually come in other sizes as well…

[Via All Things D]

RIM Responds To Apple Over “Unacceptable” (read bogus) Reception Claims

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If have you haven’t looked and any tech blogs, picked up a newspaper, or watched any news broadcast since last Thursday, you may not have known that Apple held a special press conference Friday to address reception issues that plague the iPhone 4.  Steve Jobs, for the most part, down played the issue kind of making it seem like it is more perception than reality (nothing shocking there), however, did address iPhone 4 owners concerns by basically giving all iPhone users a case.

Steve Jobs, however, didn’t stop there.  In a move that is pretty classless no matter how you look at it, he drug Research in Motion and Nokia into the conversation by, not only stating that handsets from both carriers suffer from the same type of problem plaguing the iPhone 4, but actually showing a video of a BlackBerry demonstrating the issue.  Needless to say, this did not sit well with RIM…

RIM Co-CEOs, in a joint response to Apple, had this to say:

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