BB10

[Dominato3r]

RIM gave reporters a sneak peek of the operating system
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/1/2991517/blackberry-10-a-closer-look-video

We've taken a closer look at the UI elements revealed during RIM's BlackBerry World keynote and put together a video detailing the major new elements we've seen. Firstly and foremost, RIM is focusing heavily on gestures to move between and within apps. It's all about "flow," as CEO Thorsten Heins put it. While we don't know exactly what "flow" means for how the actual experience of using a BB10 phone, we can put together a good part of the story.

The core home screen experience appears to be up to four "tiles" of information that are related to the apps they represent. They aren't strictly live screenshots of running apps in tile form, but RIM has taken a page from Windows Phone, where the tile displays related information custom-designed for the smaller space. You can tap on any tile to jump into that app, and then swipe up to go back to the home screen. Presumably there will be a grid of icons you can access somewhere in that home screen experience, but RIM hasn't shown it yet. However, we have seen leaked shots (which have been borne out by today's keynote) with just such a grid. Presumably given RIM's focus on gestures, it will be just a swipe away from the home screen.

 

[MaxFusion16]

looks good, but this whole RIM revival just reminds me of the palm pre and webOS.

could be too late too little, and RIM doesn't have the cash to outlast the competition.

There is just no room for a 4th platform.

 

[Jodell88]

looks good, but this whole RIM revival just reminds me of the palm pre and webOS.

could be too late too little, and RIM doesn't have the cash to outlast the competition.

There is just no room for a 4th platform.

There's always room for a fourth platform.

 

[MaxFusion16]

There's always room for a fourth platform.

tell that to palm, oh wait...

 

[Jodell88]

tell that to palm, oh wait...

HP is/was stupid.

BTW Palm/HP was able to bring big name developers to the WebOS platform. That's something even Microsoft hasn't been able to do as yet.

 

[MaxFusion16]

HP is/was stupid.

Palm wasn't exactly flying high before HP bought them.

hell, if Palm was doing well, HP wouldn't have had the opportunity to kill it.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

looks good, but this whole RIM revival just reminds me of the palm pre and webOS.

could be too late too little, and RIM doesn't have the cash to outlast the competition.

There is just no room for a 4th platform.

Would WP7 be the third platform then? If BB10 is really good I could see it becoming the #3 OS given WP7's total lack of success after being on the market for quite a while.

 

[MaxFusion16]

Would WP7 be the third platform then? If BB10 is really good I could see it becoming the #3 OS given WP7's total lack of success after being on the market for quite a while.

microsoft has billions in cash reserves to ensure WP7's success. Not to mention microsoft has an ecosystem in place with xbox and windows, the possibilities for integration are endless.

RIM on the other hand is on the brink of collapse, bb10 is their last hurrah, just as palm did with webos, and we all know how that turned out.

having a single great product is no longer adequate for success in this industry, you need an ecosystem.

 

[Jodell88]

Palm wasn't exactly flying high before HP bought them.

hell, if Palm was doing well, HP wouldn't have had the opportunity to kill it.

Palm was always the little guy going into the fight. They did not go out in a whimper, but a bang. WebOS is a great mobile computing platform.

HP did in fact kill webOS though. WebOS for phones is better than webOS for tablets. Even through the open sourcing of webOS they are making it clear that it's tablets is the goal.

That said webOS still offers the best mobile experience IMO. However, with Mathias Duarte working on Android now and his designs are starting to influence it, Android will be just as good in about version 6 or so.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

microsoft has billions in cash reserves to ensure WP7's success. Not to mention microsoft has an ecosystem in place with xbox and windows, the possibilities for integration are endless.

RIM on the other hand is on the brink of collapse, bb10 is their last hurrah, just as palm did with webos, and we all know how that turned out.

having a single great product is no longer adequate for success in this industry, you need an ecosystem.

Microsoft has failed to buy their way into success so far and based on the WP8 rumors it looks like they may just cut their losses on their current phones and start over again just like they did after the Kin's failed.

 

[Jodell88]

On BB10

I have never been a fan of Blackberry devices. However, bb10 looks very attractive and I am interested in the device Blackberry has in the pipeline.

 

[MaxFusion16]

Microsoft has failed to buy their way into success so far and based on the WP8 rumors it looks like they may just cut their losses on their current phones and start over again just like they did after the Kin's failed.

as long as microsoft's got cash to swing around, they are gonna keep trying.

it only took Edison over 1000 tries to get the light bulb right, so as long as microsoft doesn't give up, they'll eventually succeed.

 

[prism]

Why does everyone say that HP killed webOS? Nobody bought the pre or pixi when they were made by Palm, and nobody bought them when HP brought out the pre 3.

 

[Jodell88]

Why does everyone say that HP killed webOS? Nobody bought the pre or pixi when they were made by Palm, and nobody bought them when HP brought out the pre 3.

The Pre 3 was released in the UK on August 17th 2011 and the announcement of webOS cancellation was on August 18th 2011.

I'm currently using a Pre 2.

 

[smartpatrol]

BB10 looks pretty cool.

Unfortunately, as webOS (and to a lesser extent WP7) has already proved, just having a kick ass OS is not enough. You also need:
- APPS, lots and lots of them
- tons of good marketing
- carriers excited for your platform

BB10 has a huge uphill battle ahead of it. Even if it turns out to be a gem of an OS, I'm still very skeptical about its chances for success.

BTW apparently the market is skeptical too, RIMM's stock is down 4.5% today so far.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

looks good, but this whole RIM revival just reminds me of the palm pre and webOS.

could be too late too little, and RIM doesn't have the cash to outlast the competition.

There is just no room for a 4th platform.

Do some research.

How does a company that has no debt, billions in cash and generates $500 million in free cash flow every quarter not have enough cash?

EXPLAIN!

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

microsoft has billions in cash reserves to ensure WP7's success. Not to mention microsoft has an ecosystem in place with xbox and windows, the possibilities for integration are endless.

RIM on the other hand is on the brink of collapse, bb10 is their last hurrah, just as palm did with webos, and we all know how that turned out.

having a single great product is no longer adequate for success in this industry, you need an ecosystem.

Again explain. Go read some financial statemnts and use them to support your argument.

Ecosystem? Like selling music? Something like iTunes and Google Play? Ya, RIMM didn't think of that ..... heads totally up their asses.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

BB10 looks pretty cool.

Unfortunately, as webOS (and to a lesser extent WP7) has already proved, just having a kick ass OS is not enough. You also need:
- APPS, lots and lots of them
- tons of good marketing
- carriers excited for your platform

BB10 has a huge uphill battle ahead of it. Even if it turns out to be a gem of an OS, I'm still very skeptical about its chances for success.

BTW apparently the market is skeptical too, RIMM's stock is down 4.5% today so far.

1) RIMM is addressing the apps issue aggressively. Go read up on it
2) It makes no sense to advertsie now for the BB10. They are working towards gettign a top notch Advertising exec.
3) Seeing how RIMM provides carriers with better margins than iOS and Droid products, I'm sure they would love to sell more of them. The issue isn't carriers. It is consumer demand.

BB10 is heavily targetting the social aspect of cell phone usage. They are working to neatly integrate e-mail, facebook and text messaging. You did know this, correct? If one kid gets a BB10 in their hands and their friends see how much easier it is to use for texting and facebook, it is going to win. It is getting it into the hands of teenagers via stro0ng marketting that shoudl do this.

In the short term, the market is a voting machine. In the long term it is a weighing machine. Right now RIMM provides something like a 20% FCF yield and that is ignoring cash on hand.

 

[Oyeve]

What many fail to remember is that there is a HUGE BB base. The corporate world is still on BBOS and any improvment on rim's front can only be beneficial. They do have a good chance to survive.

 

[MaxFusion16]

Do some research.

How does a company that has no debt, billions in cash and generates $500 million in free cash flow every quarter not have enough cash?

EXPLAIN!

it's all relative, do they have more cash than microsoft? more than google? more than apple?

can they afford to make bb11 if bb10 fails?

 

[Red Storm]

Any word on how mail is being handled? If I need a BB server for corporate mail then RIM has learned nothing.

 

[bearxor]

RIM isn't going anywhere, at least anytime soon.

We just swapped out a small subsection of our users old BB's for Android devices. They revolted and they were all switched out to newer BB's in three weeks. BB has an entrenched corporate segment.

Having said that, I think RIM is done in the consumer space. But I also don't think the consumer space is where they make most of their money as it is anyways.

 

[silverpig]

I will get one when they come out. Work gave me a Bold 9900 and I can get a new phone free in 2 years, but I'll buy one outright because the device looks great.

They need apps yes, but they don't need lots... they just need the good ones.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Any word on how mail is being handled? If I need a BB server for corporate mail then RIM has learned nothing.

Yes, that is addressed already in the Playbook. The BB10 will certainly have it.

What exactly?
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33378_1-57357553/playbook-os-2.0-brings-native-e-mail-to-rims-faithful/

What BB10 is expected to have that others don't:
A single app that integrates all your e-mail, text messaging twitter, facebook, etc into one app.

 

[Red Storm]

RIM isn't going anywhere, at least anytime soon.

We just swapped out a small subsection of our users old BB's for Android devices. They revolted and they were all switched out to newer BB's in three weeks. BB has an entrenched corporate segment.

Having said that, I think RIM is done in the consumer space. But I also don't think the consumer space is where they make most of their money as it is anyways.

Funny, I've been at my current job for two years and in that time we've gone from over 100 BB users down to 3 today. They all got iPhones or Android phones.