Tag: "palm"

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BlackBerry, U2, and Palm

By Susan C on Sep 27, 2009 in BlackBerry.

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Zach from Boy Genius Report, posted a story about Palm. As it restates that BlackBerry Loves U2, there’s a different story concerning Palm and the lead vocalist of U2. It seems that while BlackBerry is sponsoring U2’s 360 Tour, Palm announced its secondary stock offering and along with that news was that Elevation Partners took up another 2.2 million shares of Palm.

Now Elevation Partners is already Palm’s largest investor, owning 67.8 million common shares and 376,000 preferred shares, it adds up to about 42% of the company. Elevation Partner’s Managing Director and Co Founder is Paul David Hewson, aka Bono. Here’s a little information on Bono and Elevation Partners. Bono has been more than just U2’s lead vocalist. In 1992 he purchased a hotel in Dublin named the Clarence Hotel and turned it from a two star to a five star hotel. In 2005 Time Magazine listed Bono and Bill Gates and his wife as Person of the Year. He is known for his humanitarian contributions especially with Africa, and best known for his Product Red initiative. Elevations Partners attempted to purchase Eidos Interactive back in 2005 which was not successful, and they have invested in other entertainment businesses. Bono, through Elevation Partners, has also invested in Forbes Media Group. They have a small minority stake in Forbes Media LLC.

Bono has become a successful vocalist, lyricist (only the 54th most successful song writer), and activist, but he’s also a successful businessman.

It’s interesting how at first Bono and U2 were pitching Apple just prior to being sponsored by BlackBerry, in fact in 2004 Steve Jobs dedicated in 2004 the first special-edition iPod in U2’s honor and they also agreed to making some of the songs exclusively available on iTunes. Bono was quoted as saying that Apple and U2 shared the same creative spirit.  There are some other sites which are considering this venture a conflict of interest as though he’s torn in two. But as the entertainer he’s being sponsored by RIM, and as the businessman he has invested more into a company whose shares have gone up 170% in the last twelve months.

You have to wonder what smartphone lies in Bono’s hand? The iPhone, the BlackBerry, or the Palm?

[via: The Boy Genius Report]

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RIM Unleashes First Quarter Financial Results

By Susan C on Jun 23, 2009 in BlackBerry.

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RIM has reported $643 million in earnings (that’s $1.12 per share), for the 1st Quarter that ended May 30th. A year ago, that result was 482.5 million (that’s $.84 a share). Excluding a $175.1 million tax credit and other items such as that, RIM earned $564.4 million (that’s $.98 a share). Revenue was $3.42 billion, that’s a whole 53% from the same quarter last year.

This was pretty much in line with what was expected. About 81% of the revenue was attained from the sales of BlackBerry devices, 13% from service, 2% from software, 4% from various businesses. Gross margins were at a strong 43.6%, up from 40% last quarter.

RIM stated it had shipped 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and added 3.8 million BlackBerry subscribers which is now at almost 29 million. According to the IDC, RIM is estimated to hold 55% share of the U.S. Smartphone market. So with the great news on hand, why did shares of RIMM fall 5% in after hours trading time? Inflated expectations and the fact that RIM met expectations, but some investors want to see them exceed expectations. Investors are worried about Apple’s newer iPhone, Palm’s Pre, and also the addition of Google’s new Android smartphone (Goog), Samsung, and even Nokia that are now competing to try and get in on the competition. RIM says it will sell between 8.1 and 8.7 BlackBerry devices in the second quarter. With the Flip Pearl (”no more butt-dialing”) on the scene, the Storm 2 and the Tour (hopefully to be arriving soon to a cellular provider near you) on the horizon, RIM may just exceed the goal they’ve set for the next quarter.

[via: Daily Financial]

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BlackBerry: Dominating U.S. SmartPhone Market Shares

By Susan C on Jun 23, 2009 in BlackBerry, RIM.

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June 17th, 2009, CNN Money reported that BlackBerry smartphones are leading the market in smartphones. While there are oooh’s and aaah’s over Apple’s newest iPhone 3GS, and Palm’s Pre, don’t size up Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphones just yet. RIM has continued to grow despite the newer flashier phones, and the percentage keeps climbing.

In the 3rd quarter of 2008, BlackBerry smartphones accounted for 40.4% of the U.S. Smartphone market, while Apple held 30.1%. Compare that with this quarter and you’ll see that BlackBerry smartphones had 55.3% share while Apple had 19.5% with the iPhones, according to IDC data. Even though there were some negative reviews on RIM’s first touchscreen device, the Storm, the Curve outsold the iPhone. A Yankee Group survey was done and results showed that 41% of Americans plan on upgrading to a smartphone, and of those who plan to upgrade, 50% said they were going to choose a BlackBerry while only 25% intend to purchase an iPhone. It almost makes me wonder if RIM has the following quote in mind: ” You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me?” 

Experts contribute RIM’s success to be due to a combination of competitive pricing, business expertise, and also new consumer products. Every wireless carrier has at least one BlackBerry device, so there is not one exclusive carrier. They can also offer competitive pricing because it costs much less to operate a BlackBerry in comparison with an iPhone or a Pre. The BlackBerry is also designed to be more bandwidth-efficient than it’s competitors.

Most experts even agree that BlackBerry is solid as the preferred business smartphone. It has made its name synonymous with security, service, and reliability.

 RIM is never content to sit back like the rabbit while it’s ahead, the hints of upcoming devices by RIM leaves us standing on our toes and biting our nails in the excitement of what lies ahead. The Tour, the Storm 2, and the hint of a touchscreen device with a keyboard, these are examples of why we are loyal, because we’ve been there, done that and we found our niche. I can’t wait to see what they’ll come out with next!

[via: CNN Money]

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Why The Pre Falls Short Of A BlackBerry

By Susan C on Jun 12, 2009 in BlackBerry, General.

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There’s a great editorial by Al Sacco from CrackBerry entitled: “Top Eight Reasons Why Palm Pre’s Got Nothin On BlackBerry“. This is a have to read for those who are wowed or curious about the Pre, and the article is very informative, taking the argument and showing you why the Pre is not beating the BlackBerry.

Al Sacco writes for CrackBerry and also writes for CIO.com which has information on Enterprise and Business-oriented smartphone issues and concerns. He’s written about the iPhone in comparison to the BlackBerry as well. Here are the reasons he gives:

8. Pre, First Web OS, could be Flash In a Pan. He mentions that all OS wow and evolve, that BlackBerry will grow too.

7. Sprint Owns Pre (Owners) until 2010. For Sprint CDMA coverage, it’s not the same as AT&T with GSM.

6. Pre as an Enterprise Device? Not So Fast…For now it’s not even considered as a possible Enterprise Device.

5. No Expandable Memory/Memory Card Support For Pre!! 8 gigs is all this puppy ships with, no more hope.

4. The Pre’s Not Built To Last-But It Did Cut The Cheese. He’s meaning literally since it’s flimsy compared to BlackBerry.

3. There’s Only One Pre For Better Or For Worse. It should not be a one size fits all.

2. The Palms Pre’s App Catalog is Weak Like Your Little Cousin. It’s by no m means close to Apple’s or BlackBerry App.

1. The Pre’s Keyboard is For Pixies And Lilliputians.  The keyboard is very tiny and flat.

I can’t encourage you enough to read the eight reasons and see what you think. I, for one, am a die hard BlackBerry advocate. Long Live the BlackBerry. I really don’t have any curiousity about the other new “phones” because I know with each new BlackBerry, new capabilities keep stretching and increasing, and it keeps getting better. But for those of you who are curious, be sure to read this article.

If you read the article, let us know what you think. Are you a BlackBerry or Pre fan? Anything you’d like to add? We’d like to know.

[via: CrackBerry]

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Howard Stern says he will take BlackBerry Bold over Palm Pre

By James on Apr 06, 2009 in BlackBerry, Bold 9000 Series, Other Devices, Random News.

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Oh Snap! I’m sure thats not quite the PR that Palm was looking for. Howard Stern has gone public saying after testing both the BlackBerry Bold and Palm Pre that he prefers the Bold. Stern has been a long time Palm fan, but the lack of Lotus notes is holding him back from Palm’s new toy. His exacts words “They’re going to show me the Pre and then take it away. They’re trying to build excitement for this thing. If people don’t buy this I don’t see how Palm keeps going.”

Doesn’t really seem like the type of PR that Palm wants to start with?

[via RIMarkable]

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Palm Pre gets hands on treatment from BGR

By James on Apr 03, 2009 in Other Devices.

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Even though this usually is stricly a BlackBerry blog from time to time we do talk about some of the other smartphones hitting the market. The BGR team is on location of CTIA 2009 and they got a little hands on time with the upcoming Palm Pre smartphone. The Pre is Palm’s next generation device running an all new OS with a sweet curved body making it similar to the iPhone. The Pre features some really interesting things such as Touchstone, the wireless charging pod. Sprint is getting ready to launch this bad boy in the United States very soon so enjoy Boy Genius Report’s quick photo shoot for now…

So what do you think? Would you leave BlackBerry for Palm’s new Pre?

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Bell lauching BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 on March 6th!

By James on Feb 13, 2009 in Bell, BlackBerry, Canada, Pearl Flip 8200 Series, Rumors.

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We just received more confirmation from our friends at MobileSyrup that Bell will be launching the BlackBerry Peral Flip, in both Black and Pink. It seems that Bell will be launching the BlackBerry 8230 on Friday March 6th! At this time pricing is not known but you can expect it to be similar to Rogers’ pricing. Bell will also be launching the Palm Treo Pro if anyone cares :P on Feburary 26th. Stay tuned for more details on the Peral Flip…

[via MobileSyrup]

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Palm’s last stand – Introducing the Palm Pre (Exclusively for Sprint)

By James on Jan 09, 2009 in Other Devices, Sprint-Nextel, USA.

I know this doesn’t really count as BlackBerry news but I thought I’d show off Palm’s latest smartphone called “Pre”. This device seems to be a cross between Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry Storm. The Palm Pre features a 3.1″ touchscreen with multitouch, EVDO Rev. A, Wi-Fi, GPS, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, 8GB of internal storage and 3.0 megapixel camera to top it all off. Pre will also features Palm’s new WebOS (formally code-named “Nova”). The Palm Pre will start exclusively on Sprint in the United States and a GSM/3G version will be seen for other parts of the World. Palm also has included a new technology to wirelessly sync and charge to Pre called “TouchStone”. It’s an additional accessory that can be purchased once the device becomes available.

No pricing has not been announced as of yet, however the device should be launching very soon. If you want to find some more details on Pre head over to Palm.com or Sprint.com.

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The specs on this device certaintally take a stab at both Apple and RIM but the question all over the interent is will it save Palm? Any readers here thinking of giving one a test drive?