Research in Motion will lay off 2,000 staff, or a little more than 10 percent of its workforce, and make changes to its senior management team, it announced Monday. Chief operating officer for Blackberry, Don Morrison, will retire, but Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis will continue to share the CEO role and that of chairman.
Research in Motion, which has been losing ground to Apple, Google and even Microsoft in the mobile market, announced Monday it is cutting 2,000 jobs, or about 11% of its workforce.
Research in Motion's expected release soon of seven new BlackBerry <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/slideshows/2010/061510-smartphone-history.html">smartphones</a> is being seen as a key step for the company in trying to reverse its declining market share, revenues and stock price.
How do you solve a problem like Apple and Google?
Research firm Gartner yesterday gave Microsoft a hard diss on the tablet front by not including Redmond in its recent tablet-OS four-year forecast.
A worldwide survey into mobile platforms has confirmed what many CIOs and IT managers already knew: Apple's iPhone leads the way when it comes to consumer loyalty, but it faces stiff competition from Android.
Blackberry maker, Research In Motion (RIM), has joined forces with Microsoft to create a RIM-hosted BlackBerry enterprise service for Office 365.
What are the implications if Microsoft fails or falls behind in the tablet PC race, which at its current pace, is a decent possibility?
Perhaps your wireless carrier released a new software update for your BlackBerry smartphone, but your favorite applications just won't work on the new build. Or maybe you were feeling daring and decided to install a leaked "beta" BlackBerry OS to check out some new features, but it drastically degraded your handheld's performance.
Research in Motion (RIM) unveiled an "enterprise-ready" 7-in. touchscreen BlackBerry Playbook tablet on Monday that features front and rear high-definition cameras, a dual-core 1 GHz processor and a new BlackBerry Tablet OS.
The PlayBook, due out early next year in the US, is less than half an inch thick and weighs less than a pound. It runs a new operating system developed by QNX Software that supports symmetric multiprocessing with use of the QNX Neutrino microkernel architecture. QNX builds software that powers computing for core internet routers and even vehicles, including those from GM, Nissan and Land Rover, officials said.
RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, announced today, has a 7-inch display, is 9.7mm thick, supports WebKit, HTML5 and Flash for browsing, offers hardware-accelerated video, and will output 1080p video via HDMI.
RIM officials at the BlackBerry DevCon 2010 in San Francisco unveiled the device for developers on hand for the event. The announcement was also Webcast live.
Some reports before the announcement had speculated that the device would be called BlackPad and provide competition for the 9.7-in touchscreen iPad released by Apple in April.
More likely, it will compete with the Cisco Cius device, which is focused on enterprises.
RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazarides said the PlayBook is "enterprise ready" because it is compatible with 250,000 BlackBerry Enterprise Servers deployed mainly in larger corporations to provide IT shops with more control and security. It will be available in the US with a software development kit for third-party developers that is expected to be released in the next few weeks. Developers can register at www.blackberry.com/developers/tabletos.
The PlayBook supports wi-fi and Bluetooth and RIM "intends" to offer cellular-capable versions in the future, the company said in a statement.
The Bluetooth feature might offer another enterprise-ready capability, since it will allow a user to pair a BlackBerry smartphone with the PlayBook, using the larger tablet display to securely view any e-mail or document stored on the smartphone. When connected over Bluetooth, the smartphone content is viewable on the tablet, but the data remains on the phone and is only temporarily cached on the tablet, subject to what an IT shop decides.
Multimedia support is rich, including a 1024-by-600-pixel touchscreen and high-definition video playback in 1080p. Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and HTML 5 are both supported for web browsing.
Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS will regain some of the smartphone market share it has lost recently - but will still be in last place in 2014, according to research firm IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
Saudi Arabia's telecom regulator stepped up the pressure late Research In Motion (RIM) on Saturday by giving three local telecommunications operators up to the end of Monday to ensure that the BlackBerry service meets with its regulations.
Research In Motion (RIM) is encouraging New Zealand developers to build applications for the Blackberry platform. With the recently launched BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge, the company hopes to attract local talent.
Kodak has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission charging Apple and Research In Motion with infringing patents in products with cameras.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has decided to investigate separate complaints made against Sharp and Research In Motion (RIM) that each allege the companies are infringing patents held by the complainants.