Posted on November 7, 2008, at 10:04 am .
UK research firm Canalys released a report yesterday stating that the iPhone 3G surpassed BlackBerry during calendar Q3 2008 to take the number two spot in worldwide market share behind Nokia. Apple shipped 6.9 million iPhones to grab 17.3% of the market. RIM shipped just over 6 million BlackBerrys during Q3 for third place with 15.2% of the market. Nokia noticeably dropped from 51.4% at Q3 2007 to 38.9% Q3 2008.
But don’t hang yourself yet, members of the BlackBerry Nation. Canalys fully expects RIM to overtake Apple in Q4, once all those delayed BlackBerrys (read: BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220) start shipping like hot cakes. You can see some metrics on world wide OS market share after the jump.
|via Fortune|
Continue reading ‘Apple surpasses RIM in worldwide smartphone market’
Posted on November 7, 2008, at 2:56 am .
Continuing the post-BBDC trend of providing great support and tools for the BlackBerry ecosystem, RIM has published BES compatibility matrices for IT Admins. Matrices for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, and Novell GroupWise are provided, detailing operating systems, versions of IM infrastructures and database servers, and so on. You can find these valuable resources in .PDF format at the link below.
BES Compatibility Matrix Download
Posted on November 6, 2008, at 11:21 am .
RIM, in partnership with strategic channel partner Emitac Mobile Solutions (EMS), announced yesterday the availability of the BlackBerry Bold in Pakistan, via leading Pakistan telecom Ufone.
Mr. Ali Ikram from Ufone commented on the new smartphone, stating, “This elegant BlackBerry Bold smartphone from Ufone will surely delight every Pakistani tech-savvy customer as well as those who value increased productivity. This unique smartphone delivers an amazing blend of functionality, performance, usability and design – making it an ideal choice for both professionals and power users in Pakistan.”
No pricing information is available yet, so we recommend dropping by your nearest Ufone outlet for more details. You can read the full press release after the jump, as well as our exhaustive BlackBerry Bold review.
The Ultimate BlackBerry Bold Review (with full device specs)
Ufone launches BlackBerry Bold in Pakistan
Posted on November 6, 2008, at 10:37 am .
Press Release
SteelWork Mobile is Now Available in the Middle East and Africa Markets
SteelCloud, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of compliance-based technology solutions, today announced that it has formed a joint venture, SteelCloud Middle East & Africa Free Zone Company, with XSAT FZE, a telecommunication services company based in the United Arab Emirates. SteelCloud MEA, focused on the Middle East and Africa, will market and support SteelWorks Mobile appliances developed for BlackBerry Enterprise Server from Research In Motion.
SteelWork Mobile Press Release
Posted on November 5, 2008, at 12:09 pm .
The Boy Genius has posted RIM internal documents revealing their plans for pre-paid BlackBerry sales. For those of you that followed our coverage of RIM’s investor conference call, you’ll know that RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has been talking about pre-paid for awhile.
We’ve got a full gallery of RIM’s slides after the jump, but here’s a quick breakdown on why they’re so hot for pre-paid:
– It targets people on a limited budget, with bad credit, or who don’t want a long-term contract.
– It unloads the financial risk off the carrier and onto the retailer.
– BlackBerry data increases the engagement of pre-paid users, thus lowering churn rate and increasing ARPU.
– It opens up the retail and indirect channels to RIM.
RIM’s looking at two different methods for their pre-pay plan. First off is the purchase of an unsubsidized device with users continually buying pre-paid cards to refill their account. The second method, and the one that is the most interesting, is BlackBerry in a Box, whereby the user purchases a BlackBerry and one year of BIS service in a box at retail, with the option to renew at weekly, monthly or yearly intervals once the initial term is up.
It seems like RIM has a very solid plan to reach new demographics and invade the retail space in a meaningful way. Post a comment and tell us your thoughts.
|via BGR|
RIM’s pre-paid plans
Posted on November 3, 2008, at 12:40 am .
Mformation Technologies, a handset management software firm, filed suit with RIM on Friday for patent infringement. Mformation alleges in its lawsuit that RIM has infringed upon two patents related to methods of “remote device management.”
“After refusing to license Mformation’s disclosed systems and software, RIM modified its BlackBerry software to include Mformation’s patented systems and methods of remote management,” Mformation said.
Mformation did not specify what remedies it is seeking. The lawsuit was filed in the District Court for the Northern District of California. We’ll obviously follow this story closely and let you know how it develops.
(via Reuters)
Posted on October 31, 2008, at 8:52 am .
Jim Balsillie, RIM’s co-CEO will speak at the RBC Capital Markets Communications, Media and Technology Conference in Toronto, ON on Thursday, November 13, 2008. Balsillie’s presentation begins 11:00 a.m. EST, and will be available via live audio webcast on RIM’s website (link below). For those who can’t make it or tune in, a replay of the event will also be available on the website for two weeks following the event.
Jim Balsillie Presentation Webcast
Posted on October 30, 2008, at 12:02 pm .
RIM developer support guru extraordinaire Mike Kirkup is at it again, this time explain the difference between all the network transports available for BlackBerry developers. This is a great resource for developers new to the BlackBerry space that have idea of the difference between a BIS-B or MDS transport. Here’s a list of the transports Mr. Kirkup explains:
* BlackBerry MDS or BES
* BIS-B - BlackBerry Internet Service
* Direct TCP
* WAP (2.0, 1.0, 1.1)
* WiFi
You can click on the image above or hit the link below to watch this informative video. Thanks, RIM!
BlackBerry Network Transports Explained
Posted on October 30, 2008, at 11:26 am .
Our good friend Ronen over at BerryReview has noticed that whispers of Maintenance Release 2 for BES 4.1 Service Pack 6 have been circling around the RIM partner website, which means it should be available for release fairly soon. We’ll let you know when it’s live, but the meantime, you can read documentation of the changes at the link below.
BES 4.1.6 Maintenance Release 2 Documentation
Posted on October 28, 2008, at 12:03 pm .
While stumbling around RIM’s Knowledge Center earlier today (yes, I do that from time to time), I noticed that RIM has released a networking diagnostic tool that should be of some use to all the new BlackBerry developers out there post-BBDC. Separate from the on-device hardware diagnostic tool we told you about last month, the networking diagnostic tool provides value in two different ways:
1) The NDT can be used by 3rd party developers as a support tool for their customers with networking issues, to provide information on which transports are and are not working on the device. This functionality better enables developers to diagnose and troubleshoot connectivity issues without having to use their application.
2) The NDT provides an open source and best practices implementation of connectivity on the BlackBerry. Developers can use this implementation as an example on how they would connect using the variety of mechanisms available on the BlackBerry device.
If you’re interested in learning more about RIM’s networking diagnostic tool, or downloading its source code, hit the link below.
BlackBerry Networking Diagnostic Tool
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