Posted on May 19, 2009, at 11:22 am .
Netbooks are getting a great deal of attention in the tech industry because they’re seen as the stepping stone from laptop to mobile. RIM does not see the netbook as competition and will continue to make powerful smartphones that will ultimately make the netbook obsolete.
“Form factor is a personal preference but it’s got to be something that lasts the better part of the day and you can hold up to your ear and clip onto your belt,” he said in response to our question about his vision for future products. “Those are a very tight systems constraints for a netbook.”
In response to the netbook offering a keyboard and screen experience not available for mobile, Jim says:
“If you want richer keyboards and richer displays you can just use perphiperals and bluetooth.”
Bob Stutz an executive from business software supplier SAP, which delivers business applications to BlackBerry devices, went on to completely dismiss the netbook.
“We’ve been down this route with these kinds of devices,” he said, “Why we are doing this with RIM today is because these (other) devices don’t work,” he said, noting that consumers want sturdy, inexpensive and well connected devices.
“Customers really have been down the gamut … They’ve been down this path. At the end of the day what we’ve really found is that if they can do it on a BlackBerry that’s what they’ll want.”
What do you think, will you buy a netbook?
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Posted on May 15, 2009, at 12:39 pm .
There has been some discussion on Canadian conservative talk shows about the fact that Jim Balsillie’s deal requires an investment on the part of the Hamilton government to update the Copps Coliseum.
The deal would involve an investment of $150 million dollars on the part of the Hamilton government to bring the Copps Coliseum up to NHL standars.
Although this may seem like a significant investment of tax payers dollars, it will have significant returns. The City of Hamilton knows this, which is why they have committed to helping Mr. Balsillie with the move. For those tax payers in Hamilton who aren’t convinced, the ROI potential is an easy sell.
The City of Hamilton will have 300 days or so to use the improved facilities as they see fit. An NHL team only plays around 41 home games, which means that minus a couple weeks for renovations, the facility can accommodate a wide range of revenue generating events for most of the year. Events such as big ticket concerts, indoor sports and trade shows are all much easier to accommodate, and will generate business for the government as well as local businesses. Jim is even investing millions of his own dollars to help with the facility upgrade.
With the full support of Hamilton, Canada and the BlackBerry community, we can help Jim Make It Seven.
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Posted on May 15, 2009, at 12:11 pm .
Jim Balsillie spoke with the editorial board at the Toronto Star yesterday and he expressed some frustration regarding the purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes. He talked about this love for the game and his passion for Canada. A real patriot, Jim said he had to take a “side door” approach to try and secure the Coyotes and give Canada a 7th hockey team.
I recorded the conversation with my BlackBerry 8900 using MyCaption so you could read the transcripts. There is also an audio clip for you to listen to
Jim Balsillie Toronto Star Audio
Click through to read the transcribed conversation using MyCaption
Posted on May 15, 2009, at 11:09 am .
Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of RIM is making an aggressive move to get a 32-year lease for Copps Coliseum, buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton, but the city of Arizona is trying to block his slapshot.
The city of Glendale, Ariz., laid out its legal objections to the proposed sale of the Coyotes, saying a bankruptcy court judge shouldn’t consider the sale of the team “based on the false premise that (the winning bidders) are legally capable of relocating the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team.”
The Glendale believes that their bankruptcy doesn’t allow the Coyotes to break their “Non-Relocation Covenant” that prohibits them from relocating, and requires the team to play all of its home games at the arena for the full term of the 30-year lease.
“The city believes that it has the right under applicable law to prohibit any relocation of the Phoenix Coyotes,” say the city’s documents signed by lawyer Cathy Reece. “The city believes and therefore asserts that its right to enforce the Non-Relocation Covenant under applicable law shall survive these Chapter 11 cases, including any sale of the (team).”
Obviously Arizona is not keen on the idea of losing their hockey team which generates revenue for the city. Even though the team is bankrupt, if they relocate, the city loses any potential of saving the hockey team as a revenue stream.
Although Arizona is upset about the deal, Hamilton couldn’t be happier about a team relocation. The city is expecting a surge in local spending as well as visitors from the surrounding cities for big games and events. Balsillie signed a deal which was approved unanimously by the council, promising Balsillie a long-term lease if he secures the Phoenix Coyotes. The deal includes a $5 million injection of cash from Balsillie to help upgrade the 17,000-seat arena by 2010.
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Posted on May 12, 2009, at 7:24 am .
In order for App World to be a real success, we’re going to need to see it preloaded on upcoming BlackBerry devices, as well as pushed by carriers to all their BlackBerry subscribers. The reason we’re not currently seeing this, is because the carriers are threatened by App World, and concerned with losing a major revenue stream.
From the carrier perspective, App World is both a blessing and a threat. App World is promoting a surge in data usage which directly translates to extra revenue for the carrier. The threat from App World for the carrier comes down to competition with the carrier content portal. In a content distribution taste test, the carriers will always lose to App World, but this doesn’t matter to them. All the carrier cares about is owning the sale of content and owning that revenue stream. App World threatens to eat the carrier’s lunch, as more subscribers realize that the content download experience is much better through RIM.
Not only are carriers preventing App World from reaching more users, they’re also preventing subscribers from getting access to the content we want. The carriers have always tried to impede tethering and VoIP applications which keep our bills low and stay connected. This is just one reason why the carrier content portal needs to bow down to App World.
In the end this is all going to come down to a CEO showdown. Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are going to have to show some incredible leadership in order to convince the carriers to get out of the way. Behind closed doors, RIM executive will sit down with the likes of Randall L. Stephenson of AT&T and Ivan Seidenberg of Verizon. Their negotiations will hinge on some of the following points:
Continue reading about how RIM will take down the carriers with App World
Posted on May 6, 2009, at 2:31 pm .
By Nan Palmero and Kyle McInnes
Jim Balsillie was the first keynote presenter and he was introducing the speakers more than giving a presentation himself. It was good to see Jim Dog but the man of the hour was definitely Malcolm Gladwell.
Shane Robinson executive vice president, chief strategy officer at HP was at WES to talk about their latest cloud-based initiatives. The cloud is an innovative platform that is going to lead to some incredible applications for mobile and desktop alike. Shane put it best when he described the innovation following the birth of PC. When PC was developed, there was two decades of growth in applications and users. The cloud is the next platform to provide another two decades of growth.
Continue reading about the great keynotes given at WES 2009
Posted on April 15, 2009, at 10:24 am .
Everyone knows Jim Balsillie aka Jim Dog is a huge hockey fan. In the past, he has tried to acquire the Nashville NHL franchise and move it to Hamilton, Ontario. The bid failed but rumors were abound that Jim was looking to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nothing ever came of the rumors but we know Jim loves his hockey. With the playoffs starting today, Jim is glued to his TV.
“Will I be in front of the TV? Absolutely,” said the co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.
But the 48-year-old Balsillie was less forthcoming about any current interest in acquiring an NHL team. He wouldn’t comment on possible ownership or if he might be in talks about a team, such as the Montreal Canadiens.
He even declined to divulge his favourite club, saying “I get into trouble every time. I can’t go there.” But he has been reported to follow the Habs.
Vive les Canadiens de Montreal!
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Posted on April 1, 2009, at 11:47 am .
With the launch of App World you may be wondering, what do RIM executives have on their device? Well, Jim Balsillie, aka Jim Dog, the co-chief executive and director of Research in Motion (RIM), has some great apps on his that you can download too.
So what apps does Balsillie have on his BlackBerry?
He said he uses an SAP app for RIM sales and performance, Hockeynews.com for the latest scores and standings, Magmic for card games and others for news and information.
“So when I am bored, I play card games,” he said. “Guilty as charged.”
To download HockeyNews, go here.
For Magmic card games, you need:
Texas Hold ‘em King 3, get it here.
Solitaire Legends, get it here.
Also, once you’ve set up your Magmic card games, don’t forget to join their social network, Magmic Social, here.
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Posted on March 30, 2009, at 10:28 am .
RIM’s market is currently around 50% consumer and 50% enterprise. The shift has been a while coming and it has been helped by a series of aggressive ad campaigns, new software, and rolling out more consumer-friendly devices, such as the touch-screen Storm. The move has also proved successful due to RIM increasing its share of the smartphone market—up to 19.5 percent in the last three months of 2008, from 10.9 percent a year earlier.
Investors are weary due to the fact that these efforts to get the consumer market have taken a toll on RIM’s gross profit margins, which have shrunk to 40 percent, down from 50 percent in the last six months. It is also possible that these measures, in combination with other market factors, have helped knock RIM’s share price down a third from its July 2008 high of $147 per share.
Jim Balsillie is calling the strategy a “land grab” and that the company was looking for long-term gain with it. He said of their consumer push, “So we could have a sweeter margin for a couple of quarters and we might not torque the growth quite as much and then we will rue that for the next 20 years, that we gave up the key land for a little bit of interim gratification.”
In the end, investors are going to see RIM take not only a larger chunk of the consumer market, but also the enterprise market. Consumers are starting to see the BlackBerry as a status symbol that is a must-have mobile device. Enterprise simply can’t do without their push email and plethora of productivity apps with a simple and easy to use OS to boot. Expect these investors to say “sorry for doubting you Jim Dog” in the coming years.
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Posted on February 11, 2009, at 9:47 am .
RIM is expecting the number of BlackBerry subscribers to be up 20 percent this quarter from their previous estimate of 2.9 million. That would make total subscribers at (fidgeting with calculator) 3.48 million. Although subscriptions are going up, the company still expects profits to be at the low end of its forecast.
“RIM achieved a very strong start to the holiday buying season and the momentum carried on stronger than expected during the past seven weeks despite a seasonally slower time frame and the challenging economic environment,” said Jim Balsillie, RIM’s co-chief executive, in a statement this morning.
“We are pleased with our leadership and momentum in the market after shipping our 50 millionth BlackBerry smartphone in January and introducing a range of new products that are achieving exceptional early results and helping attract record levels of new customers to the BlackBerry platform.”
All in all, I think things are looking good for RIM considering the fiscal gloom that is hovering over the economy. Once their store kicks into full gear, we can expect the company to see some cash flowing around the company which will give it a real edge over other smartphone manufacturers.
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