The Board of Directors feel that this program is in the best interests of RIM and its shareholders. While their motives were not explicitly stated in the press release, a share repurchase program is generally about increasing ownership of the company by reducing the number of outstanding shares. Overall, this company is going to continue to grow and the more control and ownership RIM has, the better.
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is the latest update to the Bold series and it’s all the specs you would expect from a Bold device, slightly upgraded and in a smaller form factor. Like many of the devices we have been seeing from RIM lately, it is a hybrid device, combining the power of the Bold with the design of a Curve 8900.
The Bold 9700 from T-Mobile ships with OS 5.0.0.330, which is a welcomed update to the device. What is less positive about the launch is that the device doesn’t ship with the latest version of BlackBerry Messenger. The T-Mobile Bold 9700 ships with BlackBerry Messenger version 4.7.0 rather than 5.0 (this is based on the device I’m holding in my hand). Ideally, T-Mobile and RIM would have at least had a warning message of some sort that tells users where they can get the latest version of BBM. Click through for more impressions, pictures and video of the Bold 9700
As we approach the end of 2009, it was, to say the least, an interesting year for Research in Motion. The National Post recently wrote an article with some quotes from the co-CEO Jim Balsillie that show he and Mike Lazaridis are pleased with progress and very optimistic moving forward. Continue reading about the year in review and comments from Balsillie
RIM have expanded into the Ivory Coast today. Through a partnership with Orange CI, RIM have announced that they will be offering devices and software for users in what is respectfully known as the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.
Le Côte d’Ivoire est une pais dans l’Ouest d’Afrique avec une population de plus de 18,373,060 personnes. Ca vas etre alors une place merveilleuse pour le solution BlackBerry.
The first devices to be offered include the BlackBerry Bold, Curve 8900 and Pearl 8120. Will these be shipping with OS 5, RIM?
Former BlackBerry Cool EIC Douglas Soltys sat down with BlackBerry Storm2 Product Manager Yasser Mirza, to talk about the device and what went into it.
It must have been a nerve racking experience to be the manager in charge of developing the follow-up to the Storm 1. Even though many users liked the device, it got some really bad Internet mojo and RIM really needed a good followup.
My favorite part of the interview is where Yasser talks about how fast he can type on his Storm2. “I can actually type faster than a QWERTY keypad BlackBerry smartphone. No joke! I’ve clocked in typing “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” at 10 seconds, which is 60wpm.” Apparently RIM employees are always doing speed trials.
Eric Migicovsky is the entrepreneur behind the BlackBerry watch, an accessory that has BlackBerry enthusiasts interested, but also skeptical about whether they would purchase such a device. The watch connects to your BlackBerry via Bluetooth, and notifies you of any incoming messages, calls, alerts etc.
The watch, called the inPulse, will sell for $149 and will include the following features:
1.3″ full colour organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) display
Bluetooth v2.0+EDR
150 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
Glass lens and full metal body
22mm interchangeable wrist band
Vibrating motor
Micro-USB port (for charging)
Over-the-air firmware updates
Dimensions: 51mm height x 38mm width x 12mm depth
Would you purchase such an accessory? It’s a fairly unique idea but it also seems a little redundant with so many other accessories out there. For example, you can use the VM605 for driving, or a strong belt clip for running.
When we first saw the news that RIM purchased Torch Mobile, and they would have access to the Webkit open source code, it was somewhat officially confirmed that a WebKit browser was in development.
Well now we have more proof that this browser is in development as RIM has posted a job on LinkedIn, looking for someone with “expert knowledge in C++ programming.” According to the post, “the successful candidate will be working in a fast-paced, dynamic development environment to develop a WebKit-based browser for the BlackBerry Platform.”
The official Facebook app has been updated to version 1.7.0.18 and it’s available for download in App World.
The Facebook application is unique in that it was developed by RIM in order to take advantage of APIs that aren’t available to third party developers. This gives the app much needed integration with your BlackBerry.
The latest version of Facebook has the following improvements:
News Feed Support – The ability to set the News Feed as the landing page.
News Feed Filters – The ability to toggle between ‘News Feed, Status Updates, Photos and Links.
Caching Improvements – The application uses the device memory more efficiently.
Feed Pre-fetching – The user will not be required to wait while their Facebook Feeds are updated.
View Profile Menu Option – Clients may easily view their own profile by selecting ‘View my Profile’ from the menu.
While the update brings some improvements in the way of efficiency, it is still seriously lacking when it comes to the user interface. Many users have complained that the icons are designed such that you need the icon caption text to tell you what you’re looking at. The app also has a less than stellar review in App World, with only about 2 and a half stars.
RIM is hosting another BlackBerry developer webinar and it’s your chance to get an in depth look at BlackBerry development.
Building on the momentum of their extremely successful Web Development and Toolkits webinar, RIM will be hosting a webinar with a focus on Mobile Application Design Considerations for Java Developers. Details are as follows:
Presenter: Sarim Aziz, Senior Application Development Consultant, Developer Relations
Panelists: Mike Kirkup, Director, Developer Relations
Date: Tuesday October 20, 2009.
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST.
The Blackberry Storm2 9550 is official, yet unofficial in that RIM marketing hasn’t put up a press release on their site yet. At least we now have access to the full specs for the BlackBerry Storm2 and while we can always complain about memory, it has some crucial features such as WiFi.
