Posted on April 27, 2010, at 2:46 PM .
Click here to listen to the keynote yourself.
The first WES2010 general session took place today and Mike Lazaridis gave a keynote very similar to the presentation he gave to analysts yesterday. To pull off these big keynotes, two massive conference rooms are consolidated into one giant sit-down business rock concert. There is a huge lighting and projector rig with lots of BlackBerry branding floating across all the screens. Almost all of the WES attendees are here, thousands fill the seats tapping their BlackBerry smartphones.
Mike Lazaridis takes the stage and is greeted with warm applause from the audience. Here are some of the key points he shared with the WES audience:
- RIM has sold over 90 million BlackBerry smartphones sold to date.
- There are currently 41 Million Customers, Mike also mentioned he has a goal of growing that to 100-million users.
- “Efficiency is at the heart of everything we do” in reference to the Platform’s true strength. BlackBerry efficiently utilizes networks, battery, and software.
- 20 million users have downloaded App world, half of the devices in the wild. App World users download a million apps every day.
- “BlackBerry has the best apps, not the most apps” in reference to the quality of apps on BlackBerry App World.
- Super Apps work well together, and work well with native apps.
- Email was the platform’s first super app now developers can make them too.
- There are 20 million BBM users worldwide.
Continue reading ‘[Audio] WES 2010 General Session Keynote with Mike Lazaridis’
Posted on April 27, 2010, at 10:14 AM .
The first day of WES started with an early morning press meeting. RIM announced a couple of new devices as well as the new MVS system. Later in the day Mike Lazaridis gave a talk, which sounded like a state of the union address to BlackBerry nation. It was clear in short order what the big talking points of the conference would be: The two sleek and powerful new BlackBerry smartphones, MVS 5.0, BlackBerry 6, The QNX acquisition and the much anticipated Webkit browser.
The Pearl 3G is sleek and colorful device. What used to be categorized as an entry-level device is now a small form-factor powerhouse. After seeing it in the flesh, it’s obvious the 9100 will become a top selling smartphone.
Continue reading ‘WES 2010: Day 1 Impressions: 9650, 9100, MVS 5 and BlackBerry 6′
Posted on April 27, 2010, at 12:25 AM .
Tomorrow, co-CEO Mike Lazaridis will give a general keynote, where we expect him to talk about the 9650, 9100 and hopefully a little about BlackBerry 6 and the WebKit browser. It’s going to be a great session and we’ll have coverage from the ground to report.
Today, Mike Lazaridis gave an amazing speech to analysts during Capital Markets about how far the company has come and where the platform’s strength’s lie. To be honest, as someone who writes about BlackBerry every single day, I’ve had my fair share of doubts and frustrations with the platform. Lazaridis’ speech did a lot for my enthusiasm and optimism about the platform, and after reading this summary/impressions post, I think you’ll feel the same.
Continue reading ‘State of BlackBerry: Mike Lazaridis’ Speech and Where We Stand’
Posted on April 26, 2010, at 11:05 AM .
I’m here at WES 2010 and as you know two new devices were launched today. RIM has set up a solutions showcase to show off the new devices and accessories, and we’ve got some pictures and impressions to show off.
The Pearl colors and accessories had them looking more like consumer electronics than smartphones. Don’t be fooled though, under the hood of the 91XX series are chipsets and memory of a high-end BlackBerry.
The new Pearl device colors look like some of the cutest devices I have ever seen RIM put out. The red gradient, and magenta colors really stand out among all the colorful leather cases and rubber skins. There’s a new leather case that features a built-in mirror that would go well with any modern purse or bag. Some were just skins while others also integrated hard plastics, not unlike the silver edges around the 9650/9700 series. These hard plastics are specifically placed in the impact zones around the edges of the device. For a company that has released a lot of devices meant to look like fierce sports cars, they have shifted gears and made something totally unexpected: purse-candy.
Continue reading ‘WES 2010: Solutions Showcase Featuring the BlackBerry 9100, 9105 and 9650′
Posted on April 26, 2010, at 10:20 AM .
BlackBerryCool is here at WES 2010 and Matt Cameron and I are representing the site. The first device I’ve used while here is the BlackBerry Pearl 3G, and I thought I would put together some impressions and pics for everyone.
With the BlackBerry Pearl 3G in my hands, the first thing I’ve noticed is that the delete key is in the bottom left corner, where I assumed the shift button was. This isn’t a major difference; just the first thing I noticed.
Continue reading ‘WES 2010: Hands-On With the BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 “Traditional Keyboard”’
