So much seems to go wrong for RIM that it’s almost impossible not to feel a little sorry for them. Instead, feel sorry for a swathe of over 2,000 employees who are about to be axed by the company in a desperate attempt to make the BlackBerry profitable once more.
One of the few things that makes the humble BlackBerry attractive is the Messenger service, which has been embraced by teenagers and the corporate world alike. But as people migrate from RIM’s handset to other smartphones, BBM contact lists around the globe are shrinking — and now the software’s future looks uncertain.
Got an existing Blackberry handset and a hankering for the goodies promised with Blackberry 10? Tough cheddar; you’ll have to buy a new handset. Got a Blackberry Playbook? You’ll be able to upgrade.
Now that RIM has shown a preview of BlackBerry 10, more rumours are surfacing about the updated OS. The latest, from CrackBerry, claims that the platform will have a new screen sharing feature, which means you could show someone what’s on your phone’s display during a video call or while you’re messaging.
We won’t see phones or tablets running it until later this year, but developers can now get their hands on an early version of BlackBerry 10. Will it be enough to save Research In Motion (RIM) — and does it really need saving anyway? Gizmodo and Lifehacker debate the future for BlackBerry.
Overnight, RIM unveiled Blackberry 10, showed off its features and promised developers a bounty if their apps didn’t reach specific sales targets. It’s an aggressive strategy for a company that’s seen better days, but will it be enough?
The Blackberry Playbook has some excellent hardware, but to date it’s been hampered by a lack of really good apps. The same could be said for Sony’s PlayStation phone initiatives; so far it’s been a lot of promise with little delivery. A PlayStation emulator for Playbook might just bridge the gap between the two.
Ex-RIM CEO Jim Basillie had a radical plan in store that could have been enough to resuscitate the flat-lining company. But it seems that idea — one that would put the BlackBerry network on major carriers and devices around the world — was seen as so drastic that it caused enough conflict at the top for Basillie to cut all his ties with the company.
RIM is killing the option to sideload apps in a future build of the PlayBook OS in an attempt to curb piracy. This means that they’ll have to be added directly through BlackBerry App World, similar to Apple’s modus operandi with the App Store.
