By Aldo Panessidi

Now that there’s new management at the helm of Canadian BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM), the company’s future is the subject of much discussion and speculation.   I have been researching, collecting and consolidating information to our readers with an exclusive insider view of the Research In Motion’s (RIM) product and release road map strategy for 2012.

I came across the following RIM Roadmap Deck that best illustrates where the company is headed in the coming months.  The following summarizes RIM’s product launch roadmap for the next 15 months:

• Apparently two new Blackberry Curve smartphones are to be launched in short order.  the BlackBerry Curve 9230 and the BlackBerry Curve 9320. The 9230 will be an EDGE smartphone and the Curve 9320 will be an HSPA device
• Rumor has it that RIM will be launching two new Blackberry PlayBook – a 10-inch Playbooks running the latest build of RIM’s well-received Playbook OS, version 2.0. Playbook OS 2.0 with the capability to support 4G LTE is scheduled to arrive in February.  With a 7-inch 3G capable model coming by April.
• It seems that the BlackBerry London which will reportedly run RIM’s new QNX-based smartphone operating system, BlackBerry 10 is still on track for a September launch
• There is now another BlackBerry 10 smartphone in the works that will launch as part of Balackberry Bold series accessories. The phone features a touchscreen display and QWERTY keyboard, and it is planned for a December release
• A QWERTY slider running BlackBerry 10 has been talked about for the first quarter of 2013.

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By Aldo Panessidi

With the announcements at the recent CES – one has to wonder – what is 2012 the year of?” Will it be SmartTVs?  Perhaps it’s the year of the interactive technology?  Or maybe it is 4G LTE smartphones that will steal the spotlight this year. As of this early date, it is Android devices that look to have the competitive advantage this year. It very well could be a great opportunity to win over mind and market share, but they need to leverage the lead before Research In Motion (Blackberry)  and Apple bring their own 4G LTE devices to market later this year.

What kind of growth are we looking at? According to DigiTimes who published 2012 estimates, Monday, they are anticipating between 4% and 5% of smartphones shipped this year will be 4G LTE capable. When reviewing their sources it is really clear that Android manufacturers are months ahead of the competition. Samsung, LG, Pantech, Motorola Mobility and HTC were named as industry players that will be launching 4G LTE handsets.

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Depending on how quickly Apple and RIM work and how effective their messaging is, the gap could be quickly closed and the opportunity lost. More specifically, there is buzz around Apple’s to-be-released products this year, the iPhone 5 and iPad 3, which based on rumor will be 4G LTE capable.

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One point this writer would like clarified is what the ramifications of this technology coupled with the race to get smartphones with the capability to  use it will be.   Will the current trend continue  pattern of “sign long-term contract with service provider, get free smartphone”?    Or will we be able to break free from this carrier imposed yoke with unlocked cell phones that will empower us to choose our preferred service provider and negotiate a service contract that best meets our interactive needs at the right price!

Only time will tell what the implications will be. At the moment, 4G LTE has not been well-explained to the public and is potentially cost inhibitive. So, without a little tweaking it may turn out to not be the year of the 4G LTE network after all.

By Aldo Panessidi

The furor and fervor of CES is slowly dimming after its close and industry and consumers alike now have a moment to digest all that was seen, shown and announced in Las Vegas last week. With 2011being an incredible year of innovation and development, the question of “how will 2012 compare?” spiked the excitement of this year’s convention. The result? 2012 tech is impressive.   Get complete overview of the CES manufacturer brand announcements on the ‘All You Need to Know On CES 2012′ blog.

From very innovative protective accessories, charging solutions, power solutions, earpieces and headsets for new tablets and unlocked cell phones, and any number of apps were brought around for our perusal in this modern-day bazaar. But which innovations took home the coveted CNET award for 2012? The readers and editors of CNET granted the Research In Motion owned QNX platform for their latest Blackberry smartphones and PlayBook 2.0 as well as for the best best car tech for its QNX CAR 2 application which will has impressive implications. Tying the mobile OS into the car keeps the consumer demand for technological entertainment at their fingertips while incorporating conversational voice recognition.

The concept Porsche Carrera demonstrates how the “one-touch Bluetooth pairing using Near Field Communications (NFC) eliminates the hassle of pairing the driver’s phone to the car. And experience how conversational voice recognition and in-vehicle controls enable drivers to use the car’s infotainment system easily and conveniently.” This could be the breakthrough innovation that breathes life back into RIM and launch a myriad of car tech and mobile  accessories.

On the smartphone front, Nokia took home the Best Smartphone award for the latest Nokia cell phone release the Lumia 900 (probably for its great interaction with Microsoft technology and adaptability with other tech accessories). Another pseudo-win for Microsoft is BlueStacks recognition for its technology that gives Windows 8 products the ability to run Android apps.

Android itself was recognized for its role in the impressive quad-core Ice Cream Sandwich ASUS Memo 370T tablet. A great alternative in the tablet market, industry spectators are bound to be anxious to see what additional accessories will be forthcoming to further enhance the capabilities of this technology.

By Aldo Panessidi

Is 2012 the year of Research In Motion? Last year was rough for the once mighty smartphone and tablet OS company, but with its recent CES recognition for the impressive QNX car technology and now the PlayBook 2.0 something tangible to review, RIM may have some more blue skies in its futures.   View this interesting video for more insight on Blackberry’s PlayBook 2.0

According to recent reports, the PlayBook 2.0 will be available in February and will make the tablet actually functional again. How? Top of the list is that native email and calendar are now included and the company has caught up with the times and integrated social media networking (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) and all of your friends posts and activities can be viewed in the Contacts Hub.

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Next, the keyboard has been drastically revamped to incorporate autocorrect and algorithmic predictive typing. That will adapt to your typing style and suggests its guess of your next typed word. Surprisingly, this tablet does feature Android apps in its App World and reviews indicate that they run as smoothly as native code.

In fact, Alec Saunders, the VP of Developer Relations, has hinted at RIM learning its mistakes from its initial PlayBook launch and are humbly making changes to bring a competitive product to market that will allow for innovation with developers, tech accessories, and other peripheral technology. This attitude change has brought valuable partnerships with EA Games and Rovio and will create a compelling story for customers.

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Added incentive for investing in RIM and the PlayBook upon its release in 2012 is its competitive pricing. At $299 it may very well be the contender it was created to be in a market dominated by Apple and to a lesser degree Android.  As more news is released on the upcoming launch, we will keep you posted on whether the body has changed drastically enough to require new protective cases purchases and how current PlayBook customers will be able to recycle their other existing  accessories.

By Aldo Panessidi

It is common knowledge that both Apple and Google are the foremost thought leaders in the technology industry and as a result have secured global dominance of the smartphone OS market space. What is surprising is reviewing the numbers and trends that show an astronomical growth for the two giants over the course of 18 months. As can be seen in chart provided by comScore – the leading provider of online digital world measurement metrics – U.S. mobile subscribers are used to demonstrate the dramatic transition in market shares in the ever growing smartphone market. Discover the benefits of online shopping…. experience the largest assortment of wireless device accessories at the lowest prices on the Internet.

In less than a year and a half (between August 2010 and November 2011), the combined U.S. market share for Google and Apple – based on the number of mobile subscribers of iPhones and Android phones – jumped from 43.8 percent to 75.6 percent! When one considers the exponential growth of the mobile market and the rapid consumer adoption of wireless devices such as unlocked cell phones and tablets as well as for the associated branded protective accessories… it becomes apparent how staggering the revenue potential of these combined markets really is.

Another drastic market shift is the fall of beleaguered Canadian high-tech giant, Research In Motion. RIM has been plagued with technology based challenges, security issues, lackluster apps, production setbacks, numerous litigations and dismal product design, which all contributed to its fall from grace. Losing subscribership in the 18 month period, RIM’s BlackBerry market share dropped from 37.6 percent to 19.7 percent. Microsoft didn’t fare any better when it’s popularity poll was cut almost in half. Lastly, market laggard, Palm who? Enhance your mobility and turn your device into a power tool! Discover select accessories, such as stylus & pens, SD Micro memory cards, batteries, speakers and glider gloves all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

So how and why did Android and Apple win over so many consumers? Analysts and industry experts seem to agree that unlocked phones for carrier neutrality, provided subscribers with the freedom to break away from being tied in with long term service provider contracts and negotiate lower priced service plans that best met their lifestyle needs . Secondly, the branding of not only the device, but the wide array of innovative top brand accessories drew customers in. Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky! Discover the latest innovative protection solutions of stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases specially designed to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with our. Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside our brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

By Aldo Panessidi

In retrospect, 2011 was a huge year for the wireless industry.  With a giant falling at the same time that global mobile connections surpassed 6 billion, and worldwide smartphone penetration approaching 10%… all in a world with 7 billion people .   The availability of connected devices within the market place has fueled a meteoric rise in usage across all ages… with, smartphone penetration in the United States topping 44%.   The accessories market has also seen skyrocketing growth in stride with the surge in mobile device usage.  Consumer’s are not taking any risk with their expensive devices preferring to protect them from scratches and blemishes in innovative designer inspired bags, sleeves and protective cases.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside these brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

The smartphone’s rapid growth and continued market expansion can be attributed to two leading platforms Adroid and iOS  while other operating system platforms continue to struggle to maintain onto their meager share of the market.

While Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS is heralded as a breath of fresh air… sales and consumer interest continue to be disappointing.  Alas! What can we say of our beleaguered and fallen giant … RIM;  once the pearl of the mobile industry;  now with the failure of the PlayBook tablet and the BlackBerry OS, which was once the most desirable mobile experience continues to be  continues to be plagued with security issues.  Enhance your mobility… turn your device into a power tool.  Discover the select accessories, such as, stylus & pens, data cables, batteries, SD micro cards, desktop chargers, earpieces & headsets as well as glider gloves all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

The onset of 2011 looked very promising for RIM…. which unveiled a number of next-generation devices; including the 9300 Curve, 9900 Touch, 9930 Bold Touch and the highly anticipated BlackBerry Dakota.  RIM was also hard at work on it first tablet offering – the BlackBerry Playbook.  RIM offered a number of options to developers with the ability to support Android based application for it first QNX-based device.  Brilliant move right…. it would give RIM access to Google’s massive Android ecosystem and provide PlayBook users with a huge catalog of apps available upon launch.  Unfortunately, things don’t always go according to plan… and for Rim, boy did this turn out to be a snafu!

The Playbook launched in April amidst challenges and controversy.  Due in part to the pressing need to have a tablet on the market… the PlayBook debut was marred by the lack of native support for email, contacts, calendar or even the highly-regarded chat client that put BlackBerry devices on the map – the BlackBerry Messenger.   Furthermore, the tablet launched without support for Android applications and the current catalog of lackluster apps remain a huge problem for RIM to this day.   Let the latest in trend setting fashionable accessories express your unique style!  Experience  an extensive array of award-wining design protective cases and skins that deliver modern style, stunning design and smart protection.  Make your mobile devices stand out.  Customize your look – how cool can you be?

To compound matters even further,  despite RIM’s best efforts it was only ready to announce one device at the BlackBerry World conference in late April – the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 and while it was a device BlackBerry users had been clamoring for, it also came to market more than a year later than it should have with an operating system and user interface that was stale at best.

Worse was yet to come as internal stirrings set off seismic quakes after pent up unrest among RIM’s own employees finally reached its boiling point.  At the breaking point and completely exasperated  a high-level RIM executive published an open letter in an effort to get his message across to RIM’s top ss.   In its response to the open letter, RIM indicated that while it was addressing several issues, the company was “thankfully in a solid business and financial position to tackle the opportunities ahead.” Despite, cheery forecast by RIM’s top management , company would go on to disappoint with its second and third-quarter earnings, and its fourth-quarter guidance suggested that relief would not come soon.  Discover XMI Speaker’s uncompromised sound quality and a revolutionary design accentuating  today’s interactive lifestyle.   Earpieces and headsets combine sophisticated style and precision engineering that deliver brilliant sound for your total listening pleasure.

Today, RIM remains between a rock and a hard place.  In the midst of continually weakening sales, the first PlayBook  update is scheduled for February 2012; providing native email support and other PIM functionality, BBM is still proving to be a challenge and will not be part this ‘fix’.  Even more disturbing is the fact that the first RIM smartphone to run on the new BlackBerry 10 OS  – the BlackBerry London – will be delayed until delayed until late 2012.  Discover an extensive selection of the latest lithium technology replacement cell phone and wireless devices batteries.  Ensure your device is powered by brand name batteries for longer operating life.

Of major concern is the latest controversy brewing at RIM… inside sources at RIM have indicated to BGR that Mike Lizaridis was lying when he said that the company’s new lineup was delayed due to the setback get LTE chips.    In fact BGR claims it was told that RIM is simply pushing this out as long as they can for one reason, they don’t have a working product yet.”   According to BGR, their source communicated something shocking for a high-level RIM employee to say. He told BGR that RIM is betting its business on a platform and ecosystem that isn’t even as good as iPhone OS 1.0 or Android 2.0. “There’s no room for a fourth ecosystem,” he stated, “and DingleBerry also works on BlackBerry 10.”   Get powered up for work, life and play easily and conveniently with a collection of desktop chargers , wall chargers and car chargers.   Get all the power and energy you need for the mobile lifestyle.

There is no question that RIM has the talent to succeed in the modern smartphone market. It also has a user base that continues to grow with each quarter. The vendor has a lot of catching up to do, however, and it once it finally does launch its first BlackBerry 10 phone, it had better be a blockbuster with a massive marketing budget to back up its launch. In the meantime, RIM has a tough six-plus months ahead.

The financial reports of wireless phone manufacturer RIM were announced today and it was pretty much good news across the board.  The company set a new record for quarterly Unlocked BlackBerry Phone activations which resulted in an increase of 4.9 million accounts which brings their current total to 41 million subscribers.  Also, annual revenue grew 35% to $15 billion versus the previous year.  The only bit of bad news was that RIM missed their quarterly revenue expectations of $4.31 billion by about $230 million.

Co-CEO Jim Balsillie was quoted as saying that RIM is “off to a great start in fiscal 2011 and expect strong shipments, revenue, subscriber and earnings growth in Q1.”  I would have to agree with his assessments and am particularly impressed with all of the new BlackBerry Unlocked Phone customers they were able to bring on board.  With all of these new customer acquisitions it is easy to see why and how annual revenue grew 35%.  While the fact that RIM did miss their current quarterly goals is a bit worrisome the overall big picture appears to be much more encouraging than this current quarter.

Perhaps RIM’s success is a sign that the economy is finally getting back on its feet as more and more consumers are willing to spend money on upgraded their mobile devices to a BlackBerry smartphone.  It will be interesting to see if RIM reaches or exceeds their second quarter goals and continues with their upward trend for the entire year to match last year’s growth.  It can also be expected to hear some more news about these numbers at next month’s all BlackBerry all the time WES show in Orlando, FL.

In recent news BlackBerry development firm Viigo has been acquired by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. Viigo, whose self titled app is one of the most popular for BlackBerry Unlocked Phones, made the announcement Friday. Once solely a RSS reader Viigo made a big splash back in 2008 when they started introducing new features such as the ability to track sports scores, weather, movie times, stock performance, flight information and podcasts. Viigo has historically developed solely for Windows Mobile but it is unclear whether or not this will continue after the news of this announcement.

This acquisition was a logical move for Research In Motion as Viigo is the most popular app for the BlackBerry Unlocked phones. It makes sense for them to want to purchase this company and utilize their WindowsMobile application development expertise. By bringing Viigo on board it will allow for BlackBerry to build apps that are tailored for their specific user base. Viigo will be able to develop specific applications for the BlackBerry devices that will continue to be very appealing for the BlackBerry consumer.

Also, by purchasing application developer Viigo BlackBerry will gain more control on what types of apps are released for their mobile devices. Having the ability to create these apps in house will allow BlackBerry to build a suite of apps that their consumers are sure to enjoy and will bring rave reviews for the many BlackBerry devices. It is well known that users love the various apps that are available on today’s smartphones and being able to have one of the best application makers in house will allow BlackBerry to remain a leader in the mobile device community.

So CrackBerry.com a Blackberry 9700 while at an airport.  The most interesting thing was that it was T-Mobile branded.  It looks like it’s going to be a nice phone.  Many people think this was the Blackberry 9020 Onyx that was seen a few months.  The Blackberry 9700 looks similar and has the leather backing like the Onyx and Bold do.  The 9700 also has 3G and WiFi.

From the previous specs on the Blackberry 9020 Onyx it does seem like this might actually be the first fully featured Blackberry.  One where nothing is missing.  Usually RIM forgets some feature or lowers it in every Blackberry but the new Blackberry 9700 seems to finally be fully featured.

Like crackberry said.. If you haven’t upgraded to the new Blackberry 8520 and your budget allows it then you might want to wait a bit and get teh new Blackberry 9700.

So according to BerryReview.com it looks like RIM is finally upgrading its support for Gmail.  It seems that there is a beta of an Enhanced Gmail Plug-In currently being tested internally at RIM.

This means better Gmail support.  If anyone has ever used, or tried to use Gmail on their Blackberry they will know that altought it works through BIS you can’t really do much.  You can’t archieve, star, you can’t even report a email as spam.  Well all this will hopefully be fixed in the new plug-in.

So now it’s just a matter of time, but it looks like Blackberry will finally be doing something about their Gmail support so that means all Curve, Pearl, Bold, etc… users can finally rejoice