BlackBerry 10 Unveiled 185
arcite writes "Research in Motion Ltd's new CEO, Thorsten Heins, unveiled BlackBerry 10 in Florida today. Will new features such as a virtual keyboard that learns from typing behavior and a camera that easily focuses on faces be enough to scrape back precious market share (which could possibly fall to 5%) from the likes of Apple and Android? With no physical device yet revealed and a release date ranging anywhere from August to October, it will be an uphill battle."
Engadget had some brief hands-on time with a dev Alpha. It seems RIM is trying to jumpstart app development through its App Generator and financial incentives.
Shouldn't shareholders demand an asset auction... (Score:4, Interesting)
...and wind down of the company while it is still somewhat profitable? i.e., before management does all those desperate things they like to do at the end, like pay themselves huge retention bonuses and blow metric assloads of money on hail-mary projects metaphysically certain to fail, all of which buries the company in debt that will cause shareholders to receive nothing from the bankruptcy certain to result.
Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
The PB is not a disaster; it is the most business-friendly tablet out. That might change if Samsung does a really good job on ICS for the Note, but at this point they are behind RIM, even though they are ahead on consumer tablets.
One key thing for Blackberry is that, if they go for a touchscreen keyboard, they must do it better than anybody else (or I will stay on my 9810 till it dies...) My belief, having seen the report, is that they get this. Six months ago I too had written them off. Now, I'm not nearly so sure.
Re:Shouldn't shareholders demand an asset auction. (Score:2, Interesting)
So, no debt. Billions of cash on the books. A rapidly growing equity position. $500 milion in free cash flow each quarter. Prem Watsa on the board of directors (a very famous value investor the likes of Warren Buffett).
So, you say that management is hoarding the cash to themselves. OK, show us hte SEC statments to prove this comment. Otherwise it is all misleading garbage.
I'm a fan but they are STILL missing the boat. (Score:5, Interesting)
1. Be the BEST and most integrated social networking tool.
2. Be a WALLET by leveraging their existing encryption infrastructure.
Humans are social creatures. Making a product directly targeted at these two areas will be a winner. Humans are fed up with carrying around a ton of credit cards, bank card, coins and bills.
RIM needs to get away from feature-itis and gimmicks. There are no legs to this approach. Leveraging the existing social and commercial ecosystem is the way to go.
Re:RIM is local to me. (Score:4, Interesting)
The Playbook is still a disaster.
Have you used one? It blows everyone else out of the water. I've yet to see an Android or iOS user that wasn't completely shocked and amazed when they get a few minutes hands-on with the PlayBook.
Re:Shouldn't shareholders demand an asset auction. (Score:4, Interesting)
People will cling to capitalism long after it has ceased to be an effective way to distribute wealth.
Thing is, capitalism wasn't "designed" to distribute wealth. It was designed to promote productivity. The basic deal of capitalism is: produce more, get more wealth. It's a decent concept. Where it falls down, though, is when you're at the upper end of the capital curve. Then you get more wealth, not by producing more, but by already owning lots of wealth. The trait of capital to self-perpetuating in large amounts, and the capacity for capital to be passed down to people who haven't had to work for it are two properties that (IMO) undermine the system.