Research in Motion Releases new BlackBerry Line-Up to Compete with Rivals: Bold 9900, Torch 9810, Torch 9850 on BlackBerry 7 OS.

In a much better attempt to compete with its rivals, Research in Motion (TSE: RIM) is releasing three new touch screen enabled phones. The biggest development is their decision to release a phone with no QWERTY keyboard at all, which looks more like many Android models. All of the new phones will run on RIM's new BlackBerry 7 operating system, and have faster processors than their predecessors.

The BlackBerry 7 OS will offer better web browsing and approximately 40 percent better performance than BlackBerry 6. The new system will surely be powerful, but investors are still waiting on the release of the QNX operating system, which should be on RIM's next models to mesh better with the user experience of the PlayBook.
The specifications for the new models are detailed below. The new Torch 9850 will be the new game changer for RIM, and should receive some initial success, and give the company and its investors some time before the release of their QNX phones.

Bold 9900

• 2.8-inch 640×480 (VGA) screen
• full QWERTY keyboard. 
• 1.2GHz processor 
• 8GB of on-board storage 
• MicroSD card slot
• 5MP camera that can record 720p video. 
• NFC chip (could be used as a wireless credit card)

Torch 9810

• 3.2-inch “high resolution” touch-screen
• 5MP camera with autofocus and “HD” video recording
• slide-out QWERTY keyboard. 
• 1.2GHz processor

Torch 9850

• 3.7-inch screen, the largest of any BlackBerry smartphone, 
• Liquid Graphics technology
• 1.2GHz processor
• 4GB of internal storage
• MicroSD
• 5MP camera with autofocus

Importantly, the company is releasing their phones simultaneously throughout their developing markets and North America, which should lend them a sales increase and an influx of cash for new research and development. Overall, the release looks promising and investors should now wait a couple of quarters to see how earnings, and free cash flow, come in the door.

Happy Investing : )

Can RIM Recover? New Article from Maclean's on Research in Motion.

A recent article in Maclean's highlights more of the issues and uncertainties at Canada's technological giant Research in Motion (TSE: RIM).

"RIM’s hopes are pinned on an operating system made by QNX Software Systems, an Ottawa-based company RIM scooped up last year. The software is already running the PlayBook and will eventually power every BlackBerry in RIM’s lineup. But the PlayBook’s troubled launch—reviewers have seized on a lack of key applications, like native email—has raised nagging questions about RIM’s ability to execute its plan. Nor does it help that the updated BlackBerries that were supposed to whet consumer’s appetites in the meantime using the new BlackBerry 7 operating system have been delayed—reportedly because RIM realized midway through their development that the phones would be outdated before they hit store shelves."

Abstract is from: Maclean's.ca

Can RIM recover? With investors and customers losing faith, its fate may rest in a promised ‘super-phone.’

Research in Motion (TSE: RIM) Decline Way Overblown. Should You Buy RIM Before it is Taken-Over?

I must admit, as a recent owner of Research in Motion, I am a little biased in saying that the recent sell-off in the stock is overblown. Down from over $60 per share in March of 2011, to the high $20's, on the announcement of slower growth and late product development is more than a bit much. Of course, there are many bears in the proverbial Wall Street woods that claim Research in Motion is about to go the way of Palm and other early device makers, but this is not just another dog stock with terrible fleas.

The usual story for defunct technology companies is that they begin to burn cash quicker than they can make it. To be sure, many even have to borrow hordes of cash from investors and banks just to stay current with new developments and recent trends. RIM does not fit this bill. It has over $2 billion of cash in the bank, and it earned almost $700 million in the last quarter alone! To be sure, growth is slowing... but that does not mean everyone should just abandon ship and find the nearest lifeboat. They are at the end of a product cycle and it will take some time for them to release and market their new QNX operating system products, like those similar to the Playbook.

The other reason, which is clearly starting to gain traction, is that investors are starting to really smell a takeover target. When this happens, a floor starts to be created in the price of a stock. According to the CBC, potential "suitors mentioned in the past have included the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, IBM and Hewlett-Packard." Each of these companies has deep pockets that could gobble up and enjoy RIM for breakfast. In addition, there are many great technology companies that would love to seize all of RIM's technology in one fell swoop. Why spend billions inventing your own systems when RIM's could be had for much less... plus you get the cash in their bank account remember. Most estimate the cost of buying all of RIM at around $20 billion. This is a large number, but not that large for the technology giants of the world's stock markets.

Happy Investing and be sure to give RIM a look in the near future.

Here is some additional information on this story:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/06/17/f-rim-shares-buy.html