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.’

BlackBerry to use Bing as Microsoft Contends with Google's Android now Leading the Smartphone Market.

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM, TSE: RIM) has announced that Microsoft's Bing search engine, the perennial loser in the struggle for search engine market share, will be the default engine on it's BlackBerry devices. This announcement was made by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer at BlackBerry World, the industry conference hosted by RIM in Orlando, Florida.


Rival Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) dominates the search market and this move by Microsoft is hoping to take away some of Google's dominant market share. Google's Android phones, however, are beginning to take hold of the smartphone market as well, which has been bad for RIM and many other handset makers. Many industry watchers say that the Android phones are more user-friendly and open to third-party apps than are the phones of their rivals.


According to recent Nielson surveys, Android now has a 29% market share of smartphones in the US. Blackberry is now at 27%, while Apple's sits at 27% as well. Of course, it is important to note that Apple and Blackberry are also handset makers, while Google is not, they simply generate the operating system or OS.