Research In Motion’s new BlackBerry 7 smartphones are seeing strong initial sales among businesses looking to upgrade from older BlackBerry smartphones, however consumer sales have been weak according to Canaccord Genuity. In a research note, Canaccord analysts Mike Walkley and Matt Ramsay found during channel checks that upgrade sales of BlackBerry 7 devices in North America were quite strong with enterprise customers in August. Specifically, Verizon Wireless saw strong Bold 9930 upgrade sales among its substantial enterprise customer base, while AT&T and Sprint saw mixed sales. T-Mobile’s $300 Bold 9900 has not been selling well according to Canaccord’s checks. Read on for more.
Mobli released an app for BlackBerry today that attempts to fill the gap left by Instagram not releasing a BlackBerry app. It sort of mixes the ideas of Instagram and Color by letting you share pictures based on your location, subject, or person you are photographing. You also get access to location based filters which is sort of unique allowing you to filter pictures based on your location, event, date, or category. You can then share your creation on Facebook and Twitter.
I just started trying out the app so I cannot speak for it but
If you are a BlackBerry WebWorks developer you are going to want to be on Twitter today (Friday September 9th) at 1PM EDT. RIM is running a Twitterview Q&A session on their @BlackBerryDev Twitter account.
Here are the details:
Adam Stanley, WebWorks expert, will be on hand to answer your questions, simple or technical. No Web topic is off-limits, and no Web developer is unwelcome. If you’ve got a question about BlackBerry and HTML5, CSS3, Sencha, jQuery, PhoneGap, or WebWorks tweet it our way and we’ll do our best to answer. (And don’t forget to use the hashtag #AskBBdev!)
So just make sure to be logged into Twitter today monitoring the #AskBBdev hashtag at 1PM!
SOTI has updated their popular Pocket Controller Pro app to v8.50 this week. This new version mainly brings OS 7.0 support but they have also thrown in a bunch of extra goodies. They added gesture support including keyboard shortcuts and zoom.
Support for BlackBerry OS 7.0 In our commitment to the BlackBerry platform, SOTI is proud to support all of RIM’s latest smartphones. Native 7.0 support means better application performance on BlackBerry’s latest devices.
Pocket Controller-Pro now supports gestures! You can now perform gestures using your mouse or touch screen monitor! Swipe, scroll, and navigate your BlackBerry exactly the same way as you do with your touch-screen BlackBerry smartphones. SOTI Pocket Controller Pro for BlackBerry now gives you 100% of your device’s touch screen experience on your desktop!
Cut, Copy and Paste using Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V! Additional keyboard shortcuts have been added to save you time. You can now use your keyboard to Cut, Copy and Paste on the BlackBerry using the normal shortcut keys that you’re familiar with on your desktop.
Automatic Zoom! SOTI has added the ability to see the entire BlackBerry when you first connect to your device.
Pocket Controller-Pro now has an Exit option! By popular demand, you can now easily exit the BlackBerry application when you’re not using Pocket Controller-Pro and also prevent it from starting up at boot time so it doesn’t use any system resources improving your BlackBerry’s performance and boot time.
A friend pointed out that RIM is really starting to make themselves known to Android developers and other developer communities on Meetup. Until now they have been using it to court BlackBerry developers with meetups all over the place and a few web developers but now they are clearly sponsoring Android developer meetups in anticipation of the Android Player for the PlayBook. We know that RIM is releasing the Android Player to developers at least before DevCon but other than that this is another sign that it is coming soon.
On RIM’s Meetup.com sponsorship page for the “Android Player for BlackBerry PlayBook it states that they are sponsoring 50 meetups across the country. Here are the details:
BlackBerry’s YouTube channel has released a new which features Emily Butcher. She is the owner of Flowers by Emily in Northbridge, Sydney. Her BlackBerry is an essential part of running her business and for keeping in touch with clients, and her friends and family.
Check out the video above and let us know what you think in the Comments below
Slower than expected sell-through of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet has prompted investment bank Canaccord Genuity to slash its sales estimates for RIM’s first tablet. BGR noted last week that Best Buy’s Labor Day sale likely indicated slow sell-through of at least one PlayBook model, and it looks like a recent round of checks jibes with our take. Canaccord analysts Michael Walkley and Matt Ramsay wrote in a research note that multiple retailers are seeing less than impressive sales of RIM’s slate. “Our August checks continue to indicate soft sales of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook with some retailers recently lowering prices on the device in attempt to move inventory,” the analysts said. As a result, Walkley slashed his full-year PlayBook sales projection substantially to 1.5 million units from earlier estimates of 2.2 million tablets. Read on for more.
Moving forward, the firm doesn’t see PlayBook sales picking up much in the near term, especially in light of the iPad 2′s continued domination of the tablet market. “With our checks indicating the iPad 2 continues to dominate sell through trends for the tablet market and our expectation for increased competition from Android OEMs such as Samsung, HTC, and even Amazon into the holiday season, we expected continued soft sales for the PlayBook,” the note states. Apropos, Canaccord lowered its 2012 PlayBook sales projection as well to 2.5 million tablets from an earlier forecast of 3.2 million units. Walkley reiterated his Hold rating on RIM stock with a price target of $35.
As Samsung’s latest devices continue to be targeted by patent complaints filed by the likes of Apple and Microsoft, Research In Motion may reap the benefits of these numerous quarrels. In a note to investors on Tuesday, Gus Papageorgiou of Scotia Capital sees Apple’s multiple complaints against Samsung as potentially opening doors for the struggling BlackBerry maker. Pointing specifically to Apple’s recent win barring the sales and marketing of several new smartphones by three European Samsung subsidiaries, Papageorgiou believes sales of RIM’s new BlackBerry 7 devices will be bolstered by the void these devices will leave in certain regions of Europe if the ban goes into effect on October 13th as scheduled. He also notes that the new BlackBerry Bold 9900 is already selling well in Europe, however, which means RIM’s potential benefits from the impending ban on Samsung smartphones could be icing on the cake. Read on for more.
“These initial victories for Apple do not bode well for Samsung especially in the European market where its market share has moved from 5.0% Q2 last year to 18.8% this year,” the analyst wrote. “In addition to these legal issues, we believe the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is already outselling the Samsung Galaxy S. Based on GSM Exchange’s website, which tracks the top 3 most actively traded devices in Europe, the Bold 9900 is now in the #2 position ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S II and behind the iPhone-4 16Gb.” Papageorgiou raised his price target on RIM stock to $46 from a previous target of $35.60, and he upped his rating to Outperform from Sector Perform.
Following recent rumblings surrounding discontent atop Yahoo’s executive chain, the struggling Internet company fired its CEO Carol Bartz. In the same stroke, Yahoo! also revealed that it is for sale. News broke Tuesday night that former chief executive Carol Bartz sent an email to the entire Yahoo organization. In her brief note, she stated that Yahoo’s chairman of the board had fired her — over the phone, no less. Yahoo confirmed the news, stating that Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse would step in as interim CEO while the company searches for a new chief. Following the news, a Yahoo employee speaking with The Wall Street Journal also confirmed that the company would be open to selling itself. “Yahoo is open to selling itself to the right bidder,” the Journal wrote. No additional details were provided. Carol Bartz’s full email to Yahoo staff follows below.
From: “Carol Bartz”
To: “all-worldwide@yahoo-inc.com”
Subject: Goodbye
To all,
I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.
While we all wait somewhat patiently for the Android App Player to officially make its way to the BlackBerry PlayBook, it looks like RIM is still rallying the troops on the Android front. RIM is sponsoring 50 Android developer events on Meetup in order to get the Android love flowing on the PlayBook. The sponsored events will allow for a BlackBerry rep to visit with groups in order to help convert Android apps to run on the PlayBook as well as get listed in BlackBerry App World.
Android Player for BlackBerry PlayBook is supporting 50 Meetups across the country to get the word out about converting your Android App to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS and host it in BlackBerry World. They’re thrilled to have your Meetup participating in this program! In addition to having a local Blackberry rep come visit your Meetup, they’re making a financial investment in your Meetup Group over the next 3 months to help your Organizer make it even better!
It looks like there is a good amount of interest thus far, so lets hope things go well and plenty of developers hop on board. Still no official word on just when we’ll see an official release of the Android App Player, but as always, fingers crossed that it’s not too much longer.
Night Hawk Computers Blackberry Alliance 