Sprint cancels plans to sell 4G BlackBerry PlayBook

If you were patiently waiting to get your hands on a 4G PlayBook from Sprint before the end of the summer, your wait just got a lot longer. Just as we thought we were getting closer to seeing a 4G BlackBerry PlayBook arrive on Sprint, the company has stated that they have cancelled all plans to make the tablet available for sale. Sprint claims the PlayBook “just hasn’t caught on with business customers” and “There are so many tablets in the market, it creates confusion for the average customer”. Back in January Sprint announced they would be carrying the PlayBook but we never received an official release date. So with this news it looks like none of the major carriers are on board to pick up the 4G PlayBook just yet and leaves us asking just when we’ll actually see it hit the market.

Source: WSJ

via:cb

Cellular South Says PlayBook Is “Selling Well” With “Few if Any Returns”

After all the hoopla around the PlayBook sales rumors started this Friday and RIM’s comment on them the WSJ did a nice roundup of what happened. What I found interesting is that Stuart Weinberg managed to get Cellular South, the eighth-largest wireless carrier in the US, to comment on their PlayBook sales. What they said is promising for RIM considering their size:

Dave Miller, a spokesman for closely held Cellular South Inc., the eighth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., said the device is selling well, particularly with business customers that already deploy the BlackBerry. “They view it as a companion device to the BlackBerry,” Mr. Miller said, adding that there have been few if any returns of the device.

While Cellular South is on RIM’s list of official retail stores the bigger US carriers do not seem to be stocking them though they are also on the list. For example, I have stopped by a few AT&T and Verizon locations in Manhattan and none of them had the BlackBerry PlayBook. They might be holding out for the 4G versions coming later but it makes you wonder why carriers up north are already pushing them.

via:bbr

BlackBerry Bold 9650 to hit China Telecom; RIMM stock jumps 2%

Research In Motion’s shares jumped 2% (now at $43.75) after they announced the arrival of the BlackBerry PlayBook in the UK, set for June 16th. RIM, along with China Telecom, announced they will be releasing the BlackBerry Bold 9650. They also announced plans to launch BlackBerry services for small businesses in China.

RIMM stock has been taking a bit of a beating (near 23% drop) after RIM announced a 1Q profit warning. Hopefully, more product release news will bring the stock back up. Hey RIM, how about releasing details on the Monaco, Curve Touch, and more?

via WSJ

Native email and apps coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook in 60 days

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf

As you all know if you’ve been following the flurry of BlackBerry PlayBook news, the PlayBook will be arriving with no native email client nor do BlackBerry developers have an native SDK to create apps on. While the no native email client has been hotly debated among potential BlackBerry PlayBook owners — it is something that RIM is working on; as is the native SDK for developers. When questioned in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Jim Balsillie dropped the news surrounding the launch of native email.

“We will have, if you want, a standalone non-web, non-paired email client on it within the next, I believe it was 60 days scheduled.” He also said that the Android app player will be coming “sometime this summer.”

While I have some pretty strong feelings about the lack of native email at launch, I am quite pleased to know that it is a top priorority for RIM and understand the dynamics behind its delay. I’ll not debate it in this post, given that pretty much every other tech blog out there has used it as a weapon to beat the BlackBerry PlayBook down even before it gets out the gates , let’s just say RIM has their reasons for it not being there — and the solution for it is not as easy as slapping an email client on board and calling it a day as some would like you to believe.

There isn‘t much security in that methodology and doing so would go against everything we’ve come to expect from RIM when it comes to secure email processes. In any event, a secure native email client is coming — we just have to wait for it. Now, someone please help the horse up.

Source: WSJ

Native email and apps coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook in 60 days

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf

As you all know if you’ve been following the flurry of BlackBerry PlayBook news, the PlayBook will be arriving with no native email client nor do BlackBerry developers have an native SDK to create apps on. While the no native email client has been hotly debated among potential BlackBerry PlayBook owners — it is something that RIM is working on; as is the native SDK for developers. When questioned in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Jim Balsillie dropped the news surrounding the launch of native email.

“We will have, if you want, a standalone non-web, non-paired email client on it within the next, I believe it was 60 days scheduled.” He also said that the Android app player will be coming “sometime this summer.”

While I have some pretty strong feelings about the lack of native email at launch, I am quite pleased to know that it is a top priorority for RIM and understand the dynamics behind its delay. I’ll not debate it in this post, given that pretty much every other tech blog out there has used it as a weapon to beat the BlackBerry PlayBook down even before it gets out the gates , let’s just say RIM has their reasons for it not being there — and the solution for it is not as easy as slapping an email client on board and calling it a day as some would like you to believe.

There isn‘t much security in that methodology and doing so would go against everything we’ve come to expect from RIM when it comes to secure email processes. In any event, a secure native email client is coming — we just have to wait for it. Now, someone please help the horse up.

Source: WSJ

Why RIM is launching the BlackBerry PlayBook without a native email client (and why this may or may not matter to you)

The PlayBook’s web browser should pull up your Gmail just fine… until the day (hopefully soon)
that RIM rolls out the native email and PIM apps

There is no doubt in my mind that the single biggest point of confusion and concern amongst the uninformed surrounding the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is the sentiment that you need to own a BlackBerry Smartphone in order to use a BlackBerry PlayBook (in other words, the PlayBook is an accessory to a BlackBerry Smartphone, vs. a tablet device that can stand up on its own). I’ve had friends, readers and my next door neighbor raise this issue with me, and last week I even witnessed WSJ’s Walt Mossberg relay this same notion/misunderstanding when he was a moderator on a panel discussion at CTIA.

Carriers at odds with RIM over NFC payment data

RIM is butting heads with carriers over plans for NFC-equipped BlackBerry phones that could be a sign of things to come for Apple and others, unnamed carrier officials said Thursday. The company is fighting with GSM carriers like AT&T, Rogers and T-Mobile over where to store the personal identifiers needed for making the short-range wireless payments. Carriers want the information to be encrypted in SIM cards so that it can be portable, the WSJ said, but RIM wants the information stored in a secure memory partition on the phone.

The approach would make it harder to switch away from a BlackBerry without reloading those details. However, it would also prevent carriers from having a large amount of sway over how NFC was used or complicate any switch away from a carrier. RIM’s model would favor those with unlocked phones by letting them carry info from network to network, even to another country. The company is also believed to be talking to banks directly and could skip middlemen that might hike the price of a transaction. Software Senior VP Jim Tobin wouldn’t comment on specifics but said that RIM would still be “carrier supportive.”

The conflict might be a dry run for an encounter with Apple, which is rumored to be adding NFC to the iPhone 5. Where RIM or Android’s creator Google will often let carriers have say over most of the software, Apple demands that the firmware be stock everywhere and usually only allows modifications to carrier profiles for access to features like tethering. It may follow a similar strategy to RIM and put identifiers on built-in storage rather than the SIM. Bell mobility corporate development head Almis Ledas was already anticipating a dispute:

“We expect some closed operating system vendors will probably try to build [them directly] into the handset,” he said. “RIM and (Apple) fall into that category.”

Success in pushing a more device-centric NFC strategy should become clearer in mid-to-late 2011, once RIM introduces its new BlackBerry lineup and Apple introduces the iPhone 5.

 

via: Engadget

RIM Confirms NFC BlackBerrys with Latest Job Posting

You can really learn quite a bit about how RIM operates from their own sources like job postings and their very active LinkedIn page. Earlier this month we had RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie talking about NFC (Near Field Communication) saying that “we’d be fools not to have it in the near-term, and we are not fools.” There is even speculation that it will fill the “Module Cavity” in the upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook and other BlackBerrys which was confirmed by the WSJ.

In case you don’t know what NFC is here is a simple example. Think of being able to pay for items at the grocery store just by tapping your BlackBerry against a sensor. Kind of like the new credit cards that you just push against the register sensor. This can also be used to easily transfer contact information and other “near field” solutions.

The latest ad for an “IOT Specialist – Near Field Communications” on RIM’s website hints that RIM is moving fast on this one. Here is a description of the position:

The successful candidate will be responsible for investigating complex system level issues raised during IOT Testing for Near Field Communication software features supported on RIM’s BlackBerry handhelds. Responsibilities involve setting up and maintaining the IOT test environment, developing test cases and test scripts, as well as writing and carrying out NFC IOT test plans and NFC pre-certification test plans.

The successful candidate will troubleshoot test environments, analyze logs, communicate the root cause of test case failures across development teams and drive issues to resolutions, working directly with feature developers to correct software failures related to the NFC Radio software of RIM’s BlackBerry handhelds. He/she will also drive the specification of new test requirements in order to increase the effectiveness of our RIM’s internal IOT test coverage and participate into the development of automated test frameworks.

Seems like there is no question now that BlackBerrys will be getting NFC soon. Hopefully we will be seeing it sooner rather than later. I am still waiting for a bump to exchange contacts feature built into every BlackBerry or even better it should be included in every smartphone. via The Register

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Source: Breview

BlackBerry Smartphones Getting NFC Chips; Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile Begin Testing

Research In Motion is planning to add Near Field Communication (NFC) chips to their upcoming smartphone lineup. No other details are available, but the tip came with the formal announcement from Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile of Isis, a joint partnership on mobile payments.

BlackBerry devices will be the next in line to get NFC chips. The idea is to use the NFC chips and smartphones to be able to make purchases. Eventually coupons, discounts, stores, and even transit ticketing areas could be supported for quick and easy purchasing with your smartphone.

It is expected to see the Isis service with NFC chip enabled BlackBerry smartphones within the next 18 months.

via Electronista

Source WSJ

Iowa Law Enforcement Officers Handing Out “TXTING KILLS” Thumb Bands

In an effort to increase awareness around the the dangers of of Texting while driving, some Iowa law enforcement officers are handing out thumb bands that read “TXTING KILLS“.   The bands are part of a statewide campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of texting while driving under a new law prohibiting the practice that took effect July 1.

Police are permitted  to give warnings for the first year of the Texting while driving ban and hope that the TXTING KILLS thumb bans will catch on with the current fad of rubberized bracelets reminding Texters that they shouldn’t be texting while driving.

The state ordered 30,000 of the bands and plans to order another 30,000. State employees have been distributing them at events such as the Iowa State Fair, high-school football games and the Iowa-Iowa State college football game.

“A lot of people want them for their kids,” Ms. Greene said. “It’s a fun way to get across a serious message about not texting and driving.”

[Via WSJ]