Hasta La Gadget!

RIM‘s annual shareholders meeting has kicked off, and investors are already restless as the company’s CEO and former CEO are re-elected to the board. Mike Lazaridis and Thorsten Heins were among ten people elected to RIM’s board, with investors expressing their dissatisfaction by withholding 19.1-percent of votes for Lazaridis and 14.8-percent for Heins. There are already questions as to how prepared RIM is to take on its smartphone and tablet rivals.

Leading the revolt is long-term thorn in RIM’s side, Jaguar Investments, which has been pushing for the company to sell off or license its patent portfolio since last year. Chairman and CEO of the investment group, Vic Alboini, was unsurprisingly present at the meeting.

Even before voting began, Alboini was vocal in his concerns. “Is it the board’s intent through your leadership as chair to aggressively seek technology-experienced board members” he asked, “that would bolster the strength of this board?”

RIM chair Barbara Stymiest insisted that the company was happy that it had the right skill-set represented on the board, and confirmed that the BlackBerry company had used the services of an external skills-hunting service to make sure the right people were present.

After the votes were counted, Alboini insisted on hearing the number of withheld votes for all of the candidates. “This is not an overwhelming approval for each of the directors” Alboini highlighted, and indeed 5 out of the 10 re-elected had 20-percent or more votes withheld.

RIM investors re-elect board but revolt bubbles is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 9310 hasn’t exactly been shy. It’s already made a cameo over at the FCC and got some Boost Mobile face time, and now the QWERTY keyboard-packing smartphone will be hitting Verizon, arriving on the carrier this week. The curvy package includes BlackBerry 7.1, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a microSD slot and a dedicated BBM key on that aforementioned physical keyboard. The business-friendly handset arrives on VZW July 12th for $50 (after a mail-in rebate for the same amount). More info can be found in the press release post-break.

Continue reading BlackBerry Curve 9310 makes a straight line to Verizon, July 12th

Filed under: Cellphones

BlackBerry Curve 9310 makes a straight line to Verizon, July 12th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 08:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Happy Monday, everyone. We’re all fully rested and recovered after a crazy mid-week holiday and ensuing weekend. But now that everyone’s bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, let’s get down to business – AT&T 4G LTE hits 74 US markets in newest expansion. Mobile broadband not your speed? Then how about this – Fujitsu announces stylistic Q702 and Lifebook T902 laptops. And, if you think you’re getting old, check this out – Study reveals space travel may slow aging process.

Featured: So on this return to a fulll work week, we have a slate of really interesting featured articles, including one that is not deliberately provocative, we swear – Diablo III is the worst game ever made. Want something a bit less controversial? – Surface sleight of hand: Microsoft’s big touch distraction. And we also have this coveted hands-on – AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note Premium Suite software upgrade hands-on.

RIM, Android, & Ebay: Okay, so if you’re in the mood for depressing news, RIM is in the headlines again. And yeah, you guessed it; it isn’t good – RIM facing lawsuits over broken Blackberry 10 promises. And on the topic of how companies are faring in the changing mobile environment, here’s something – Microsoft claims collecting royalties on 70% of all Android devices. And finally, something much lighter – Massive video game collection nets $1.2 million on Ebay.

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: July 9, 2012 is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Despite all the doom and gloom at RIM of late, CEO Thorsten Heins is a long, long way from throwing in the towel. After denying a “death spiral” and responding directly to Globe & Mail reader questions, he sat down with CIO‘s Al Sacco to talk about what he sees coming next year — and why we’re going to have to wait another couple of months for BB10. The reason for delay, he says, “is not because we added stuff to it. The delay is because our software groups were actually so successful in coding the various feature components… we got overwhelmed by integration efforts.” In other words, the company didn’t add too much stuff, there simply was too much stuff. That’s a very different state of affairs.

That being the state of play, the decision to delay again was a natural one, says Heins. “What I commit to the public out there is that when we ship BlackBerry 10, we will do it at high quality.” And he, of course, has high hopes for what they ship. “In January with the full touch device and the QWERTY coming, I think we will reinstall faith in RIM.” That seems to imply a January release for the device, or at least a final media unveiling, which could make the 2013 CES RIM’s last, best hope.

Thorsten Heins talks BB10 delay, promises to ‘reinstall faith in RIM’ in January with full touch device originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM chief exec Thorsten Heins has again defended the company’s decision to delay BlackBerry 10 devices, saying he was dissatisfied with the remaining flaws in what’s intended to be a “seamless environment.” RIM recently confirmed that phones running BlackBerry 10 would now arrive in early 2013, rather than late 2012 as previously promised; Heins told The Globe and Mail that “the goal of BlackBerry 10 is to bring some of the best technologies in the world together in a seamless environment” and that he was frustrated by how the company’s software engineers hadn’t quite achieved that.

“Simply put,” Heins concluded, “I could still see some of the seams.” Nonetheless, the CEO insists that BlackBerry 10 is “ready to go” at its core, and points to third-party developers already working on QNX apps that will be ready in time for the platform’s eventual arrival.

“I decided that the way some features worked together and the related software integration needed more attention and refinement … When you’re dealing with millions of lines of computer code that will be subjected to daily use by users around the world, fine-tuning can take time – in this case, more than we anticipated. We decided to delay the launch of BlackBerry 10 to give us ample time to integrate software, test, and polish the final product” Thorsten Heins, CEO, RIM

Heins also challenged suggestions that RIM should have abandoned its own software plans and adopted Android or Windows Phone 8, arguing that “there is room and demand for an alternative to generic software.” Instead, “BlackBerry 10 is not just a fresh coat of paint on an old operating system” Heins says, “it will be the only completely new mobile platform on the market.”

As for BlackBerry being seen as a device for suits and seniors, Heins isn’t willing to see the brand relegated to the retirement home. ”One of the misconceptions about BlackBerry is that it’s your parents’ smartphone” he said, pointing out that “BlackBerry has a loyal fan base of young people around the world. For example, in South Africa, BlackBerry was recently voted coolest brand.”

Unfortunately, that youth appeal hasn’t necessarily helped RIM’s bottom line in the way continued enterprise success might have. In markets where BlackBerry devices are still thriving among young owners, a significant part of that success has been down to inexpensive pricing and bundled data. In the UK, for instance, BlackBerry devices significantly undercut iPhone and Android-based rivals on cheap pre-pay and contract deals, offering bundled data and BBM access for users unlikely to spend significant amounts on service each month and – more damaging to RIM – never likely to require BES service.

Meanwhile, the company’s fading star has led to carriers demanding renegotiation of monthly server fees, a prospect that could see one of RIM’s remaining major income streams significantly trimmed. At present, such fees contribute more than a third to RIM’s bottom line, but AT&T and Verizon – among others – are looking to reduce their liability as more competitive deals are required to drive BlackBerry device sales.

RIM CEO on BlackBerry 10 delay: “I could still see the seams” is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.