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RIM's BB10 Campaign Requires Some Serious Work
adeelarshad82 writes "With the BlackBerry 10 launch just around the corner, there is a lot of pressure on RIM's CEO to provide a 'Steve Jobs Moment.' However, given BlackBerry's 1.1% percent market share compared to the combined 92% share between rivals Android and iOS, it's a long road back. To add to the struggle, no other first-generation smartphone leader has been able to pull off this kind of rebirth. Palm and Symbian are dead and Microsoft is struggling. But, as one mobile analyst explains, RIM has a chance to carve out its own market with tomorrow's launch of BlackBerry 10 given that they get a few things right. They need to heavily promote their devices to CEOs, heavily promote the top apps to users, and most of all, they need to be able to explain why people should give it a look."
All they need to do is build a time machine and release BB10 three years ago when they still had a chance. Is that too hard?
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
So does it need serious work, or does RIM need to seriously work hard?
The ambiguity is smarmy, like many headlines on slashdot these days. Clearly it is intentional, since no one is actually interested in a re-report of the obvious, am I right?
It couldn't be that actual nerds are interested in what RIM is doing, not what some dolt thinks they should be doing (right after they explain how impossible the whole thing is).
Keep it up slashdot and I won't keep coming back. I tire of this nonsense.
---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
Because they are, as a class, idiots and know nothing about technology.
WANK WANK WANK
"RIM has a chance to carve out its own market with tomorrow's launch of BlackBerry 10 given that they get a few things right. They need to heavily promote their devices to CEOs, heavily promote the top apps to users, and most of all, they need to be able to explain why people should give it a look."
The analyst's statement sounds obvious to me. Seriously, does one need an analyst to come up with such an appraisal?
I guess I could be one, right?
^ There, I summerized the obvious in one phrase.
Oops, guess I should have written a two page listicle so I could call myself a "mobile analyst" and get paid for stating the really fucking obvious.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
They should have at least thought of an option of a "clip on" keyboard to simulate the previous models. The ability to touch and feel the buttons provides a much faster and easier way to type.
I don't see an reason to get one. An optional clip-on keyboard would have made me consider it as an option to replace my Galaxy S2.
In just few hours we will get the full announce, and then decide if they need to improve or not. The user interface looks pretty nice (a step forward the one in the N9), if they add to that android app compatibility and ability to run apps from other QT based mobile OSs (no matter so much now, but probably will do in 6-12 months) and dont get crazy with prices (i.e. not 3+ x times the Nexus 4), they should be ok.
I'll be interested to see how this plays out.
I suspect a lot of people have mostly decided RIM is a dead horse and moved on. You could offer me a BlackBerry for free, and I'm not sure I'd care. And the dirty looks I still get from the wife when her Playbook is crashing tells me she's not someone who would recommend any of their products.
If what they release is business-centric with a focus on connecting to an Exchange server, then I predict that the consumers who buy most smart phones nowadays will decide they're not offering anything of value.
It's become like the Amiga or SGI ... a couple of the die hard fans still saying how awesome it is and how we're all missing out, and a huge amount of people not interested.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Selling it as a phone that combines the security and safety of an enterprise phone with the features an fun of a "home" phone is the right approach. But they're still going to have to prove themselves on both fronts. And the clock is definitely ticking.
I don't think it's too late for them, but it's definitely the 11th hour.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
This smart phone is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late smart phone! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to your business unit would be pushing up the daisies! Its market processes are of interest only to historians! It's hopped the twig! It's shuffled off this mortal coil! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This.... is an EX-SMARTPHONE!
Palm and Blackberry are dying from natural causes, but Symbian was basically murdered by a Microsoft hitman. It was declining in market share and may have died on it's own, but the flexibility of it might have kept it going for a long time. It's multitasking was light years ahead of what's available now. I still like it better than Android or IOS.
I've seen it in action, and it reminded me of Android, but in many aspects it's better. Porting Android apps to BB10 is, apparently, pretty straightforward (sometimes downright effortless) and there will be 70.000 ready at launch.
So it has a fighting chance. Let's see how it plays out. Personally, I think it has slightly better odds than Windows Phone.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
They need to pitch it to CIOs as they will be the ones placing the orders.
One of the big features is having multiple profiles on the BB10 phones, so you can have a Home profile as well as a Business profile, each with it's own apps and data that you can switch on the fly. When you leave a company, the business profile is wiped and you can continue using the device.
Demoed one of the employee's units some time ago, it was pretty cool. Definitely geared for business users, but it's the only modern smartphone I've seen with this functionality.
no other first-generation smartphone leader has been able to pull off this kind of rebirth. Palm and Symbian are dead and Microsoft is struggling
So the crap-failure that was Windows CE managed to make Microsoft a "smartphone leader" and on top of that they are now struggling for a rebirth?!?
They need to build a machine that has longer battery life than all other smartphones on the market.
They'll get some early and easy sales momentum from their installed base, which hasn't seen a new model in 18 months and hasn't seen innovation from RIMM in forever. Sustaining that momentum will require an incredible OS and lots of word of mouth. The timing is actually pretty good for them - iOS has lost its momentum, Android is doing well but also kind of staid, so people are looking for something new.
I maintain that they should be focusing on mobile security and management software, and should have been for the past several years.
Even as recently as last year, RIM had a reputation for security mobile data devices. The problem was, nobody wanted those devices. So instead of spending the fortune on building a new handset/OS, they should have spent time and money developing a decent mobile management server, with associated mobile clients for android, iphone and MS kit ( with plugins for the various data sources; exchange, groupwise, ect... ).
They could have parleyed their reputation on to the entire mobile market for business handhelds, instead of floating a NEW hand held in an already contentious market.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Since nobody at RIM has access to the reality distortion field generating device, they are going to get smacked down hard.
Besides, their device is, at best, an also-ran device. Had they come out with the Z10 a year or two earlier it would be a bit of a different story.
In response to providing a 'Steve Jobs Moment' the CEO of RIM spent 3 hours yelling at employees then removed his license plate and parked in a handicap parking spot.
I think that there's a market for a business phone, but they aren't capitalizing on it.
If I were making the new BlackBerry, I'd brand it as a premium phone. Give it a big battery - 3500mAh - so that it gets days of battery life. Tethering everywhere, so that you are always connected, including built in secure VPN tunneling. Two sims, so it's a real world phone. Sync with the cloud. Fingerprint security. This is a phone for Getting Things Done.
Then your ads - not directly, mind you - can infer that the other phones are cute if you want to play Angry Birds, but that they're toys. Sure, we can do that, but that's not what we're about. These are phones to get work done on.
Then get onto a disciplined Apple-esque release schedule. New BlackBerry, every year, at least. Not every 3 years or whatever they're at now. Two product lines - the Bold, and the Torch. One version of each, save perhaps for different memory configurations.
Will they do this? Probably not. They'll try to be all things to all people and slowly fade away, but hey, who knows.
No mention of Nokia?
If it doesn't come with a fully functional Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Angry Birds etc then it is virtually dead. Not barely working apps but fully working apps that are equal to their iOS / Android counterparts. BB already has great email support but they will need to have good Google Calendar sync, etc as well.
If the apps work ... and the right apps are there ... then it won't be as hard as most people think. Outside the geek/techno realm people care few shits about the OS. It is all about the app ecosystem. It has to have the big apps on release and it has to see new apps come out at the same time as on the other platforms.
And ... from what I've read ... there is actually a decent chance of this happening.
One of the things people don't realize is that while BB has a smaller share ... people on that platform tend to be willing to pay for apps more often (and more per app) so as long as BB can get this out the door properly (big if, no doubt) the developers may well join. Especially if their app support team is as good as I've been reading and porting is as simple as they've made it sound.
Will -I- buy one? No. I want an open platform for my own purposes. But my exec bosses? They couldn't care less about rooting/jailbreaking/shell sessions/etc. And most of them don't care about fringe apps, they just want their core apps to work excellently and their phone to be secure.
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
The idea of pitching from the top down was always the Microsoft approach - and it no longer works. iOS and Android have succeeded despite not having any official sanction - it was exactly the opposite approach. The rank and file bought these devices themselves, and pretty much refused to cow-tow to the company line because their personal devices already did what they needed, even in the workplace.
Blackberry's time has come and gone. The end game has already been played. They should just part out the remaining assets and give the money back to the shareholders.
#DeleteChrome
Not just QT/QML, a more complete API sharing is what they should embrace, something like are trying to normalize Plasma Active, Sailfish and Ubuntu Mobile. You could have all the apps in all platforms, and choosing the right one based on your needs (they seem to have different targets), not a particular app you want.
our wrist Blackberry now comes with a full-sized 101-key keyboard with trackpad. Nobody else can make that claim.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
So QT/QML, C++ native, Adobe Air, HTML5, Sencha, and Marmalade aren't enough?
everybody gets lots of gifts on Ground Hog's Day and Presidents' Day, right?
The mobile market is not cimented because nobody owns anything that makes or breaks the industry. For that reason BB has a solid chance of regaining a part of the market share. On the other hand, believing they will own as much of the market as they did before is just silly. Wether in the past they failed to follow the market or not, they would have still lost a chunk of the market just due to the availability of alternatives. The more viable options the market offers the more the market is diluted.
"Many of you have an Apple iPhone. Some of you have Google Android phones. Some of you use Microsoft's Skype service.
Apple can monitor the location of your iPhone from their control center. They can turn your phone off. They can put software on it. Apple has the keys to your iPhone.
With Google Android devices, Google has the keys to your phone. Google can change what's on your phone. With Skype, all your calls go through Microsoft, and Microsoft won't say who's listening in.
With RIM, you are in control. The server that controls your devices is in your data center, under your control. We at RIM have no control over your devices. You have the keys, and you set the keys. We have no way to get into your phone. We can't listen in, nor can we let a government listen in.
Do you want to give out the keys to your company? It's your choice.
Thank you."
I was at a developer conference and went to a BB10 presentation.
The thing that impressed me is the focus on being really good at what Blackberry always did well, just revamped for a modern age.
For instance they had a really nice way to "peek" at what was going on. And email was always just a motion away, it was still core to the system just as it has been in older blackberry devices.
Also Blackberry realized that lots of people love blackberries because of the typing. Blackberry 10 has the best virtual keyboard I have seen for typing and completion.
BB10 is also really agnostic as to how you develop software for it, as noted Android ports are simple and they have other paths as well.
Before I saw it in action I thought they were toast. Now, like you, I think it has a real chance. Like you, I like the odds for its success even more than WP8 now.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
From what I've heard BB10 has discrete sand-boxing functionality for work and home email, contacts, phone books, etc built into the OS. My Nexus 4 certainly doesn't have that, not sure about the iOS world. The closest thing I've seen on another phone is "kids mode" on Windows 8 phones, which is a great idea IMO. Companies are requiring more and more security measures in place phones, PCs, etc so I think this feature will at least get some notice by the Fortune 500.
I never had it easier getting to use a Linux desktop in a Windows environment then when the Director/Owner/etc has a Mac. Oh you want Linux, that is the same as OSX right, sure no problem, IT will make it happen, just tell them I send you". Much seething from Windows admins but they got to support it because the boss said so.
It is something sales/marketing people tend to forget. Things happen because they are made to happen by the rather random taste of people who have influence. In Holland a rather famous case is where a comedian made a joke about brand of beer and its sales NOSEDIVED. Crackberry's were IT! And then the iPhone was IT.
What does this mean? That you must do TWO things. Keep doing the same thing AND innovate. You do the same thing to keep the customers who made their choice and you innovate to catch new customers AND keep the ones who bought your product but want something new.
That is why companies die when they become efficient and save on R&D because R&D isn't efficient and we got good products now what is left to research and develop? What happens is then that your customers die off (in some longer running industries literally) and aren't replaced. You become the old fogy brand, still selling but to a declining audience. Ask Sony.
And you never see that coming because it seems for the longest time that your competition has even less of a clue. Lets remember just how long Apple was NOT part of the smartphone market compared to how long they ruled it AND how long Samsung has been ruling it now (total sales vs single model sales).
Things... change...
Apple stopped innovating, there have been LOTS of innovative cell phone designs, none of them from Apple, even their design is not their own. Oblong phone mostly screen? The XDA was that 10 years ago.
Samsung has enormous issues with support, what updates you get and when is a lottery, you are going to loose. Cyanogenmod is a nice enough idea but it can't keep up. Cooking your own is possible but it makes running linux a decade ago seem like a cakewalk. Meanwhile it is pretty obvious that if do persist, it is possible to get a LOT more performance out of Samsungs devices then their own software can. Not suprising when you realize the difference between CM+Gapps and Samsungs official roms is 300mb. Half the size.
The world... well me and the world revolves around me, is ready for a mobile phone that is more PC like. Open, kept up to date easily and easily modified to suit my tastes. Or maybe it is ready for a phone that isn't the lightest or thinnest but has a serious battery so it simply can run for several days. Or real fast multitasking with phones finally getting some real memory akin to PC's. Or a phone that pulls a Nokia, tells the US telco's to go screw themselves and makes phones based around the idea of selling hardware not software.
IT might seem like it is ruled for ages by the same giants but that is just because people have bad memories, things change all the time and enemies you thought un-important rip your head off when you least expect it. Take Linux, for a decade we talked about the year of the desktop and nobody even heard of the name. Then Apple launches OSX and suddenly people who buy Macs know what Unix is and a search engine company and a no-brand tv maker use Linux and Java (another "year off" product) to give MS and its victim (Nokia) a beating that so far has left Ballmer gasping for air.
For years everything a CEO knew was windows software, suddenly it had become an iOS app and now Android has gained root, HTML5 is getting a massive boost out of nowhere (Jobless? Become a frontend developer, they can't get them at all).
It will be intresting to see what this year is going to produce. Will Samsung and Apple do something original or just an S4, Note 3 and iPhone 6? Will whatever meego is called now produce a phone by a company doing the radical thing of actually selling it in the west? Will Blackberry recover form the their tablet failure?
I will be disappointedif 2013 ends and we still have slab telephones with the same tired old interfaces.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Invisible hand of the market: Bring out yer dead! Bring out yer dead!
Consumers: Here's one!
IHOTM: Ninepence.
RIM: I'm not dead!
IHOTM: What?
Consumers: Nothing, here's your ninepence
RIM: I'm not dead!
IHOTM: Here, he says he's not dead.
Consumers: Yes he is.
RIM: I'm not!
IHOTM: He's not.
Consumers: Well, he will be soon, his products are rubbish
RIM: They're getting better!
Consumers: No they aren't, and your market share is crap. You'll be stone dead in a moment.
IHOTM: Well I can't take him like that. It's against regulations*.
RIM: I don't want to go to bankruptcy court.
Consumers: Oh, don't be such a baby.
IHOTM: I can't take him. Nobody wants to buy his trademarks, not even Samsung.
RIM: I feel fine!
Consumers: Oh, do us a favor.
IHOTM: I can't!
Consumers: Well, can you wait around a couple of quarters? He won't be long.
IHOTM: No, I promised I'd be at Microsoft's, they've lost nine today.
Consumers: Well, when's your next round?
IHOTM: Q2
RIM: I think I'll pursue business customers instead of direct consumers
Consumers: You're not fooling anyone, you know. Isn't there anything you can do?
RIM: I feel happy. I feel happy!
*thump*
Consumers: Ah, thank you very much
IHOTM: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
* As an added joke, enjoy the irony of the physical avatar of capitalism caring about regulations
Pretty neat that you can now use BB10 devices with ActiveSync if you don't have a new BB 10 server. Or if you don't need tight security and want to save a few bucks. I might run mine this way.
Daily more personal experiences in security lapses, intrusions, phishes, and ID theft occur. RIM own that category. Blackberry will gain converts-in-refuge happy to exchange ' street cred' iPhones and Androids for tablets and just a secure phone for essential communications.
Bi-furcation and up market growth will sort out the phones and tabs.
Blackberry is only Dead in the US.
I work for a third party Tech Support company in the UK (gotta pay for uni some way), and blackberry make up a good 3rd to half our calls.
with the rest being due to legitimate problems on android, Apple screwing up and locking down settings in IOS. and the few PC related calls.
They need to heavily promote their devices to CEO ...
... it'll only work if the CEO doesn't already own an Apple iPhone and/or Samsung Galaxy
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
No, seriously. That's what RIM is doing to promote BB10 here in their hometown of Waterloo, Ontario.
http://www.globaltoronto.com/canada/rim+to+thank+local+supporters+on+blackberry+10+launch+day/6442797978/story.html
Android comes from Google and Google is whole lot of stuff on the internet and Android is acting as a platform to access these services. Same with Microsoft. Apple is building its own cloud services and other offerings. Why on earth would someone invest in a platform like BB10 when it doesnot offer anything more than its Blackberry Enterprise Server. There is no long term roadmap for BB as a company. Hate to be the naysayer. BB is out and done. Sell it to someone or port Android or WP8.
Anonymouser
My phone/computer is primarily a work tool. I don't play Angry Birds. I don't watch videos much. I do e-mail, and texts, and use the web and web-enabled apps.
Android Jellybean feels more like it's designed for fun and games than real information handling.
If Blackberry feels like a nuts and bolts tool instead of an underpowered media/game box, I'll be all over it.
(FWIW, I think that this is where BB really screwed themselves - trying to sell to teenagers instead of focussing on their core demographic)
Three Squirrels
RIM should provide BES level of remote management and monitoring for family plans so parents can monitor their children's use of the phone, such as thumbnail images of photos taken and video streams sent, control over which apps can be used, etc.
then make sure there are plenty of games for it
if RIM can position a model or two as family smart phones with parent controlled content filter etc. they can a) make a ton of money selling them to soccer moms b) get young kids used to BB OS so when they are old enough to be buying their own phone they will pick something they are used to.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
> Palm and Symbian are dead
Both Palm, and its revival as WebOS, and Symbian are dead directly or indirectly from the cold hand of Microsoft.
Microsoft and Palm created a 'strategic alliance' which killed Palm. HP bought Palm and created WebOS, Microsoft killed this by announcing WOA (Windows On ARM) and then threatened HP by waving 'loyalty discounts' on _all_ products.
The death of Symbian seems to have been a contractural condition of the Nokia deal with MS. Similarly for Maemo, Meego and Meltemi.
Not just QT/QML, a more complete API sharing is what they should embrace, something like are trying to normalize Plasma Active, Sailfish and Ubuntu Mobile. You could have all the apps in all platforms, and choosing the right one based on your needs (they seem to have different targets), not a particular app you want.
You do realize that the Plasma Active/Sailfish/Ubuntu Mobile unification is all based on QT+QML, don't you?
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley (source: imdb.com)
The point was about normalization of i.e. UI components, as those other 3 are trying to do.
"they need to be able to explain why people should give it a look"
And all this time I thought it was more about getting lucky with your timing and have a self-reinforcing dog pile for your product. Hahah, I kid. But seriously, nobody needed to be told *why* they needed an iPad or iPhone. People started buying them for the touch screen (new tech), then Android comes along with better price.
BlackBerry have two options: 1) Introduce game changing technology with the BB10; 2) Offer it for cheaper than Android phones.
if they fail to do either of these things, this is dead right out of the gate.