back to article RIM shares bounce on BlackBerry 10 optimism

The number of BlackBerry users is up slightly, despite the aging OS and hardware, lifting RIM shares that that already been buoyed by previews of the shiny new OS10. Overall users hit 80 million, up from 78 million earlier this year, resulting in a 3 per cent jump in RIM shares, though that's also thanks to the unveiling of …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Argh

    I am desperately trying to think of a more constructive response to this than "LOL". Still trying...

    1. asdf

      Re: Argh

      They may actually carve a big enough niche in the #3 spot to survive this generation. WP will survive bringing up the rear but only after it destroy's Nokia and costs M$ billions like Bing.

    2. Shagbag
      Thumb Up

      Re: Argh

      How about: go and fuck yourself?

      Competition is a good thing - it leads to innovation and increased consumer satisfaction. Two things Apple seem to have forgotten.

      Allahu akbar.

  2. Mike Brown

    balance?

    sounds good. really good actually.

    the only way RIM will survive is if corperates take the new Blackberries. RIM have to hope that they arnt all now suckling from the apple teet

  3. James 51

    RIM don't deserve half the stick they are getting. I hope this new OS does well.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I've just spent months working on the hideousness that is WebWorks for BB6 and 7. I think they deserve everything they're getting and a bit more.... (I mean the grief they're getting, not the +3% on the share price. Still, 3% of fuck all is fuck all...)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Indeed, choice is good. A concept that all the fanboys don't seem to appreciate.

  4. Jemma
    FAIL

    So basically...

    They nicked the UX and control of UI from the N9

    They nicked the appearance of the UI from a mismash of iOS, Symbian Belle (to the point you'd think the thing was an N8) & Meego.

    They nicked the ability to have two wholly separate homescreens from S60 3rd FP1/2.

    "Introducing BB 10, Dragging you kicking and screaming into 2006...!"

    I was hoping against hope that they would come up with something worthwhile to at least compete with the United Nations of Mediocrity that is iOS & Android and joy of Joys - to control the thing you have to relearn Graffiti from the Palm handhelds.

    This is like putting alloy wheels, a fat exhaust and spoiler on an Allegro 1100. If thats the best they can come up with they are deader than a banker with a social conscience and are rapidly approaching 'LibDem re-election' territory.

    1. Big_Ted

      Re: So basically...

      Watch the vids and tell me your post is the same word for word.

      http://crackberry.com/tags/bbjam-2012

      It looks very nice and easy to use and will I expect be a hit with company IS departments if not those higher up who make the decisions. Plus the integration of BBM overall will be a hit with the youngsters so could keep it as their phone of choice for a few more years.

      1. Jemma

        Re: So basically...

        Haven't been on that site but it wouldn't surprise me since its a more blatant rip off of Nokias IP than the new HTC 8X. RIM have one chance and one chance only to get this right and aping two dead os and one thats scheduled for a bullet to the head ain't wise. They also need to get shot of the pay-us-to-use-your-own-wifi business model tout suite. Apple and the beneficent Jobs can get away with that sort of game, RIM cannot. Id love to see a strong RIM, its needed.. But on first impression, that's as likely to happen as Elop taking a fire extinguisher to Symbian.

  5. Bronek Kozicki
    Thumb Up

    RIM hardware is usually good ...

    the keyboard is better than few Android phones which have it, the rest is decent too. If they don't break the hardware and keep BBM as good as it is now (why no mention of BBM in the article?) the company will have a fighting chance.

    1. Valerion

      Re: RIM hardware is usually good ...

      No it's not, it's shite. My daughter's Blackberry literally fell apart after 12 months. The iPhone that replaced it doesn't even have a mark on it.

      The one I had from work was also a plastically, flimsy POS. The only reason it didn't break is because I put it in a drawer and didn't use it.

      1. Jemma

        Re: RIM hardware is usually good ...

        Odd, my fathers had one for almost 4 years now and not a mark on it. I have a sneaking suspicion that yourself and the young lass are somewhat like an ex of mine - who was to the care and feeding of mobile phones what a roadside bomb is to the US infantry. I lent her a P800 phone that I had had for 3 years, with not a mark on it. When I got it back off her it looked like she'd used it as a ball peen hammer to sort out the dents in her fathers car.

        It also depends on what model you get - get the more expensive ones and they'll last - get an Asda-wonder model and they probably will be flimsier than a Conservative MP's morals. But then its the same for all makers, bar probably Nokia.

        Incidentally - if you want a cheap phone that lasts well, you could do worse than having a look at the various 'china' phones available on sites like dealextreme - £80 unlocked touchscreen android with TV (some even do freeview!) WiFi and built like a T-72. Not to mention they're half the price of the equivalent in the UK with more functionality (although to be fair the cameras do leave a little to be desired).

        1. Don Jefe
          Meh

          Re: RIM hardware is usually good ...

          While I do not like the current BB OS, their hardware has always been my favorite feature. The phones themselves are tough as can be and can stand up to serious abuse. The trackball on the older phones did fail me on occasion but it can be replaced in 20 seconds at minimal cost. The keyboard is fantastic and the battery has incredible life.

          I'm going to try a Note 2 this weekend but I don't have high hopes the hardware side will live up to the abuse I have given my BB's through the last decade.

          1. Mr Atoz

            Re: RIM hardware is usually good ...

            A few years ago my daughter's BB Curve got run over by a car on a rainy night. She had the wherewithal to gather all the pieces and present them to me along with her request for a new BB.....which she got. Just out of curiosity I put the phone back together a few days afterwards and despite having a cracked screen and external case it actually booted up successfully.

            Oh, and by the way, the Playbook already runs BB10 and Balance already works well with personal web mail and Active Synch for business email systems. By the time the new BB phones come out next year, that feature will be nothing new since it is already proven on the Playbook.

            I'm waiting until the new year to see if the new BB phones are as solid as the Playbook.....if not, I'll be moving to Android as I'm sure the last few holdouts will as well.

            1. Mark Dowling

              Re: RIM hardware is usually good ...

              Playbook doesn't run BB10, more like "BB9". Looking forward to actual BB10 with native Twitter, Cisco Anyconnect and so on.

              1. sassquad
                Thumb Up

                Re: RIM hardware is usually good ...

                I've had my BB for over a year now (8520), and despite dropping it in the toilet, works very well. My only grievance is its overall speed and it's very slow boot time. But I love the keyboard, and is great for email.

                I'm gonna hold out until next year, and hope RIM deliver the goods. Otherwise, Android :-)

  6. We're all in it together
    Meh

    Will it have?

    The remove the battery feature to hang up a call? Funny that one hasn't been copied or patented by anyone.

    A thoroughly tested OS will be nice that hasn't been rushed to catch up with the competition.

    Mapping that keeps you on the same planet and doesn't give London Underground staff 15 minutes of fame.

    An OS that doesn't cause global arguments over whose phone is best.

    A decent price range of handsets and tariffs that are affordable.

    An anti-riot feature.

    Oh and more than one server location so that the next time the cleaner comes in and plugs the hoover in unplugging the network the service still works from its co-location.

    1. deive

      Re: Will it have?

      It does sound good, but as well as the points above it will also need to have a decent dev toolchain, all of their current and previous efforts have been awful!

      1. We're all in it together
        Pint

        Re: Will it have?

        My company mobile was a Bold 9000. Totally reliable. Off the back of that reliability I stupidly got a Storm 2 - big mistake and given that I'd read many reviews about it and about ones that locked and were unreliable I should've known better. I also have access via work to various demo handsets and the touch screen ones still prove unreliable. But I would still like to see RIM bring out a decent model that gives the others a run for their money. Especially now that they're touting the bring your own device to work scenario.

  7. Khaptain Silver badge

    All depends on the model

    I have had some cheap and some expensive BBs and there is a very difference between the two. I have a 9800 ( 18 months old, lots of abuse )and a 8250 as a backup. The 9800 is a solid heavy device that can take a fair beating. The 8250 on the other hand feels like a POS.

    I recently ordered a 9360 for a colleague and its a solid edevice as well.

    The mileage varies a lot according to the model and the price, but I suppose that is to be expected.

    Regardless of the model though, even the cheap ones, none of them have ever broken done.

  8. Mark Dowling

    Blackberry Balance

    Is available for BB6/7 as well if you have BES 5.0 SP3. Haven't bothered trying it in our environment as yet though.

  9. Tom Reg

    RIM is an Android phone maker with extras

    The extras are a C++ development stack. Plus the balance thing.

    Android is for the most part Java, and feels like it.

    They could do alright. It may be cheaper to license RIM than it is to get the Google blessed inside track that the Android club pays for. Amazon comes to mind as a possible licensor.

  10. markusgarvey
    Gimp

    too late RIM...

    I'm now a satisfied Android user...i got tired of waiting...

  11. Kevin7
    FAIL

    Who would want this "growth?"

    I've seen millions of kids with horrible, natty £100 PAYG BlackBerrys. Who in Christ's name would want that as their growth market? Selling millions of bottom-end devices to consumers with no money clogging up your infrastructure because they can sit on BBM all day for nothing? That doesn't like a business, it sounds like a wound.

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