BlackBerry taking ‘serious look’ at bringing BBM to desktops

Remember when BlackBerry was hesitant to let BBM wander to other platforms? So do we, but now that the company has committed to cross-platform support by pushing its messaging service to ecosystems like iOS and Android (including the Nokia X series), it isn’t stopping there. Recently we’ve heard that it’s heading to Windows Phone in the coming months, and in an interview with Reuters BlackBerry CEO John Chen mentioned that his team is “taking a very serious look” at bringing the service to the desktop as well. Such a move would make it possible to start a conversation on your PC and finish it on your mobile — or vice versa. It’s a logical strategy for BBM, which enjoyed an uptick of 20 million new users when the service launched on iOS and Android, but has stayed stagnant at 85 million monthly active users in the past month. It’s hard to say if the addition of desktop support will trigger new growth, but given the breadth of platform availability, it will at the very least give users more incentive to stick around.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Wireless, Mobile, Blackberry

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BlackBerry loses its bread and butter as Bold and Curve sales finally collapse

In commercial terms, BlackBerry’s much-hyped BB10 phones barely made a dent. The manufacturer’s financial health has actually been propped up this whole time by sales of its older classics, Bolds and Curves running on BB7. It’s pretty incredible how long those models have lasted, but BlackBerry’s latest earnings report reminds us that nothing lasts forever: BB7 sales have fallen 50 percent year-over-year to 2.3 million units, which is double BlackBerry 10 sales but not nearly enough to help the company stay in profit. Of course, the collapse of legacy hardware isn’t news to the CEO, John Chen, who has promised to support BB7 devices “for as long as there’s demand” but who has also set about rebuilding BlackBerry as fast as he possibly can.

Fortunately, the earnings report also gives us a glimmer of hope for Chen’s efforts. 54 percent of revenue is now coming from selling services rather than phones, and Chen also claims that BlackBerry has achieved its “expense reduction target” a whole quarter ahead of schedule. The CEO says he expects the company to be profitable by 2016 if it can succeed in providing secure communications for large corporations and government agencies. He also said there are plans for further smartphones, going back to BlackBerry’s business-focused and QWERTY-equipped roots, but right now that still seems like a long shot.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry

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Source: BlackBerry

BlackBerry CEO promises legal action against product leakers

Leaks are par for the course when you’re a huge company working on a new product, but one BlackBerry leaker seems to have gone too far. At least, CEO John Chen thinks so: today he penned a post on the official Inside BlackBerry blog promising legal action against a leaker who “falsely posed as an employee of one of [BlackBerry’s] carrier partners to obtain access to secured networks.”

Ouch.

Chen didn’t say exactly what has the organization so hot and bothered, but the timing of a recently leaked BlackBerry 10.3 build makes it a likely suspect. Among other things, that early version of Waterloo’s new OS revealed codenames for future devices and the existence of an Intelligent Assistant app that may be meant to rival Siri, Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana. (Naturally, BlackBerry declined to comment on the matter.) Chen concedes at least some leaks are driven by fan curiosity, but for now he intends to take “strong action” against those whose zeal for the company ultimately winds up hurting it. BlackBerry is far from the only device maker that’s been burned by leaks lately — HTC’s shiny new One popped up in loads of photos and starred in two in-depth video leaks ahead of its launch yesterday. Surprise, surprise: HTC was not at all pleased with that pre-launch leakfest, but will it have a deleterious effect on sales? That’s the question these companies really need to mull.

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Source: Inside BlackBerry

Leaks show BlackBerry working on a rival to Siri, Google Now (video)

Looks like Microsoft isn’t the only latecomer scrambling to add a voice-guided assistant to its mobile platform. A leaked test-build of the new BlackBerry firmware (version 10.3.0.140, if you’re curious) is rocking an app called “Intelligent Assistant,” but as both N4BB and a ZonaBlackBerry forum poster have noticed, it doesn’t quite work yet. The application sports a somewhat familiar circular icon for the primary UI, but, at the moment, it’s hard to tell how deep the implementation runs and what its capabilities are. Should this feature actually make it into a future update, it could be the struggling Canadian company’s answer to Android’s Google Now and iOS’ Siri. Let’s just hope the beleaguered outfit can come up with a catchier name if and when that happens. Check out the sources and video below for a look at the rest of what the flatter BB 10.3 might offer.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry

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Source: ZonaBlackBerry (Spanish), N4BB

BlackBerry liquidates most of its Canadian real estate

BlackBerry has been signalling for weeks that it would sell most of its Canadian offices in order to save some badly needed cash, and today it reached a deal to do just that. The pact will see the company sell over 3 million square feet of property in its homeland, leasing some of it back; the Waterloo headquarters should remain intact. Everything should wrap up before the end of BlackBerry’s current quarter, which ends in May. The agreement should help BlackBerry focus on its core business (whatever that may be), although the move may not be enough when major customers like the White House are thinking of jumping ship.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry

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Via: Bloomberg

Source: BlackBerry