1. RicanMedic78's Avatar
    As I use my Droid Incredible 2 in amazment, I still find myself glancing at my network dead blackberry bold across the room and still use its essence as a platform for my dream device. Why? I think the form factor, keyboard, and the idea that the brand once stood for professionalism, security, and efficiant communications is the driving reason.

    So what can RIM do to bring it all back? I don't think catching up to the competition as far as chipset is enough. This strategy would IMO just buy them a little time before they become officially obsolete and maybe a sort of "copy cat" to the big boys on the block.

    What RIM needs to do is stop trying to serve all tastes with these watered down form factors. You don't see IOS changing its product to suit different needs. And the same goes for Android, whose successfull devices are mostly 4.3 in touch screens. The good thing for RIM is that it seems that other platforms have let RIM have its keyboard style, and thats where I think they should concentrate all their energy on. All these different form factors and OS modifications just take up too much time and doesnt help speed things up as far as development goes. An all metal construction, a metal backing like a storm, and a clean curved look all around and RIM can bring back the beauty of holding a blackberry again.

    Also, battery life was a big reason why we got blackberries. Keep it up! Use all your resources on developing a device that can get moderate to heavy use per day without intermitten charges! Use what hurts the Thunderbolt to your advantage! Do that with QNX on board and thats what I call jumping ahead of the competition!

    If I was RIM, I wouldnt even launch a phone in August of this year! I would wait! Let RIM die out for the year and use all this time to develop its software to work smoothly with the new revolutionary devices... then next year use it as a come back year and market it as such with the concept of driving fear into the souls of Android and IOS.

    Focus on the key point of email, security, battery life, keyboard and messaging, QNX, easier app development, and better all around software, and of course, specs to match. Give us a toggle LTE radio with good battery life that maybe falls back seemlessly on gsm's 3g when 4g is not needed.

    Do it with a 9780 form factor thats slightly wider (think BB Bold 9000) but still keeps that awesome curvature of the 9700 line! Keep it tight and smooth so that it looks like a device you still want to craddle in your hand. Let the thing come in both black or white as standard, work smoothly with a BB Playbook which can also come in black or white and....

    As for tablets! its a funny thing with tablets! I always missed the purpose of a tablet to be honest. Seems like an expensive piece of nice equipment that has less capability than a mini laptop! It looks pretty! But theres a function over form issue here! So for RIM.... market the PB and its software for businesses that need it. EMS, 911 systems, hospitals, police patrol units, regular and service automobiles, smart home or smart facility control or home remote control capability, etc. Those are the real uses I see for playbooks (especially with a 7" form factor) if it had the software to match. So far no tablet has really focused on things like this. If RIM can take advantage of these types of markets rather than just to add to an already saturated tablet "media" market, I believe they will succeed. And we will now have real purpose behind this new tech! Then it will only serve to make the Blackberry that much more powerful!

    So tell me everyone.... what do you think about these pointers? A good start?
    Last edited by RicanMedic78; 06-22-11 at 02:28 AM.
    06-20-11 03:18 AM
  2. mobibiz's Avatar
    Indeed very good points raised, with very few exceptions you almost spoke out my mind. Although I would love to have a bigger screen on the BlackBerry and the Keyboard too. Can't imagine typing an email without that.
    06-20-11 05:26 AM
  3. mjs416's Avatar
    What RIM needs to do is stop trying to serve all tastes with these watered down form factors. You don't see IOS changing its product to suit different needs. And the same goes for Android.
    Android does appear on like 5 major brands with form factors ranging from huge touch screen to regular touch screen to slider qwerty to a BB wannabe with hard qwerty.

    My experience with Android actually drove me back to my BB 9650 since I was doing battery pulls more often than my BB and it seemed to freeze up 2-3 times a day (Droid 2 btw).

    IMO the major thing hurting RIM is the lack of phones released this year. For example - I picked up my local Best Buy ad yesterday. The section with the cell phones had just about all droids and 1 BB (Torch). They need to fix and finish whatever they are working on and starting kicking out phones.
    06-20-11 05:55 AM
  4. mullrat's Avatar
    It's the arrogance that gets me. The "everything is fine" mentality that you are in corporate environments. Basically when accountants and lawyers run the show. Versus engineers and designers. This is what happens.

    Apple makes a phone made out of glass. The lawyers and accountants say they're crazy but they do it anyway. Google make it phone with a 1ghz processor. Accountants and lawyers say they're crazy and it is too expensive and unnecessary. They do it anyway because they are motivated by innovation not by numbers or pleasing a carrier.

    Arrogance and complacency think united airlines or GM. Wouldny surprise me if they get bought by microsoft in a few years.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    06-20-11 06:58 AM
  5. anon(3733516)'s Avatar
    So you're saying RIM should change the way they're going about things by not doing anything this year?

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    06-20-11 09:06 AM
  6. Ronindan's Avatar
    The problem of just selling to business is that it will stifle RIM further. Corporation only want communication tools to be used by thier employess. For example here in Canada if you look at federal employees, most of them are carrying BB curve 81XX series, you rarely see any goverment employee carrying a bold, a torch or even a curve 91XX

    Even some the largest banks here in on Canada only issue curves to their workers. And a lot of these corporations have certain function locked down through BES. I really think that RIM should really try to compete in the cunsumer space, sure it is a fickle and volitale market. But if RIM just focused on the corporate space sooner or later Blackberries will be seen by those very same employees as just office tools not something they want to own themselves. Simply put how many people buy the same computer (model, spec, etc...) that they have at work as thier home computer? I am assuming not much.



    "Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart. Alan Alda"
    06-20-11 09:26 AM
  7. mustangv8's Avatar
    Rim needs to actually produce phones for their consumers and dump management imo.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    06-20-11 01:03 PM
  8. RicanMedic78's Avatar
    So you're saying RIM should change the way they're going about things by not doing anything this year?

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    Absolutely! Think about this. They stopped mid development just to change some hardware out in order to stay relevant. Doesn't that sound to you as "half baked?" With the way rim has operated in the past, these phones don't even do 1 # upgrade in OS in their life cycle, so the question then becomes.... Do u want a phone thats likely not going to be qnx upgradeable, and suffers from all the things that is making blackberry obsolete today?

    Personally, i rather them skip this time around, focus only on Playbook and software until they get it together behind the scenes, then come back with only qnx phones by next year. No more bridge phones, no more bridge OS. Their space for come back is too small to rely on this all over again.

    These phones coming out now are a bridge to what will be down the road. And in 2011, that's already 2 years too late
    Last edited by RicanMedic78; 06-20-11 at 01:23 PM.
    06-20-11 01:20 PM
  9. lnichols's Avatar
    I think that waiting for QNX and no OS7 phones in August would be awful idea. To go an entire year without any phones would make the financials even more of a disaster. Plenty of people are sitting on upgrades waiting for the 9900, and 9850/60, but won't go to OS6 devices. They will sale plenty of OS7 devices, and when QNX comes out will sell those too. Out of site, out of mind, and missing all of the 2011 would put them out of mind IMHO. The OS6 rollout was a joke in the US with the flagship OS6 device, the Torch, only available on AT&T. All other devices were non touch and refreshes. So really when looked at it that way RIM missed all of 2010 too without a good device on all carriers, at least here in the US.
    06-20-11 02:12 PM
  10. RicanMedic78's Avatar
    To wouldn't want a 2011 blackberry if its going to be a rush job that ends up obsolete when qnx comes out. Now as far as things go now, it doesn't make sense to backtrack and undue the 9900 as it stands. But i def would have done it from the start when i got wind of how behind i actually was. As of right now, i say just come out with the thing, hope u did enough to make u stay afloat, and the single next step is to focus on redevelopment off qnx so that its space among the OS lines will be hot when it comes out. Anything else in between that would just be flat out "dooms day!"
    06-20-11 02:46 PM
  11. lnichols's Avatar
    To wouldn't want a 2011 blackberry if its going to be a rush job that ends up obsolete when qnx comes out. Now as far as things go now, it doesn't make sense to backtrack and undue the 9900 as it stands. But i def would have done it from the start when i got wind of how behind i actually was. As of right now, i say just come out with the thing, hope u did enough to make u stay afloat, and the single next step is to focus on redevelopment off qnx so that its space among the OS lines will be hot when it comes out. Anything else in between that would just be flat out "dooms day!"
    They have $3 Billion in cash, and have enough sales internationally to turn a healthy profit. So I think they are fine to "stay afloat". QNX phones will be here in 2012, and OS7 phones will be here soon for people who have OS5 device upgrades, Blackberry die hards who want the latest, and companies that want Blackberry devices.
    06-20-11 02:55 PM
  12. berklon's Avatar
    Sink a buttload of resources into getting a next-gen QNX phone out by November... even in limited quantities. Waiting for 2012 will kill them.
    06-20-11 03:00 PM
  13. RicanMedic78's Avatar
    I think a huge part of what they need to do with these devices is to attach the words "QNX ready!" Similar to the way they did it with the Bold 9650 which was BB 6 ready but not on board.

    But if this stepping stone device is not QNX upgradable, is not marketed that way, and does not have the hardware to handle a QNX style transformation, then RIM will be digging its grave even further down. You can already see it in the blogs now that these new devices are the same ol same ol! Thats why QNX ready adds longevity and also keeps the sound of QNX closely in site.... even if its 6 to 9 months away!
    06-21-11 02:34 AM
  14. kevinnugent's Avatar
    I think a huge part of what they need to do with these devices is to attach the words "QNX ready!" Similar to the way they did it with the Bold 9650 which was BB 6 ready but not on board.

    But if this stepping stone device is not QNX upgradable, is not marketed that way, and does not have the hardware to handle a QNX style transformation, then RIM will be digging its grave even further down. You can already see it in the blogs now that these new devices are the same ol same ol! Thats why QNX ready adds longevity and also keeps the sound of QNX closely in site.... even if its 6 to 9 months away!
    That would be smart if they are actually upgradable. I've yet to hear anyone say these new OS7 phones will be able to go QNX though. I don't think they will be able to.
    06-21-11 03:09 AM
  15. Rootbrian's Avatar
    A great start to me if I must say so myself. You've got good points, maybe e-mailing RIM those ideas can add to the goodness

    If you worked for RIM, you'd bring the company to 6 billion $$$

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    06-21-11 05:21 AM
  16. Ronindan's Avatar
    That would be smart if they are actually upgradable. I've yet to hear anyone say these new OS7 phones will be able to go QNX though. I don't think they will be able to.

    That is why I don't want to spend my hard earned money ($500 to $700) on the new OS 7 BB. What is the point of buying a device if I am stuck in an OS that is being phased to make way for QNX. It is like me spending money on an Symbian device even though Nokia already made it clear that Symbian will be phased out by WP7.

    "Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart. Alan Alda"
    06-21-11 01:20 PM
  17. zingbats's Avatar
    Good money after bad? Makes MS look likely to occupy #3 instantly AS WELL as giving them hope.
    06-21-11 01:35 PM
  18. RicanMedic78's Avatar
    haha! E-mail? They'd have to find these ideas themselves on here or offer me a top level "ideas" job at RIM to get even more juice from this mind lol
    06-22-11 02:33 AM
  19. southlander's Avatar
    To wouldn't want a 2011 blackberry if its going to be a rush job that ends up obsolete when qnx comes out. Now as far as things go now, it doesn't make sense to backtrack and undue the 9900 as it stands. But i def would have done it from the start when i got wind of how behind i actually was. As of right now, i say just come out with the thing, hope u did enough to make u stay afloat, and the single next step is to focus on redevelopment off qnx so that its space among the OS lines will be hot when it comes out. Anything else in between that would just be flat out "dooms day!"
    Obsolete? More likely the OS7 devices will be better than the very first QNX phones.
    06-22-11 03:17 AM
  20. RicanMedic78's Avatar
    Obsolete? More likely the OS7 devices will be better than the very first QNX phones.
    with all the BBOS bugs thru the years, especially the ones never fixed from OS4 through 6 (think camera reset bug), I would have to say that there is validity to that point
    06-24-11 03:13 AM
LINK TO POST COPIED TO CLIPBOARD