[leafs123]

BlackBerry Z5 entry-level full-touch phone spotted online | NDTV Gadgets

I don't know why people keep trying with these articles. Thor has said that they're not making a low cost touch device because it's wouldn't be profitable. I don't think we'll see a low cost touch device from BBRY, unless there is a licensing deal or the A10 is not a phablet, just a regular phone and the Z10 gets discounted.

Posted via CB10

[CDM76]

First trade in is GREEN

Lately that's been a bad sign.

Posted via CB10

[q649]

Best of luck today Morgan.

When you are feeling up to it, please let us know that you made it through the procedure OK.

[bungaboy]

BB looking after interests in S. Africa.

BlackBerry opens third Apps Lab in South Africa

Summary: Third facility for software developers and training has opened its doors in Johannesburg, aiming to forge contacts with local startups and nearby universities.

Adam Oxford

By Adam Oxford for African Enterprise | June 6, 2013 -- 08:18 GMT (01:18 PDT)

BlackBerry has opened a new training and business centre for BlackBerry app developers in South Africa.

The Johannesburg hub, launched on Wednesday, will be the third of its Apps Labs based in the country, following the creation of others in Cape Town and Pretoria last year.

Members of the new Apps Lab will be able to use the shared workspace, which will be equipped with BlackBerry kit, get help and training, and attend events aimed at BlackBerry World developers.

The Johannesburg Apps Lab will be based at JoziHub, a shared workspace and tech hub in the city centre. BlackBerry's managing director for South Africa and Southern Africa, Alexandra Zagury, said JoziHub was chosen both for its existing community of startups and developers as well as its proximity to the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Wittswaterrand.

BlackBerry also operates Apps Labs in Egypt, Nigeria and is looking to expand into Kenya. The entire African program is managed by Venture Solutions, which provides dedicated staff and organises on-the-spot support for developers and access to handsets, as well training sessions organised around app development and business skills.

"We're currently looking to recruit a manager for the JoziHub Apps Lab," Venture Solutions' CEO Stephan Lamprecht said. "Our initial focus will be on making contacts with the universities and focussing on event and hackathons, before moving more equipment in here and a full-time member of staff."

According to BlackBerry's Zagury, 80 percent of those who have become Apps Labs members so far had no previous experience coding for BlackBerry.

"The African economy is growing fast, and along with it is the continent�s mobile market," Zagury said. "We�re seeing a dramatic rise in data among youth and business markets. Demand for apps is growing for entertainment and in key areas like health, education and government services. This trend is creating some incredible opportunities for developers in South Africa and across the continent."
apps labMitch Dart. Image: Adam Oxford/ZDNet
Mitch Dart, a graduate of the Pretoria Apps Lab, joined the BlackBerry program while a student, and says that writing apps helped to pay for his final year of studies. He now works full time for Limitless Virtual, a software firm he met through Apps Lab.

Africa is one of the last remaining strongholds for BlackBerry, and a territory that the company is keen to invest in in order to maintain its presence there. According a recent report by analysts World Wide Worx, the company still makes the most popular smartphone platform in South Africa, with around five million BlackBerry devices currently in use in the country, compared to four million Symbian handsets and two million Android devices.

Recent changes to how South African operators sell BIS in the country, however, may affect its marketshare: MTN for example dropped inclusive data packages in favour of limited bundles for pay-as-you-go users.

Rival handset manufactures Microsoft and Google also operate similar outreach programs around the continent.

[cjcampbell]

Lately that's been a bad sign.

Posted via CB10

We had a pretty good day yesterday and we were green PM. I just hope it wasn't a one off day and we can actually have a reversal of this damned trend.

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[CDM76]

We had a pretty good day yesterday and we were green PM. I just hope it wasn't a one off day and we can actually have a reversal of this damned trend.

Posted via CB10

Fair enough. And I agree!
Need some positive movement.

Posted via CB10

[CDM76]

Morgan +8. Good luck today.


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[bungaboy]

More departures at HTC. Walking the plank or leaving a sinking ship?

HTC Executive Exodus Continues As COO Matthew Costello Steps Down

Techweekeurope

Thursday, June 06, 2013 4:30 AM GMT

HTC Chief Operating Officer Matthew Costello has become the latest executive to leave his post at the struggling Taiwanese manufacturer after three years.

Costello has stepped down after three years as COO after overseeing a decline in sales and a 76 percent reduction in share price, but will continue to be an executive adviser to the company based in Europe.

A number of other executives, including HTC Asia CEO Lennard Hoornik, Chief Product Officer Kouji Kodera, vice president of global communications Jason Gordon and product strategy manager Eric Lin, have all departed in recent months.

HTC One delays

Costello will be replaced by Fred Liu, president of engineering and operations, who confirmed he had assumed Costello’s responsibilities as part of an expanded role covering operations, quality, sales and services in an email to employees.

As part of this most recent management shake-up, HTC has set up a new product quality assurance division and product management team to ensure its products are of sufficient quality.

HTC’s share of the global smartphone market has been hit hard by intense competition from Samsung and Apple, and it has struggled to regain lost ground.

Costello is believed to have paid the price for component shortages which led to the delay of the HTC One, which is seen as vital to the company’s hopes of a turnaround. This contributed to record low profits earlier this year, but the company is still optimistic that it can turn things round.

[m0de25]

We have seen and heard about the z10, Q10, Z5, Q5, and A10. That leaves 1 device left and I hope it's a Torch or a Phablet.

I'm hoping this last device is a dummy tablet!... BB10 *needs* an updated tablet badly not only for better user experience but it will also help with app support. Developers will be more willing to port their apps over knowing, for example, that their game can be played on a larger screen.

[morlock_man]

More departures at HTC. Walking the plank or leaving a sinking ship?

Meh. The HTC One is apparently plagued by quality control issues like dead pixels in the screen.

It's one thing to produce a good reference design. Its another thing altogether to be able to mass manufacture it... just ask Apple.

[morlock_man]

I'm hoping this last device is a dummy tablet!... BB10 *needs* an updated tablet badly not only for better user experience but it will also help with app support. Developers will be more willing to port their apps over knowing, for example, that their game can be played on a larger screen.

I feel like they're waiting for the OS to be more fully developed before expanding into that marketplace.

The dummy tablet is a great idea, but they'll need wifi direct enabled to ensure a fast and secure bridge connection.

USB host would be another important update dropping in 10.2

I feel like BB10 won't be complete until they've brought back the desktop environment as well for devices docked to a KVM setup. And I don't mean just using RDP or Citrix, I mean a full-blown Photon-based desktop environment.

[matthewriedle]

Best of luck to you today Morgan.

[Dapper37]

I don't know why people keep trying with these articles. Thor has said that they're not making a low cost touch device because it's wouldn't be profitable. I don't think we'll see a low cost touch device from BBRY, unless there is a licensing deal or the A10 is not a phablet, just a regular phone and the Z10 gets discounted.

Posted via CB10

I agree and disagree, I believe TH said he didn't want to go into a $60 entry level device. A mid tier Z5 along the same lines as Q5 should be considered more like a mid level device. Which I believe strongly their is a market for in EM.
Now having said that there is an emerging line of thought that the Z10 becomes the mid level device once the A10 arrives. At which time the Z10 get a significant hair cut in price. Making it more accessible to the EM buyers. Additionally it's been rumored that BlackBerry intends on sprucing it up with a slick new color scheme, regional directed in local popular color variations.
Either way it helps fill holes in the EM now that BBOS is winding down.

Posted via CB10

[AngryEdmontonian]

We have seen and heard about the z10, Q10, Z5, Q5, and A10. That leaves 1 device left and I hope it's a Torch or a Phablet.

Charles,

All info on the Z5 and A10 have been leaks and nothing official. I'll point back to spring of 2012 when all the leaks about the upcoming BlackBerry 10 devices pointed to something radically different to what is the Z10 even the Dev Alpha was rumoured to be the first BB10 device to launch, then the DevB was introduced to give us the first glimpse of the Z10. I do take into cosideration the leaks leading up to the Z10/Q10/Q5 (Nov-Jan) had been accurate, but we had actual pictures and documentation with it though. With the last 3 device we have had CG renders, rumours from "sources" and blogs with opinions, but nothing "official-ish"

I do agree with the Torch-type, there's definitely a market for it if done better than the last iterations.

[matthewriedle]

I don't know why people keep trying with these articles. Thor has said that they're not making a low cost touch device because it's wouldn't be profitable. I don't think we'll see a low cost touch device from BBRY, unless there is a licensing deal or the A10 is not a phablet, just a regular phone and the Z10 gets discounted.

Posted via CB10

Really? I don't recall Thor saying that

[kfh227]

So if he did purchase say a small stake it will be known when Q1 is reported, i hope there is a small surprise for us. Thanks for info kfh!

Not sure what date 13Fs have to be filed by, but yes

Posted via CB10

[Charles Martin1]

Charles,

All info on the Z5 and A10 have been leaks and nothing official. I'll point back to spring of 2012 when all the leaks about the upcoming BlackBerry 10 devices pointed to something radically different to what is the Z10 even the Dev Alpha was rumoured to be the first BB10 device to launch, then the DevB was introduced to give us the first glimpse of the Z10. I do take into cosideration the leaks leading up to the Z10/Q10/Q5 (Nov-Jan) had been accurate, but we had actual pictures and documentation with it though. With the last 3 device we have had CG renders, rumours from "sources" and blogs with opinions, but nothing "official-ish"

I do agree with the Torch-type, there's definitely a market for it if done better than the last iterations.

Oh yeah, but all of the leaks so far have proven to be accurate. Especially when pictures are included.

[Charles Martin1]

Really? I don't recall Thor saying that

I believe he was referring to $50 phones.

[AngryEdmontonian]

Oh yeah, but all of the leaks so far have proven to be accurate. Especially when pictures are included.

The last 5 words of your comment are the key, and those have yet to be leaked for the reamining 3 devices.


Yes, the last leaks leading up to the Z10/Q10/Q5 were accurate, but the leaks a few months before were anything but accurate. Even the Q5 wasn't cnfirmed by actual pictures until about 2-3 months before its introduction.

All I'm saying is that until actual pictures are released, I'm skeptical and optimistic. Even I have the ability to make a CG render, probably take less than a day with Autodesk Inventor

[kfh227]

Really? I don't recall Thor saying that

Thor said that they will not make anything that they think will not be profitable. And I think he also said that if something isn't making money, they will stop making it or phase it out.

Posted via CB10

[matthewriedle]

I believe he was referring to $50 phones.

Right, ok but the Q5 is never going to be a $50 phone and neither, I would think, would the Z5.

[Bigbacala]

Morgan, good luck today, all the best for a speedy recovery.

Posted via CB10

[matthewriedle]

Thor said that they will not make anything that they think will not be profitable. And I think he also said that if something isn't making money, they will stop making it or phase it out.

Posted via CB10

That would be the lowest of expectations I would expect for the CEO of BB to adhere to.
But I don’t see why that would rule out the Z5 and yet make the Q5 a reality.

[ibpluto]

Is that really how the government performs a tax audit in Canada?

Seriously, best wishes for a safe procedure and quick recovery.

No...that's through your azz

Posted via CB10 from my awesome Z10

[Charles Martin1]

No...that's through your azz

Posted via CB10 from my awesome Z10

They actually bleed us dry up here.