View Poll Results: Did you buy shares ?

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  • Yes, I'm acting now !

    702 62.18%
  • No

    427 37.82%
  1. bungaboy's Avatar
    UPDATE:

    Here is the link to the story.

    http://www.mobilitytechzone.com/topi...ng-what-we.htm

    A good read.

    BlackBerry Z30 vs. iPhone 5s: Rethinking What We Want in a Smartphone

    By Rob Enderle

    President and Principal Analyst, Enderle Group


    As I was going through the features of the new BlackBerry Z30 it hit me that the phone’s problem is that it doesn’t give us what Apple says we should want, it gives us what we actually should want. Somehow the years of brilliant Apple marketing have convinced us that, in a phone, what we want are things a phone really isn’t good for, or at best should be secondary to phone function. The rolling joke from day one, which I’m finding less funny at the moment because it’s a joke on me, was that the iPhone is great at everything but being a phone. But instead laughing it off the Island Samsung and others have emulated it which means we have a ton of Smartphones which do amazing things but kind of suck at, well, being a phone.

    Granted the Z30 comes out at a time when BlackBerry is under a cloud. As I write this, it appears the firm’s ability to find a buyer or an investor who will take the company private has floundered, but with millions of customers it is still doubtful the firm will fail. But I think its success will be predicated based on its ability to get us to rethink what we want in a smartphone, switching to what really is important from where we are now. Let’s discuss this in the context of the Z30 and ask if Apple made us stupid.

    Benchmarking

    I spent years benchmarking products and there are two parts of a benchmarking exercise that is often forgotten. One is start with a set of requirements, not start with an existing product, and the second is to apply weightings to those requirements because each will have a different importance. For instance if you were benchmarking cars and you had kids, having adequate safety for your kids would generally rate higher than having a pretty blue display on the stereo system. You might want the latter but your requirement for the firmer would likely be absolute. This allows you to rank products based on your specific needs.

    Why a Z30 is Better than an iPhone 5s

    On a list of priorities for something with the name “phone” in it should include battery life, wireless range (fewer dropped calls), and for something that is in the Smartphone class, the screen size does matter. Let’s touch on each.

    Battery Life: It doesn’t matter if a phone has a pretty screen, tons of apps, or can connect to iTunes if the fricken battery is dead. Seriously, a decade ago we measured phones on battery life and that was one of the most important aspects of the phone and that battery life was measured in days; and not single digit hours. The Z30 has a massive battery that should again give days of battery life.

    Connectivity: The number of apps and how thin the device is pale against the need to be connected. Having an important call dropped or being unable to connect in the first place. The Z30 has two antennas, not one, and each can be dynamically adjusted to work together to significantly increase range. This slowed the phone to market because the FCC hadn’t seen this technology used in a phone before and thus increased the review time for the product.

    Screen Size: While the BlackBerry Z30 is hardly unique with a 5-inch screen their use of more efficient AMOLED makes it one of the most power frugal contributing to battery life. But in a Smartphone smaller isn’t better, bigger is better because you get more screen real estate to work with. The market share shift from phones in the iPhones class to ones that have larger screens suggest this, the size of the screen, is a feature people value highly.

    Industry Standard Plugs

    In Europe they actually made this a requirement (one that Apple is currently choosing not to comply with) but when you use industry standard plugs you can borrow chargers, share chargers with other products from different vendors, and more easily connect to things like projectors (though, on this last, this is rarely done with Smartphones today. Having the combination of longer battery life and more power access should be a significant advantage.

    Storage Expandability

    Also not unique to the Z30 is an SD slot but you won’t find one in an iPhone. If you do want to put movies and music on the device you choice in a phone without an SD slot it to either scrap it for an newer more expensive phone or not do it in the first place. For the cost of an SD card you can add the storage you’ll need to a BlackBerry Z30.

    Security

    With word that the NSA limitations on spying now consist of dead people, animals, and insects (for now) the idea of a secure phone has suddenly become far more attractive. It is somewhat ironic that this is what the US President, who is a big Apple fan, uses a BlackBerry himself to keep other governments from spying on him. Security should be a top tier requirement but for most it just isn’t which is why I’ve ended with it.

    Wrapping Up: BlackBerry’s Goal

    To be successful with the Z30 BlackBerry has to get us to care about what we should be caring about in the first place. Battery life, connectivity, screen size, standard plugs, expandability, and security all of which the Z30 stands out as leading with. It lags on apps but are they really more important than all of this other stuff? Shouldn’t they be? I wonder if we should be pissed that Apple made us all stupid. Something to think about this week.
    Last edited by bungaboy; 11-05-13 at 09:56 AM.
    11-05-13 04:22 AM
  2. Shanerredflag's Avatar
    Lol...loved the "dead people and insects" part haha...fella is reinforcing what we talk about all the time. Nice to see.

    Posted via CB10
    bungaboy and Kid Vibe like this.
    11-05-13 04:48 AM
  3. njblackberry's Avatar
    Has Mr. Chen called Kevin yet? It has been repeated several times (in glowing terms) how Mr. Heins called Kevin shortly after being named CEO.

    Also, will the original written down product still be called the Zed10? This could be a rebranding strategy!
    11-05-13 05:16 AM
  4. Shanerredflag's Avatar
    Speaking of Chen's past of skipping a generation to leap frog the competition, and that billion dollar burping bond in the corner:
    BUY SIERRA WIRELESS

    You want synergies...done

    You want vertical integration...done

    You want new markets...done.

    And it's Canadian buying Canadian so zero BS from the Feds.

    Posted via CB10
    jxnb, cjcampbell, Corbu and 3 others like this.
    11-05-13 05:20 AM
  5. Shanerredflag's Avatar
    Has Mr. Chen called Kevin yet? It has been repeated several times (in glowing terms) how Mr. Heins called Kevin shortly after being named CEO.

    Also, will the original written down product still be called the Zed10? This could be a rebranding strategy!
    Perhaps the 10s?

    Posted via CB10
    bungaboy likes this.
    11-05-13 05:23 AM
  6. njblackberry's Avatar
    Can't be 10s. They were written down. 9s maybe. Or 1s.
    11-05-13 05:30 AM
  7. plasmid_boy's Avatar
    A good read.
    Lol..."iPhone makes people stupid"
    Not bashing (I love Apple computers, have 5 of them), but I did feel tricked and stupid after a day of using the iPhone. BlackBerry has been the only smartphone that felt right to me.

    Posted via CB10
    11-05-13 05:46 AM
  8. peter9477's Avatar
    Has Mr. Chen called Kevin yet? It has been repeated several times (in glowing terms) how Mr. Heins called Kevin shortly after being named CEO.
    Maybe he will call Kevin shortly after he's made Interim CEO and Chair...

    At the moment, however, and for the next 13 days, he has no formal connection to BlackBerry, so he can neither speak for them nor even say for certain that he will, in fact, end up holding those titles.
    11-05-13 06:21 AM
  9. peter9477's Avatar
    Prem has probably borrowed $ 250 MM from Silver Lake to invest in the bond issue with an option to buy 25% of the over flow of bonds by December. He will receive a 6% return on the investment from BBRY and it wouldn't surprise me if his loan from Silver Lake is at 6%. He then invests nothing but has to appoint Chen to the board. A nice deal indeed.
    I read in one of Chen's interview comments or statements where he said something to the effect that his involvement with BlackBerry will have nothing to do with his connection to Silver Lake.

    That could mean anything, I suppose, but I took it to mean just that, that there's no Silver Lake connection to this whole affair.
    11-05-13 06:23 AM
  10. OMGitworks's Avatar
    I read in one of Chen's interview comments or statements where he said something to the effect that his involvement with BlackBerry will have nothing to do with his connection to Silver Lake.

    That could mean anything, I suppose, but I took it to mean just that, that there's no Silver Lake connection to this whole affair.
    If he is on both boards or on the Silver Lake Board and CEO of BRRY and Silver Lake is buying bonds, I just don't see how he isn't the key to this new plan. He IS connected no matter what he wants to say or think. Hopefully that turns out to be a good thing.
    11-05-13 07:35 AM
  11. Kid Vibe's Avatar
    Hey Everyone,

    Back from Tokyo! Blast as always. Sorry to hear about the FFH news, not sure what to say myself. What's going on is a bit over my head. This could potentially be good for extreme long term holders who see BB maybe turning around within a year or so. Otherwise, its a tough call.
    11-05-13 07:52 AM
  12. danprown's Avatar
    I wonder why you think so.

    The same goverment has already nixed a deal where a Canadian co. was to be sold to a US company because the Canadian Co. controlled Radarsat-2 or somethi theng which Canada used for its operations in the North. That was also under the 'net-benefit' test (and now Canada has the even more explicit national security test).

    The really underhanded approach I do not like here is the way the CDN government does it -- it tells BBRY unofficially it will nix the deal and then the foreign company does not even bother. And the government is not explosed to the political fallback, whatever it is, since nothing is official...

    no, there is a difference...
    11-05-13 08:11 AM
  13. peter9477's Avatar
    If he is on both boards or on the Silver Lake Board and CEO of BRRY and Silver Lake is buying bonds, I just don't see how he isn't the key to this new plan. He IS connected no matter what he wants to say or think. Hopefully that turns out to be a good thing.
    Obviously, if Silver Lake is buying bonds or if there's some other connection then there is a connection.

    His words seem to indicate there IS no connection. That would imply that Silver Lake is not buying bonds, and is not in any other way involved.

    I would expect we'll know soon. I was merely pointing this out since it appeared Morgan may not yet have read the same comments from Chen and the new info may change his view of things.
    OMGitworks and bungaboy like this.
    11-05-13 08:16 AM
  14. morganplus8's Avatar
    Obviously, if Silver Lake is buying bonds or if there's some other connection then there is a connection.

    His words seem to indicate there IS no connection. That would imply that Silver Lake is not buying bonds, and is not in any other way involved.

    I would expect we'll know soon. I was merely pointing this out since it appeared Morgan may not yet have read the same comments from Chen and the new info may change his view of things.
    peter9477!!

    I am calling him on that statement. I don't believe for one second that he isn't part of a Silver Lake threesome with Prem. If Silver Lake has nothing to do with BBRY in anyway, i.e., they didn't loan Prem $ 250 MM and they aren't purchasing those bonds, then I'll back away. I do believe they are a huge part of the restructuring program and that this was seen as Plan "B" several weeks ago. We will find out in short order but for now, I stand by my claim that Chen is here as part of the bond issue compliance for Silver Lake. He may claim that he isn't a puppet for Silver Lake interests, and I'll buy that, but I think he got the job due to an investment by Silver Lake and Prem. Fun times!
    11-05-13 08:28 AM
  15. danprown's Avatar
    “It's hard to believe in coincidence, but it's even harder to believe in anything else.”

    peter9477!!

    I am calling him on that statement. I don't believe for one second that he isn't part of a Silver Lake threesome with Prem. If Silver Lake has nothing to do with BBRY in anyway, i.e., they didn't loan Prem $ 250 MM and they aren't purchasing those bonds, then I'll back away. I do believe they are a huge part of the restructuring program and that this was seen as Plan "B" several weeks ago. We will find out in short order but for now, I stand by my claim that Chen is here as part of the bond issue compliance for Silver Lake. He may claim that he isn't a puppet for Silver Lake interests, and I'll buy that, but I think he got the job due to an investment by Silver Lake and Prem. Fun times!
    morganplus8 and fedakd like this.
    11-05-13 08:32 AM
  16. morganplus8's Avatar
    “It's hard to believe in coincidence, but it's even harder to believe in anything else.”
    Of course none of this is going to matter if the stock is halted and we hear from Mikey today.
    OMGitworks, rarsen, sidhuk and 4 others like this.
    11-05-13 08:34 AM
  17. m0de25's Avatar
    I wonder why you think so.

    The same goverment has already nixed a deal where a Canadian co. was to be sold to a US company because the Canadian Co. controlled Radarsat-2 or somethi theng which Canada used for its operations in the North. That was also under the 'net-benefit' test (and now Canada has the even more explicit national security test).

    The really underhanded approach I do not like here is the way the CDN government does it -- it tells BBRY unofficially it will nix the deal and then the foreign company does not even bother. And the government is not explosed to the political fallback, whatever it is, since nothing is official...
    Hi Dan, I don't see like the way you do. I'm all for open world markets, but at a certain point we need to understand that Canada (with it's huge land mass and small population/home market) is a sitting duck. We are absolute drops in the bucket for supwerpower, resource hungry countries who would be fighting at our doorsteps if these "Net benefit" rules didn't exist. China alone could fly in with one large swoop only armed with their lunch money and own us outright.

    Frankly, we are inundated with foreign (US) retail on every single street , foreign content on most media outlets and depend on child subsidaries for work. When our governement steps in and says, "enough is enough" for things like potash or sensitve comminucation networks, I say all the power to them. But this is a false sense of security, I'm sure there are multiple examples of companies being bought for every 1 example of one being "protected".

    Edit: I mean, this CDN protectionism is blown up in the media. If you want to read up on real road block protectionism, look to countries like UAE
    http://www.uae-embassy.ae/Embassies/uk/Content/578
    Last edited by m0de25; 11-05-13 at 08:56 AM.
    11-05-13 08:35 AM
  18. plasmid_boy's Avatar
    Hey Everyone,

    Back from Tokyo! Blast as always. Sorry to hear about the FFH news, not sure what to say myself. What's going on is a bit over my head. This could potentially be good for extreme long term holders who see BB maybe turning around within a year or so. Otherwise, its a tough call.
    Hey Kid, good to see you around.
    Miss the OT pictures from you. LOL

    I'm in it for a few more years. Just picked up a few more shares at $6.60 this morning...

    Posted via CB10
    Last edited by plasmid_boy; 11-05-13 at 08:51 AM.
    sidhuk, Corbu, cjcampbell and 3 others like this.
    11-05-13 08:38 AM
  19. OMGitworks's Avatar
    As I posted yesterday, I am with M+8 on the PW power grab and connection to Silver Lake. I don't think PW makes the offer to buy the bonds without Silver Lake's backing and I don't think BBRY gets the $1B unless PW gets control of the Board and SL and PW get their man to run the company. It's the real cost of the financing. Let's face it, Chen is better than whomever the BBRY BoD got have gotten and PW and his new, yet to be named cronies really can't be worse than the current BoD.
    What I really want to know is when in the process did SL and PW hook up and put this together and how angry does it make Mike that they are stealing his company away from him and that $10 conversion must be absolutely pi$$ing him off. Hopefully enough to make an offer in the next 2 weeks.
    morganplus8, rarsen, Corbu and 5 others like this.
    11-05-13 08:43 AM
  20. morganplus8's Avatar
    As I posted yesterday, I am with M+8 on the PW power grab and connection to Silver Lake. I don't think PW makes the offer to buy the bonds without Silver Lake's backing and I don't think BBRY gets the $1B unless PW gets control of the Board and SL and PW get their man to run the company. It's the real cost of the financing. Let's face it, Chen is better than whomever the BBRY BoD got have gotten and PW and his new, yet to be named cronies really can't be worse than the current BoD.
    What I really want to know is when in the process did SL and PW hook up and put this together and how angry does it make Mike that they are stealing his company away from him and that $10 conversion must be absolutely pi$$ing him off. Hopefully enough to make an offer in the next 2 weeks.
    Now that's scary, we both agree! LOL

    For me, it is all about what Mike L thinks about this deal. He has more than enough information to make an offer here. He could choose from the new package, whatever he thinks Prem got right here. The fact that we haven't heard from him tells me he is not accepting this deal and moving on as an investor. I hope he bought 12 million shares yesterday and is about to state the purpose of his new investment in BBRY. Thanks
    rarsen, Corbu, cjcampbell and 7 others like this.
    11-05-13 08:53 AM
  21. OMGitworks's Avatar
    Now that's scary, we both agree! LOL

    For me, it is all about what Mike L thinks about this deal. He has more than enough information to make an offer here. He could choose from the new package, whatever he thinks Prem got right here. The fact that we haven't heard from him tells me he is not accepting this deal and moving on as an investor. I hope he bought 12 million shares yesterday and is about to state the purpose of his new investment in BBRY. Thanks
    No so scary Mike is my only hope to salvage those calls so I am with you there too. I don't know much about Mike, but I have dealt with many founders who then watched their baby go public or be bought and had violent reactions to what happened. Stubborn, angry beyond otherwise financially brilliant guys too. Why it is reported that Mike and his group needed another month to review the finan cials is puzzling to me. I am just hoping Mike is angry enough to launch something big here.
    11-05-13 09:05 AM
  22. jhowe204's Avatar
    Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like BlackBerry's biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness... Security.

    The fact that bbm can't be traced by any third-party has to be a concern to any police or government organization. The Canadian Government needs to partner up with BlackBerry and help it out in some ways if it's going to hurt it's business and block any potential sales.

    Go Jets go!
    anon(4086547) likes this.
    11-05-13 09:07 AM
  23. plasmid_boy's Avatar
    Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like BlackBerry's biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness... Security.

    The fact that bbm can't be traced by any third-party has to be a concern to any police or government organization. The Canadian Government needs to partner up with BlackBerry and help it out in some ways if it's going to hurt it's business and block any potential sales.

    Go Jets go!
    I agree. If the government thinks that BlackBerry is too important to be sold to a Chinese company, then they should pay up.


    Posted via CB10
    11-05-13 09:14 AM
  24. danprown's Avatar
    You misread me -- I am not ideologically against the nixing of deals on national security grounds.

    That is why I even think there is a great chance a US company buying BBRY outright will not pass muster.

    I am ideologically opposed to the vague and opaque manner the government has killed the Lenovo bid in this case. BBRY and the shareholders deserved at least a number.At the same time, the government needs to open the discussion in parliament, in chambers, at least some pseudo indicia of democratic discussion on such an important issue.





    Hi Dan, I don't see like the way you do. I'm all for open world markets, but at a certain point we need to understand that Canada (with it's huge land mass and small population/home market) is a sitting duck. We are absolute drops in the bucket for supwerpower, resource hungry countries who would be fighting at our doorsteps if these "Net benefit" rules didn't exist. China alone could fly in with one large swoop only armed with their lunch money and own us outright.

    Frankly, we are inundated with foreign (US) retail on every single street , foreign content on most media outlets and depend on child subsidaries for work. When our governement steps in and says, "enough is enough" for things like potash or sensitve comminucation networks, I say all the power to them. But this is a false sense of security, I'm sure there are multiple examples of companies being bought for every 1 example of one being "protected".

    Edit: I mean, this CDN protectionism is blown up in the media. If you want to read up on real road block protectionism, look to countries like UAE
    Embassy of the UAE in London » Business and Trade-Establishing a Business
    11-05-13 09:21 AM
  25. morganplus8's Avatar
    No so scary Mike is my only hope to salvage those calls so I am with you there too. I don't know much about Mike, but I have dealt with many founders who then watched their baby go public or be bought and had violent reactions to what happened. Stubborn, angry beyond otherwise financially brilliant guys too. Why it is reported that Mike and his group needed another month to review the finan cials is puzzling to me. I am just hoping Mike is angry enough to launch something big here.
    Ha! Ha! Ha! That's not the best way to invest! I hope Mike stirs things up here too, but for other reasons, I can hold my block of stock until the kids are retired. The problem I see here is that Mike may feel like he isn't important any more, he is being shut out of his company by the very same people he installed less than two years ago. The same people who failed to turn the company around. That has to be a bitter thing to swallow? As for the financials, he should know a everything he needs to know about BB, it really doesn't matter how many track balls they have in inventory here, it matters that the litigations are over, they are rock solid on software and BES10.1 is going from trial offers to a revenue base. He is buying a company with four great phones and for better or worse, one of the most talked about brands in the world today. I can't see him letting Prem run the show here, to allow Prem to leverage votes to retain control over BB and to shut him out of the picture forever. On top of that, Mike's team looks like a great combo of players to move the company forward. They can get that $ 1.0B in capital from selling off real estate, they didn't have to do this bond offering. Mike is anything but stupid.
    11-05-13 09:25 AM
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