[cjcampbell]

Is anyone else a bit worried by Chen hinting that it will be mainly qwerty phones to come? That's a bit nuts, no? That's the only thing I've heard him say that I've doubted. Shunning the touchscreens is a huge part of what got them in this mess. A flagship full touchscreen is an absolute must...isn't it? I personally don't want a qwerty, and neither will loads and loads of people under 50. Anyway, not perhaps the right thread for this so I'll stop here.

Posted via CB10

I suppose that looking at the sales breakdown, the qwerty units were by far the best sellers. That is just an assumption, of course, as we don' get a breakdown to go over but seeing as they are planning on concentrating on the corporate arena, it does make sense. Now, with that said, I don't want another qwerty BlackBerry, I like, nay, I love, the BlackBerry virtual keyboard more than the physical and hope that, although the won't concentrate on the full touch, that they still pay it some homage.

[JonCBK]

I suppose that looking at the sales breakdown, the qwerty units were by far the best sellers. That is just an assumption, of course, as we don' get a breakdown to go over but seeing as they are planning on concentrating on the corporate arena, it does make sense. Now, with that said, I don't want another qwerty BlackBerry, I like, nay, I love, the BlackBerry virtual keyboard more than the physical and hope that, although the won't concentrate on the full touch, that they still pay it some homage.

Well no need for a new qwerty right now as the Q10 still looks good and performs well. The OS updates should keep it fresh for another six months. After that a price drop can make it more affordable to the large enterprise groups. Finally, a battery swap a year or so into ownership will give it some extra juice.

But they should target a yearly flagship qwerty updated if just to refresh the processor a bit. Kind of follow the apple method of changing the form factor only every couple of years, but making sure the phone gets some internal updates.

[cjcampbell]

Well no need for a new qwerty right now as the Q10 still looks good and performs well. The OS updates should keep it fresh for another six months. After that a price drop can make it more affordable to the large enterprise groups. Finally, a battery swap a year or so into ownership will give it some extra juice.

But they should target a yearly flagship qwerty updated if just to refresh the processor a bit. Kind of follow the apple method of changing the form factor only every couple of years, but making sure the phone gets some internal updates.

We'll need to see what percentage of their corporate clients upgrade to BB10 and at what intervals before we can figure out how often they will introduce a new high end device. If they are going to cater to the corporate world, they will not need as many devices nor the frequency as the cycle, will be (somewhat) synced amongst their clients who actually buy devices. I hope I'm wrong, but I feel for the near term, like 2 years-ish, it'll be longer time frame between high end flagships.

[Reed Richards]

Now, with that said, I don't want another qwerty BlackBerry, I like, nay, I love, the BlackBerry virtual keyboard more than the physical and hope that, although the won't concentrate on the full touch, that they still pay it some homage.

I completely agree, CJ. The virtual keyboard is awesome, as is having all of that screen real estate, and it would take some sort of mind-blowing next-gen physical keyboard for me to switch. I think the Q10 keyboard would be a tough sell for people who "grew up" with iPhones and Droids [Edit: I've always had qwerty blackberries, I'm just thinking about the next generation of corporate users]. Maybe a slick slider, that had both touchscreen and qwerty capabilities.

That said, I think leadership will continue to make both kinds of phones... if they can get people using the the Z30s and written down Z10s, I think they'll see very positive feedback.

[jfguay2]

Semi OT and trying mock it:

Today was a good day!


Posted via CB10

[JLagoon]

Just thinking a bit crazy here. Many phones have the same features. There is one that has not been tackled that I think would be a great feature for Blackberry to tackle. A Blackberry with a built in projector. Consumers will probably go gaga about it, and it would generate a lot of buzz in the media. Sure there are things to consider, battery capacity, heat, brightness, etc. I'll leave these to the engineers. If Apple were to do this, I am sure it would be considered revolutionary instantly.

[cjcampbell]

Just thinking a bit crazy here. Many phones have the same features. There is one that has not been tackled that I think would be a great feature for Blackberry to tackle. A Blackberry with a built in projector. Consumers will probably go gaga about it, and it would generate a lot of buzz in the media. Sure there are things to consider, battery capacity, heat, brightness, etc. I'll leave these to the engineers. If Apple were to do this, I am sure it would be considered revolutionary instantly.

Now that sir, would be sick!!!

[cjcampbell]

Semi OT and trying mock it:

Today was a good day!


Posted via CB10

I see you've got a bunch of singles there... heading to the peelers later? lol

[Shanerredflag]

@Luvdeadcompany

Posted via CB10

[austriker]

A Q30 would be wild. Although I might defect to a z30 before then and the on screen keyboard would probably convert me over.

Pounded out on the last great qwerty to rule them all.. Q10

[bungaboy]

Semi OT and trying mock it:

Today was a good day!


Posted via CB10

Good Job!

[jake simmons3]

We had more news and press releases today then the entire past year kinda sad but exciting at the same time

Posted via CB10

[Shanerredflag]

I'm thinking it was a decent day eh boys lol.
All the longs (and supporters) should be very very proud for keeping the faith, this ride is just warming up!!!

Posted via CB10

[bungaboy]

This is LAZY journalism hack job! Just look at the fargen picture they use. The lazy bastiges can`t even use a picture of a current Q10.

Makes me proud of my new avatar.

Oh, does anyone see the irony. Keys out . . . . . Keyboards in. LoL

Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Technology
Consumer Electronics

BlackBerry Renews Its Vows to the Smartphone Keyboard

By Felix Gillette January 07, 2014

Attachment 236918

Alicia Keys: out. Keyboards: back in.
Welcome to the new, new BlackBerry (BBRY).

Yesterday, less than a week after parting ways with erstwhile creative director Alicia Keys, new BlackBerry Chief Executive Officer John Chen indicated that the struggling Canadian smartphone maker is going back to its roots as part of an apparent broader strategic shift to refocus on business customers. In an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Jon Erlichman, Chen said the company will “predominantly” focus on smartphones with physical keyboards rather than touchscreens.

[Shanerredflag]

This is LAZY journalism hack job! Just look at the fargen picture they use. The lazy bastiges can`t even use a picture of a current Q10.

Makes me proud of my new avatar.

Oh, does anyone see the irony. Keys out . . . . . Keyboards in. LoL

Love your new shirt

Posted via CB10

[Corbu]

This is LAZY journalism hack job! Just look at the fargen picture they use. The lazy bastiges can`t even use a picture of a current Q10.

Makes me proud of my new avatar.

Oh, does anyone see the irony. Keys out . . . . . Keyboards in. LoL

Indeed. Let's not call it journalism. These guys are so lame, they're an insult to our collective intelligence.

Oh, by the way, where were all the doom-and-gloomers today? The talking heads that claimed that BBRY was dead not 30 days ago? Hum? Busy adjusting their meds? On holiday? On Pluto? Better ignore them and look onwards and upwards!

Congratulations to everyone that has been enjoying the ride, these last few days. Hope this sticks.

[Corbu]

Nothing major that we don't already know, but a nice recap:
CES 2014: BlackBerry revival effort to bear fruit, chief vows - FT.com

BlackBerry, the lossmaking Canadian smartphone maker, should be cash flow positive this year and profitable before the end of March 2016, John Chen, the company’s recently appointed chairman and chief executive, said on Tuesday.

“We should be cash flow positive within four quarters and profitable sometime in fiscal year 2016,” Mr Chen said. BlackBerry’s fiscal year ends in March.

Mr Chen, who took over 60 days ago after BlackBerry abandoned a buyout plan and agreed instead to a refinancing package led by Fairfax Financial, its largest investor, was speaking to reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where he is meeting enterprise customers and potential partners.

As part of his restructuring plan, Mr Chen said BlackBerry would focus on four key segments – BlackBerry devices, particularly high-end smartphones designed for business customers, BlackBerry’s enterprise server software business, BlackBerry Messenger, which has about 80m active users including 40m using the secure chat service on Android and iOS-based handsets, and the QNX embedded software business and the connected car market.

Mr Chen was originally appointed as BlackBerry’s chairman and acting chief executive but said on Tuesday that the company had “suspended indefinitely” its search for a permanent chief executive, leaving Mr Chen with both titles.

Since taking over, Mr Chen has appointed a new senior management team including, most recently, Ron Louks, a former senior executive at HTC and Sony Ericsson, who will join as the president of devices and emerging solutions.

Mr Chen described his first 60 days as BlackBerry’s chief as “exciting” but said the real test of his strategy would come over the next 18 months. “I have a plan in my head,” he said, “now it is up to us to execute.”

The BlackBerry chief emphasised that each of the four business units that he had identified within BlackBerry were at different stages of development, and said one of his top priorities was to staunch the losses in the devices business.

As part of this effort BlackBerry announced last month that it had formed a partnership with Foxconn, the Taiwan-based contract manufacturer that will build and sell a new range of BB10 devices aimed initially at consumers in developing markets including Indonesia.

He disclosed that the first of these new handsets would not have a keyboard and would be priced at less than $200. In advanced industrial markets including the US, UK and Germany, Mr Chen said the company’s focus over the next 18 months would be on devices designed for business customers and hinted strongly that these would include more BlackBerrys with keyboards – something he believes, along with secure communications, is a differentiating feature that will help BlackBerry retain its core corporate customers.

Underscoring his initial focus on enterprise customers, Mr Chen said while he recognised that there were not enough dedicated consumer apps for BB10, his focus would initially be on business apps. “If there is a dollar to spend between consumer and enterprise I will spend it on the enterprise space,” he said.

Mr Chen also expressed confidence that the company would be able to capitalise on the popularity of the BBM messaging service that it recently made available to non-BlackBerry smartphone users, and that the QNX business would continue to dominate the connected car embedded software market despite competition from Google and others.

Mr Chen also highlighted BlackBerry’s 44,000 patents and alluded to its recently filed patent infringement lawsuit against Typo, a start-up company backed by Ryan Seacrest, the TV presenter, that has begun offering a $99 add-on Bluetooth keyboard for the iPhone. “We are going to do more to assert our patent rights,” he said.

[Shanerredflag]

And they went wild hahhaa
Yes, those cute girls are your grand parents.

Posted via CB10

[Shanerredflag]

Kicking azz and not takin names lol


Posted via CB10

[Shanerredflag]

Sorry...one more:


Posted via CB10

[Corbu]

Yes, those cute girls are your grand parents.

[Corbu]

Some other tidbits here:
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-35299_1-57616791/blackberry-ceo-our-foxconn-phone-will-cost-under-$200/

BlackBerry CEO: Our Foxconn phone will cost under $200

Foxconn has its role, says John Chen, "but we will do the next set of cool phones." He also hints at another potential keyboard smartphone for this year.

LAS VEGAS -- BlackBerry will likely have at least two smartphones hitting the market this year.

That's according to BlackBerry CEO John Chen, who spoke to the media in a roundtable at the Consumer Electronics Show here Tuesday. The company is working on a Foxconn-built touch-screen smartphone that he said will be priced under $200. He also teased another, and higher-end, smartphone that would include a traditional keyboard, which would be designed in-house.

The devices signal that BlackBerry isn't quite ready to give up on selling smartphones to consumers, although it won't repeat the flashy -- yet ultimately doomed -- attempt to take on leading smartphones such as the Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4.

"We're not retreating from the consumer business," Chen said.

Still, Chen said the focus of the company for the next 18 months will be on the enterprise, which is likely where its more traditional keyboard smartphone will come into play. In addition to devices, he wants to shore up the enterprise service and mobile device management business, build upon the momentum of the BlackBerry Messenger service, and better utilize its QNX platform.

Although Chen came aboard as the interim CEO of BlackBerry (and chairman, too), just two months on he has quietly dropped the "interim" bit, and said Tuesday he will stay with the company until it is financially and strategically sound, a milestone that he projected would be through the next 18 months. He confirmed that BlackBerry has halted its search for a new CEO indefinitely, thus providing a little stability to the embattled company.

Chen has already put his mark on the company. Shortly after taking the interim CEO title, he cleaned house at BlackBerry, eliminating several senior executives involved with the previous regime's failed attempt to turn the business around. BlackBerry also just dropped Alicia Keys as its "chief creative officer," as its focus shifts to big business and government clients.

Over the last few weeks, Chen hired SAP executive John Sims to run the enterprise unit, and on Monday named former Sony Ericsson and HTC executive Ron Louks to head the devices business.

Chen also took the chance at the roundtable to dismiss the notion that BlackBerry is outsourcing its device business to Chinese manufacturer Foxconn. He called the new arrangement more of a partnership, and while Foxconn will deal with the mechanical design, BlackBerry will work on some of the hardware and will focus on the software. The phones will still carry the BlackBerry brand and be sold by its sales force.

Chen said Foxconn would be able to move faster than BlackBerry on design and manufacturing, and could bring about cost savings because Foxconn could get better terms for components. The phones would also use more standardized parts, and Foxconn would hold the inventory, eliminating one financial risk for BlackBerry.

"For emerging markets, BlackBerry will let Foxconn take a bigger role," he said. "But we will do the next set of cool phones."

Chen said he expects the company to be cash flow positive within the next four quarters and profitable by fiscal 2016.

On display during the roundtable Tuesday was the enthusiasm and wit that Chen demonstrated when building up mobile enterprise software company Sybase (which was eventually acquired by German enterprise software giant SAP). He insisted he has a plan for the next 18 months, but quipped that he wasn't sure whether he would be able to execute on all of it.

But Chen faces significant challenges. Although he remained positive about the most recent quarter, noting that the company's inventory issues have cleared up, BlackBerry posted a wider loss than expected. Its market share in the smartphone business has dwindled, and Chen's attempt to sell smartphones through enterprises could be hampered by the trend of businesses to allow their employees to bring in their own devices.

On the enterprise device side, BlackBerry faces a potentially dangerous opponent in Samsung and its enterprise service, named Knox. Samsung has plastered billboards and buses with the Knox brand, bringing the same kind of marketing heft that helped make its Galaxy S franchise a blockbuster.

Chen said he doesn't underestimate Samsung.

"If they deliver on what they say, they're a legitimate threat," he said.

The "if," of course, underscores his belief that Samsung may not be ready. Samsung's Knox was recently found to have security flaws in the software, a black eye for the Korean conglomerate's attempts to break into the business arena. Still, he wasn't about to downplay the threat, and said BlackBerry has to do better.

"I love a good fight," he said.

[Reed Richards]

Articles have to get stock photos from somewhere... sounds like BlackBerry should flood the stock photo websites with images of the Z10, Z30, and Q10, to crowd out the old photos.

[sidhuk]

What do BlackBerry, Qualcomm and Nokia have in common? The connected car http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/pH4pVZ9BCF8/

Posted using Z30. Best phone in the world.

[sati01]

So, only two phones in 2014: The Foxconn model under $200 and a QUERTY model made in house for the enterprise market. That's pretty close to getting out of the hardware, good news.