[JLagoon]

Well, at least, the 5 minute and 30 minute chart are showing bullish signs. Not going back to $9 is key today. 15 minutes left.

30 minute:


5 minute:

[sidhuk]

"UConnect 8.4 is built atop QNX, a tight and secure version of UNIX developed by RIM (the Blackberry™ telephone maker). Chrysler and RIM are reportedly working together for full BB10 (BlackBerry OS 10) integration. BB10 is expected to have greater “machine to machine” capabilities than past versions, which should beneft future versions of UConnect (thanks, DDakRT)."

2013-2014 UConnect 2: the next generation

[Corbu]

BBC News - Malware makers 'tailor' Android threats geographically

[Corbu]

As we are getting ready for MWC, next week, another standard story from the WSJ:
BlackBerry Set to Unveil New Smartphone for the Indonesian Market - WSJ.com

BlackBerry Losing Traction in Developing Markets
Share of the Indonesian Market Falls to 14% in 2013 from 43% in 2011

In December, a month after taking over as chief executive of BlackBerry Ltd., John Chen cast aside worries that the company's next smartphone, to be built by Foxconn Technology Group, wouldn't be successful in its target market of Indonesia.

"[Foxconn] might come back to us and say we can't sell any of these BlackBerry 10 phones," Mr. Chen said. "But it won't happen that way. BlackBerry is huge in Indonesia."

That may have been true two years ago, but as BlackBerry gets set to unveil a new smartphone for the Indonesian market, the company is facing another troubling trend: its phones phones are losing traction in developing markets.

Lackluster sales in places like Indonesia are likely to further weigh on Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry, which has pointed to its devices' continuing popularity in developing markets to offset its struggles in Western countries, notably the U.S.

In 2011, BlackBerry accounted for 43% of the Indonesian smartphone market, according to IDC. New BlackBerry phones were greeted by fevered fans and long lines. The dominant instant messaging tool was BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM.

But the market there has shifted quickly toward competitors, namely to phones running Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

By 2013, BlackBerry's share of the Indonesian market had fallen to 14%, according to IDC. Meanwhile, Android's market share had climbed to 81%. BlackBerry revenue from the Asia Pacific region was $169 million in the quarter ended November 30, down sharply from $518 million just two quarters prior.

Instant messaging tool WhatsApp, which has 450 million users world-wide, is now more popular than BBM in Indonesia, according to a survey from London firm OnDevice Research. When asked which messaging app they used most, 43% of respondents in Indonesia said WhatsApp, while 37% said BBM.

"Over the past couple of years BlackBerry has been having difficulty appealing to a maturing generation of phone users," said Sudev Bangah, the country director of IDC Indonesia.

The first phone from the partnership between BlackBerry and Foxconn, which is taking over almost all of BlackBerry's hardware production and design, is expected to be unveiled next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The device, code-named Jakarta, is destined first for Indonesia, according to BlackBerry. The company hasn't identified other target markets.

"I can confirm that we do still intend to make a product for the Indonesian market as John [Chen] previously committed," a BlackBerry spokeswoman said. "This will be one of the first items we deliver as part of the Foxconn partnership. The Indonesian market remains important for us."

But in the malls of Jakarta, some shopkeepers say sales of BlackBerrys are flagging.
"This month I only sold two BlackBerry handsets, and those that I sold were the low-end models," said Elita, the owner of a phone shop at a mall in Jakarta. Like many Indonesians, she only uses one name. "Last month I didn't sell any BlackBerrys. Many people are now reluctant to spend more than 5 million rupiah ($450) on a smartphone. Android phones are now gaining popularity because there are many apps and games for Android, while the apps for BlackBerry are limited."

"BlackBerry sales is no longer like two years ago due to the entry of Android phones," said Alex Fredrick, the owner of another phone store in the mall. "In the past I could sell 20 BlackBerry handsets in one day, but currently it's only one."

[BBUK14]

We all know that the negative press weighing on BlackBerry has crushed phone sales, but I wouldn't despair. So long as every new BlackBerry is a BlackBerry 10 phone, the word will slowly spread. It's perfectly to be expected that sales will continue to shrink in the short term. That's no reason so panic or stop releasing well-priced BlackBerry 10 devices. The traction will come.

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[BBUK14]

I should add that they still have not released one single well-priced BlackBerry 10 phone...but that's what this Foxconn thing was all about right? Fingers crossed...

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[cgk]

Out of interest - in which market does BBRY have its highest share and what is it?

[leafs123]

We all know that the negative press weighing on BlackBerry has crushed phone sales, but I wouldn't despair. So long as every new BlackBerry is a BlackBerry 10 phone, the word will slowly spread. It's perfectly to be expected that sales will continue to shrink in the short term. That's no reason so panic or stop releasing well-priced BlackBerry 10 devices. The traction will come.

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

With due respect, the negative press didn't crush phone sales, the "exploring strategic alternatives" fiasco was what kicked sales even further down. Whatever momentum BB had after the launch, Heins and Co. destroyed it even further.

[Hilman76]

Out of interest - in which market does BBRY have its highest share and what is it?

Agreed, pretty tough to lead any region when they only shipped 1.7 million handsets out of 290 million smartphones that were shipped last quarter.

[cjcampbell]

Agreed, pretty tough to lead any region when they only shipped 1.7 million handsets out of 290 million smartphones that were shipped last quarter.

What's your point? Aren't we beyond this type of stuff yet? The BlackBerry management is so maybe we should be too no?

[cgk]

What's your point? Aren't we beyond this type of stuff yet? The BlackBerry management is so maybe we should be too no?

Beyond hardware? yes I believe they are

[OMGitworks]

My guess is that Chen knew all of this when he did the Foxcomm deal. It is not going to be easy. I also suspect the WSJ facts are pretty much accurate. This market is winnable if they do it quickly and correctly, previously not BB's strong suits..... They only get 1 shot here to turn the tide or this market is gone too. Chens first real execution test. He HAS to be better than TH.

Congrats on the hockey win, great game to watch. Must have been that assistant coach from Boston who made the difference

[cjcampbell]

Beyond hardware? yes I believe they are

As has been covered quite extensively, they will continue hardware, but it won't be their focus. Why revisit this again?

[cgk]

As has been covered quite extensively, they will continue hardware, but it won't be their focus. Why revisit this again?

Because we are discussing what we think will lead to success? I don't think hardware will do it, you clearly do - I'm just baffled why people think that it will given the complete sales failure of BB10, the continuing collapse of carrier relationships and the increasing domination of a few player in a maturing market. I want them to concentrate on areas where they can be successful - so it's not anti-blackberry, it's anti-throwing money in a hole.

[W Hoa]

This pretty much sums up my day.

[cjcampbell]

Because we are discussing what we think will lead to success? I don't think hardware will do it, you clearly do - I'm just baffled why people think that it will given the complete sales failure of BB10, the continuing collapse of carrier relationships and the increasing domination of a few player in a maturing market. I want them to concentrate on areas where they can be successful - so it's not anti-blackberry, it's anti-throwing money in a hole.

I clearly do? Really? How did you get that from my two posts? They have offloaded much risk for the consumer market, and will continue to provide the top to bottom production for the security minded. I never said a word about them doing well in the hardware market. Seriously man. You're starting to beat a dead horse here.

[JLagoon]

It is good to see Blackberry responds to the air force deal: http://www.berryreview.com/2014/02/2...-5000-iphones/

Next, implement iOS and Siri in the fighter jets, so the pilot can play games, and ask where the nearest burger joint is. *sigh*

[BBUK14]

With due respect, the negative press didn't crush phone sales, the "exploring strategic alternatives" fiasco was what kicked sales even further down. Whatever momentum BB had after the launch, Heins and Co. destroyed it even further.

I don't think they are different things entirely. The BlackBerry 10 launch had failed long before that fiasco.

I think there is a simple test to discover whether the negative press had an effect: simply ask people their view on BlackBerry. It's been the same - almost always literally verbatim: BlackBerry is dead, isn't it?

Millions of people don't spontaneously recite the exact same sentiment, with the same wording. They got that could conception from somewhere, and the source was obviously the media. This is not to say that near fatal decisions by bone headed BlackBerry management didn't initiate the situation, but wave after wave of toxic press spread into the heads of the in store salespeople, as well as the general public.

If you go into a pub, order a Guinness, and then pull out your BlackBerry, you are almost certain in many places to hear the same two things: 'Guinness? Isn't that like drinking a loaf of bread?', and 'BlackBerry? Aren't they dead?'.

People hear these canned opinions and then repeat them over and over. This is the way public sentiment works. The entire advertising and PR industry is geared towards manufacturing opinions on all manner of things.

The 'BlackBerry is dead' meme is the reason enterprise is threatened, the reason BlackBerry 10 didn't sell, and the reason people are frightened to touch the phones in some places.

So, you have to ask yourself: why else do people laugh when they see a BlackBerry? Why else do people assume BlackBerry is going out of business? Is it due to divine intervention?

It's the poor decisions made five years ago, AND IT'S THE MEDIA. The new BlackBerry is not the old BlackBerry, and the products of great.

When people can rock a three year old Gingerbread Android and not get laughed at, but can't rock a Z10 without attracting ridicule, IT'S THE MEDIA.

When the media spend a whole year pumping out toxic articles with the same wording (beleaguered, ailing, hapless, struggling, dying, failing, etc.) it makes a difference to public perception.

I am NOT saying it's a conspiracy. I'm saying that the meme of BlackBerry is Dead reached a critical mass and turned into a wildfire of toxic chanting. It's much better now, but still far from good. BlackBerry's primary objective should be to attack and roll up this negative image and turn it positive. EVERYTHING else is cake after that.

I said ages and ages ago that BlackBerry needed to pay for that. They needed to calculate exactly how much the lack of apps, and toxic brand image came out to in dollars and pounds. People are price sensitive. BlackBerry needed to price the Z10 low enough for people to say 'okay, it may not have the apps, and this salesperson is being negative, but it's X amount cheaper than the iPhone and is a very cool phone for its price. I'll follow my pocket book, and take the Z10.' In the end they had to write the stuff off anyway, so that would obviously have been a better option. It would also have avoided the tidal wave of negative articles comparing the Z10 to the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4.

BlackBerry still need to be aware of this and should still sell the next round of phones with this equation in mind. I really hope the Z3 is cheap enough to do this. It also needs to be on sale in the UK and Europe at the very least. The article writers are in the West, not in Indonesia.

This is the most irrational brand crisis I've ever seen, but it's not unbeatable. BlackBerry will be more than fine by the end of the year if they can stand their ground, not throw anything overboard, and continue to bring out increasingly excellent phones, along with improving BBMx.

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[take99]

in my email today, I currently have an iphone, so this is not just going out to bbry owners

[zyben]

I posted this video earlier, but this one has a tiny bit of written material attached:

New Qualcomm Snapdragon Automotive Solutions/QNX CAR Platform Demo at MWC 2014 | Qualcomm

[bungaboy]

in my email today, I currently have an iphone, so this is not just going out to bbry owners

Hold out for the Z30 then jump at it! LoL

[JLagoon]

Does anyone know, whether the keyboard gestures of Blackberry 10 are patented by Blackberry?

Fleksy's Predictive Touch Keyboard with Gestures Now Available to All iOS Developers - Mac Rumors

[sidhuk]

Good luck. US air force.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/t...w/30832854.cms

SAN FRANCISCO: A major flaw in Apple Inc software for mobile devices could allow hackers to intercept email and other communications that are meant to be encrypted, the company said in a Friday afternoon announcement.

If attackers have access to a user's network, such as by sharing the same unsecured wireless service offered by a restaurant, they could see or alter exchanges between the user and protected sites such as Gmail and Facebook, experts said.

"It's as bad as you could imagine, that's all I can say," said Johns Hopkins University cryptography professor Matthew Green.

Apple did not say when or how it learned about the flaw in the way iOS handles sessions in what are known as secure sockets layer or transport layer security, nor did it say whether the flaw was being exploited.

But a statement on its support website was blunt: The software "failed to validate the authenticity of the connection."

Apple released software patches and an update for the current version of iOS for iPhone 4 and later, 5th-generation iPod touches, and iPad 2 and later.

Without the fix, a hacker could impersonate a protected site and sit in the middle as email or financial data goes between the user and the real site, Green said.

Apple did not reply to requests for comment. The flaw appears to be in the way that well-understood protocols were implemented, an embarrassing lapse for a company of Apple's stature and technical prowess.

The company was recently stung by leaked intelligence documents claiming that authorities had 100 percent success rate in breaking into iPhones.

Friday's announcement suggests that enterprising hackers could have had great success as well if they knew of the flaw.

Posted using Z30. Best of the best Smart phone in the world.

[Komoto]

I still don't understand why the air force made that move.

Generally what I have found in life is, when things don't make sense, it is political.

Hopefully they get burnt really badly and end up having to drop it. That would be just about the best possible outcome for BlackBerry.

Posted via CB10

[_dimi_]

Knowing what we know now.. how could the Air Force justify this decision to migrate to iPhones?! Wouldn't there be a security hole in an MDM environment too?

JC, grab the opportunity and do another write-up on BlackBerry's biz blog. It would create momentum before next week's MWC.

Posted via CB10