[morganplus8]

BBM for BlackBerry 10 and Android updated with new features and enhancements | CrackBerry.com

I feel like we are on a bit of a roll here, BBM is looking like the "complete package" now, and on top of that, the DTEK50 is going to add quite a few unit sales to Q2 numbers. Depending on how they distribute the new phone, we could see a boost in unit sales and a surprising profit in hardware in the September reporting period. Even a poor showing could add 200,000 units by the end of August and Chen might be making good on his promise to turn hardware around by his expected date. The stock looks solid here too, holding nicely at higher technical levels against a sluggish market. Not bad.

On another note, the IBB Index is really starting to show some strength as well!

[masterful]

OT: MSFT
Microsoft to Shed 2,850 Additional Jobs - WSJ

Is the media going to spin like the end of Microsoft like they did for BlackBerry?

Posted via my BlackBerry PRIV

[Corbu]

OT: MOBL... Our friend...

Morgan Stanley

July 26, 2016

James E Faucette

MobileIron

Stock Rating: Equal-weight / Industry View: Cautious / Price Target: $7.00

Right Sizing Towards Q4 Targets

MOBL exceeded expectations in part due to a recovery from its Q1 billings miss. The company appears on track towards Q4 margin targets, but an increasingly difficult competitive environment and lack of visibility leaves us cautious.

Recovering missed renewals, but pipeline visibility remains difficult. Q2 billings of $41mm exceeded our estimate of $39mm as management took steps to improve internal execution and close the renewal contracts that caused the Q1 miss. Management spoke of an improving spending environment, new product momentum and tailwinds from the end of the government fiscal year, but still acknowledged that visibility on deal closing remains difficult. Lack of visibility underscores our continued caution on MobileIron, particularly as the competitive landscape continues to concentrate towards larger enterprise software vendors.

Headcount reduction helps trajectory to Q4 targets but timing to profitability still unclear. Q2 revenues / EPS of $39mm / ($0.14) exceeded our estimate of $37mm / ($0.15) and were driven by higher than expected billings. Recovery in billings gives incremental confidence in reaching management's goal of (12%) - (8%) operating margins and positive cash flow exiting FY16, which will be incrementally helped by expected headcount reductions announced on the earnings call. Attaining margin targets helps, but the company will need a notable re-acceleration in revenue before the path to profitability becomes clear.

Estimates largely unchanged. Our revenue estimates for 2H16 are largely unchanged while we slightly adjust Q3 and Q4 operating margins to account for expected opex and cost savings. Our Q3 and FY16 estimates are now $40mm / ($0.11) and $162mm / $(0.44), from $40mm / ($0.10) and $160mm / ($0.44).

Remain EW with $7 PT. We acknowledge that our PT is a significant premium to current levels, and at ~2.5-3.0x EV/17e revenue, could increasingly depend on strategic optionality as the competitive landscape becomes increasingly difficult.

Continued execution and re-acceleration towards management's breakeven target could make us more positive on the name, and less dependent on strategic optionality in order to realize our PT.

[Superfly_FR]

MOBL : buy. break apart. kill. (but I may be a tad extremist lol)

[Corbu]

Transformation On Wheels: The Sentient ?Car-Bot? | Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog

[momantm]

Boys, what do you think the implications of Dan Dodge joining apple, Apple's new office next to qnx, and appl's desperation to get into automated cars.

Apples attempts so far have been a cluster frig. The easiest way to catch up is to either poach qnx staff, or just buy them.

Interesting times.

[Corbu]

Apple scoops ex-QNX head Dan Dodge in blow to BlackBerry's software division - Cantech Letter

Apple Inc. has reportedly hired Dan Dodge, the recently resigned founder and CEO of QNX Software Systems, which was acquired by BlackBerry in 2010, according to a Bloomberg report, citing “people with knowledge of the efforts” with regard both to Dodge’s hiring and Apple’s secretive plans to expand its near-secret automobile division, which people refer to as Project Titan.

Dodge resigned from QNX in December, telling Crackberry at the time, “My decision to leave was my own. I threw my own party, invited everybody from QNX that I’ve known over the last 35 years and we had a grand time.”

Dodge reportedly began working for Apple in January.

QNX was founded in 1980 and eventually sold to Harman International in 2004, before being acquired by BlackBerry in 2010.

Under Dodge, QNX developed the BB10 operating system, much loved by BlackBerry phone users but now effectively dead as the company transitions to building branded phones running the Android operating system.

With the collapse of BlackBerry’s handset business, CEO John Chen has taken some deserved pride in pointing out that handsets are the only one of five BlackBerry divisions that loses money, with their star division, QNX, being a particular cause for optimism.

In January, Apple leased some office space in the Kanata Research Park across the street from QNX headquarters, a development that many took to be a sign that Apple was expanding its push into automobile research and development.

Apple has never publicly announced or acknowledged Project Titan’s existence.

The problem with Dodge’s hiring, as far as BlackBerry is concerned, is that QNX has been one of the bright points within BlackBerry that the company can point to when convincing investors that BlackBerry has a future outside of its money-losing handset division.

This wouldn’t be the first time BlackBerry has allowed an ex-employee to make a success out of something the company failed to capitalize on, despite the opportunity staring them in the face.

Kik Interactive, founded in 2009 by ex-BlackBerry employee Ted Livingston, was the result of Livingston’s attempt to convince Research in Motion to take BlackBerry Messenger cross-platform, a move that the company declined, which prompted Livingston to set out on his own.

Kik, a privately held company, now has a valuation of more than $1 billion. To say that BlackBerry must be kicking itself, pun intended, would be an understatement.

And now Apple has hired the person who invented QNX and knows its software better than anyone on the planet, more so probably than people still working at QNX.

If Apple, through sheer force of acquisition, can eat BlackBerry’s lunch in the domain that QNX perfected for them, it would yet be another instance of Apple eating BlackBerry’s lunch, the first time of course being the near total decimation of BlackBerry’s once dominant profile in the smartphone market.

QNX has been racking up serious wins in the automotive technologies sector, doing brisk business with their digital instrument clusters, one of the fastest growing segments in automotive electronics, as well as becoming the leading software supplier for vehicle entertainment systems, QNX’s version of which is now deployed in over 60 million cars, including for Volkswagen, Daimler, Ford and others.

Apple’s Project Titan is headed by Bob Mansfield, who reports directly to CEO Tim Cook. Dodge will reportedly work on Project Titan’s software team, reporting to John Wright, who reports to Mansfield.

Project Titan, based out of a secret facility in Sunnyvale, California, has reportedly been targeting a release of some kind of automotive project for 2020, employing hundred of engineers to push the project forward, which has been repeatedly set back by personality conflicts, sudden personnel departures and technical problems.

The move to hire Dodge could signal a realization on Apple’s part that building an actual Apple-branded car is a mug’s game, and that making the software that runs in automobiles is where the action is, a specialization that has been perfected by QNX.

Apple has always famously spent a much lower portion of its revenue on R&D than its rivals, Google, Facebook and Qualcomm, despite having enormous cash reserves.

Recently, however, Apple upped its R&D spending during 2015 to slightly more than US$8 billion, a 34% increase over 2014, on global revenues of US$233 billion.

In the first three months through June, Apple’s R&D spend jumped by 25% compared with the same period in the previous year, to US$2.6 billion.

So they’re up to something. Self-driving car? Project Titan? Eating BlackBerry’s lunch? Again?

Apple declined comment for the Bloomberg story.

[_dimi_]

The second last paragraph is hilarious.. like the writer saw it was 5pm on a Friday and he just had to get out of the office..

Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

Not sure our great Corbu had this before, but some estimations over QNX sales won't hurt, aren't they ?

This statistic gives a forecast of worldwide QNX automotive infotainment OS sales from 2011 to 2020. The forecast shows that such sales will exceed 25,000 units 25 million units [corrected from source article, thanks spiller !] by 2015. Many passenger cars are equipped with different operating systems for the various devices installed in modern motor vehicles, including navigation and driver-assistance systems, in-car smartphone holders and entertainment systems.

sources :
- BlackBerry: Signs Of Promise From Apple And Android - BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) | Seeking Alpha
- ? Global QNX automotive infotainment OS sales 2011-2020 | Projection (membership required)


So, basically, pretty much doubling up in 5 years (and that's just for infotainment alone) ... interesting, isn't it ?

[_dimi_]

I'm a little puzzled by Dodge's decision to go work for Apple. When Lazaridis and Balsilie were replaced by Thorsten, they took the high road. I know, you could argue that Lazaridis tried to take the company private back in September 2013, but that was never confirmed.

Now, why would Dodge decide to work for Apple, alongside former QNX employees (Marineau and others)? If I'm being positive, I'd say that a strong partner like Apple would be very benefial to QNX. But I don't think that's the case, and that's what makes Dodge's decision so strange.

Not only does he work accross the street from QNX nowadays, he just must be aware of Apple's talent in poaching other companies' talent pool. Combine that with his frustration against Chen: it was 'his decision to leave' and 'he threw his own party'. That's just weird.

Now, anyone remembers how QNX became part of BlackBerry after Dodge and Lazarids spoke? I always thought that was pretty unethical of Dodge - as he should have been representing Harman International Industries (his mother company) IF it was his role to even negotiate a possible sale.

If you sell your company, than that should be it. Whatever you do afterwards, you either do as an employee - or you find another challenge/opportunity that does not involve your ego and what once was your company.

Posted via CB10

[_dimi_]

http://www.saunderslog.com/2010/04/0...auto-business/

Funny - coming from Alec Saunders who wasnt working for QNX/BlackBerry (or Microsoft) at the time.

Posted via CB10

[early2bed]

If you sell your company, than that should be it. Whatever you do afterwards, you either do as an employee - or you find another challenge/opportunity that does not involve your ego and what once was your company.

Remember that Dan Dodge probably had no say in the CEO that was chosen to come in and run BlackBerry and QNX. He probably didn't like all of the cost cutting and shift in focus away from hardware. He probably still has very high aspirations for the technology that he developed. It isn't surprising that he wants to continue to develop and exploit it in a growing rather than a shrinking market.

This move probably goes as far as you can go without breaking the law. Leave the company and go work across the street. Nothing wrong with that. Say hi to people you have worked with for decades when you see them in coffee shops or having lunch. Nothing wrong with that. People have every right to look for other career opportunities and you should be able to talk to them about it if asked. What's illegal is to enter into an agreement not to hire away your competitors employees.

[DaSchwantz]

Also illegal to share IP...

Posted via CB10

[DaSchwantz]

MOBL : buy. break apart. kill. (but I may be a tad extremist lol)

Only after running the SP down first. Give MOBL clients some freebies to switch...

Posted via CB10

[masterful]

Messy messy

Posted via my BlackBerry PRIV

[_dimi_]

Remember that Dan Dodge probably had no say in the CEO that was chosen to come in and run BlackBerry and QNX. He probably didn't like all of the cost cutting and shift in focus away from hardware. He probably still has very high aspirations for the technology that he developed. It isn't surprising that he wants to continue to develop and exploit it in a growing rather than a shrinking market.

This move probably goes as far as you can go without breaking the law. Leave the company and go work across the street. Nothing wrong with that. Say hi to people you have worked with for decades when you see them in coffee shops or having lunch. Nothing wrong with that. People have every right to look for other career opportunities and you should be able to talk to them about it if asked. What's illegal is to enter into an agreement not to hire away your competitors employees.

You missed my point. Never did I claim it is illegal.

Also, I think he's way too emotional to walk away from his heritage like any rational (former) CEO would do. He is now an Apple employee, reporting to the guy who will report it to the guy reporting to Cook. Congratulations & good luck.



Posted via CB10

[_dimi_]

Why do you argue with me when you claim something's fishy yourself?

Posted via CB10

[bbjdog]

We all know that car play will run on top of QNX. Who better for the job then the man himself. I also think Google/Alphabet might have had a run at him too.

Cheers!

Posted via my BlackBerry Passport

[early2bed]

Also, I think he's way too emotional to walk away from his heritage like any rational (former) CEO would do. He is now an Apple employee, reporting to the guy who will report it to the guy reporting to Cook. Congratulations & good luck.

As opposed to making middleware that is rebranded by Ford, etc. to display Android Auto and Car Play licensed for $1 per unit?

[Corbu]

https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/29/...tek50-preview/
A day with BlackBerry's all-touch DTEK50 smartphone

Endgadget...

[_dimi_]

OT:

Fairfax results

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3993...pt?part=single

Posted via CB10

[CDM76]

https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/29/...tek50-preview/
A day with BlackBerry's all-touch DTEK50 smartphone

Endgadget...

And yet nothing from Crackberry. Interesting

Posted via CB10

[BanffMoose]

Now, anyone remembers how QNX became part of BlackBerry after Dodge and Lazarids spoke? I always thought that was pretty unethical of Dodge - as he should have been representing Harman International Industries (his mother company) IF it was his role to even negotiate a possible sale.

If you sell your company, than that should be it. Whatever you do afterwards, you either do as an employee - or you find another challenge/opportunity that does not involve your ego and what once was your company.

Posted via CB10

As others have said, I believe Dodge going to Apple is a combination of desire to continue his life's work, ego and a whole lot of revenge against Chen.

That said, I think the Harman/QNX sale to BlackBerry thing is different. Harman bought QNX because of the OS and what QNX was able to do with automotive infotainment. QNX was also being licensed to other automotive entertainment/infotainment OEMs. My understanding is that as QNX was becoming the standardized platform for the industry, Harman's competitors were putting pressure on Harman to divest itself of QNX. Competitors didn't like having to pay Harman, their direct competitor, licensing fees on every dollar they made. Harman had a decision, sell QNX and preserve industry standardization or face competitors moving en masse to something else and standardizing on that something else. Harman chose to sell, realize a healthy gain on sale, and retained the rights to the QNX source code for 20 years. They also maintained the industry standard, thereby saving future costs associated with a change in industry standard.

In all likelihood, Harman probably tasked Dodge to find a buyer suitable to Harman and all QNX's licensees and Dodge found BlackBerry.

[BanffMoose]

Just got an email from BlackBerry. BlackBerry Blend for Enterprise will be discontinued effective July 31, 2016. BlackBerry will no longer sell BlackBerry Blend licenses nor do any further development on BlackBerry Blend beyond July 31. Existing BlackBerry Blend enterprise customers can download blend for free and for new enterprise devices (as opposed to for a fee) after July 31 and the product will continue to work indefinitely.

Just to clarify, the same BlackBerry Blend client was used for consumers and Enterprises. However, if your enterprise BB10 phone was connected to a BES10/12 server, a BES policy can block a user from using Blend to access the work side of the phone. The enterprise needed to set the BES policy to ALLOW and buy a Blend license before a user can access the work partition. No such requirement on the personal side. Blend worked as expected.

It's good that it's now free for enterprises, but to me, it's another nail for BB10.

Posted via CB10

[masterful]

Just got an email from BlackBerry. BlackBerry Blend for Enterprise will be discontinued effective July 31, 2016. BlackBerry will no longer sell BlackBerry Blend licenses nor do any further development on BlackBerry Blend beyond July 31. Existing BlackBerry Blend enterprise customers can download blend for free and for new enterprise devices (as opposed to for a fee) after July 31 and the product will continue to work indefinitely.

Just to clarify, the same BlackBerry Blend client was used for consumers and Enterprises. However, if your enterprise BB10 phone was connected to a BES10/12 server, a BES policy can block a user from using Blend to access the work side of the phone. The enterprise needed to set the BES policy to ALLOW and buy a Blend license before a user can access the work partition. No such requirement on the personal side. Blend worked as expected.

It's good that it's now free for enterprises, but to me, it's another nail for BB10.

Posted via CB10

Are they planning to move it to android?

Posted via my BlackBerry PRIV