[samab]

Wall Street is rather p.i.s.s.e.d. today because RIM talked to a bunch of investment bankers --- not for selling itself --- but for making an acquisition themselves.

[Rello]

They never said that they are buying Dash Navigation to make a turn-by-turn navigation software. The Dash team went on to make "Blackberry Traffic".

BlackBerry Traffic Navigation App Updated with Refreshed UI

very tru, but i would hope that they wouldnt buy a company for one single little app when that team could bring them so much more than just that. i would imagine they had bigger plans than that, and i hope they still do. QNX has been involved in the navigation business for a long time so it would be a great platform to tie these services into. Tie the Dash team into something like BB Maps and u got a lot of happy people

[samab]

Dash has probably 20-30 engineers and the most valuable part is their API, not their turn-by-turn navigation.

Dash Opens Up APIs For Its GPS Device to Developers | TechCrunch

[sf49ers]

THANK YOU

ive been saying this for so long so its nice to see someone else felt the same way. i was always excited after RIM bought Dash because i just knew RIM was getting turn by turn capabilities of some sort yet all theplaybook launched with was a subpar bing maps app. WTH?!?!

They bought this company over 2 years ago so if by the time the qnx handhelds launch, if we still dont have turn by turn navigation then i will totally be lost as to why they ever bought this company.

All the pieces of the puzzle need to come together soon.

Actually RIM was mum about the acquisition and it was days after it bought every knew that Dash has been acquired by RIM. Also it was rumored the RIM had other intentions with Dash than making a full fledged GPS and hence they never announced what they are going to do with it although I think BB Traffic is as a result of Dash API's.

QUOTE

What is a little surprising though, is how good of a deal RIM seems to have gotten out of the transaction. One of the more interesting figures that caught my eye was an entry for a $26 million dollar tax credit picked up in “one” of their acquisitions. That’s right folks, by buying Dash for $8.3 million, Rim will get a $26 million haircut on their taxes. They actually had to book over $8 million in revenue during the quarter to reflect the immediate gain on their investment. The tax loss alone represents a 300% (overnight) return on the acquisition. No wonder RIM doesn’t want to talk about it, Dash seems to be more of an accounting adjustment then an actual play at their technology.

Ask Davis: How Much Did Rim Pay For Dash? � Davis Freeberg’s Digital Connection

[Rob Robertson]

Here's what I hope to see:

Give all BBM users 500 mb of cloud storage for their media/documents. Allow them to seamlessly share said media (and sync documents) across all BB devices and PC's.

Just like that, BB can now offer the same services as iCloud and Google Docs.

Throw in BBMusic and rumoured BB Video streaming and you have a legitimate competitor to Apple, Google and Amazon.

Allow BBM to access your friend's GPS locations and setup game sessions and you have a competitor to Google Latitude and iOS Gamecenter.

The answers are staring me right in the face and I am not a CEO. They need to make this stuff happen now but they seem to be stretched out in every direction, unable to make progress anywhere.


(edit): I know some of these features currently exist in BBM but they are not being utilized to their full potential.

[Rello]

Actually RIM was mum about the acquisition and it was days after it bought every knew that Dash has been acquired by RIM. Also it was rumored the RIM had other intentions with Dash than making a full fledged GPS and hence they never announced what they are going to do with it although I think BB Traffic is as a result of Dash API's.

QUOTE


Ask Davis: How Much Did Rim Pay For Dash? � Davis Freeberg’s Digital Connection

Yes sir i remember that RIM was very silent in what they planned to do with the purchase, and after reading samab's post i agree that BB Traffic was a result of it.....but come on lol

People get on TAT for not doing anything for RIM since they were bought but i would think it would be known that they are mainly working on qnx handhelds.....the dash team on the other hand...what are they doing? Theyve helped to create one app in over 2 years lol? Even if the api's were the asset RIM was looking for, Dash still has turn by turn before they were purchased so i dont see why RIM couldnt have somehow merged these features with BB maps. Shoot, where is BB Traffic for the Playbook then lol.... i know a couple of people who thought turn by turn was coming to the Playbook because of the Dash purchase.

i know none of that stuff is a easy task and i know no experience in programming or nothing like that. i guess im just thinking more along the lines that if the torch team couple could produce the BB browser in less than a year then i would expect a little more from the dash team in 2 years....im still hoping though that RIM will be bring some of the missing pieces of the puzzle together once the first qnx handheld emerges though

[samab]

Even if the api's were the asset RIM was looking for, Dash still has turn by turn before they were purchased so i dont see why RIM couldnt have somehow merged these features with BB maps. Shoot, where is BB Traffic for the Playbook then lol.... i know a couple of people who thought turn by turn was coming to the Playbook because of the Dash purchase.

Dash is only 20-30 people company by the time that they were acquired by RIM. It's not a lot of people. And they are trying to make their API accessible to outside developers.

Turn-by-turn will always be governed by licenses given by map makers. That's why Google has to send people driving around every inch of the planet to make their own maps. BB Maps is free and RIM doesn't have the resources to have staff driving around every inch of the planet.

The issue with turn-by-turn navigation has never been with Dash engineers, it has to do with map licenses.

[JPMorgan_]

RIM has a plan, and they will stick to it. I just hope they let us know more about it at Devcon.

[ryork272]

First, we have to believe in RIM. But isn't THAT the problem? As soon as the liar Jim Balsillie leaves RIM I will be happy. He has to go to restore credibility to the company.

[qh2o]

At half the price of QNX! RiM, what is your plan?

[FoxxBerry]

I'm thinking BBM music for all devices (the only way its worth 5 bucks) possibly BBM video....is there also potential for BBM desktop chat (winner). I'm not into the streamlining of of differnt social feeds, but it seems newbay does that....The cloud ability is a super big deal and I been waiting on RIM to develop this service, they are building a platform (or could be) that is unquestionable in the mobile world. I hope it works because the whole "if you build it they will come" idea isnt working for BlackBerry its working for Apple.

[mustangv8]

Fools and other people's money(shareholders) are soon parted. Why blow that kind of cash on that junk? Couldn't RIM use that money to bolster the low quality issues they are having with their new phone lineup. Why not use that cash to market the new phones? Not like the new BB7s are such a success.

Should have put together a small stock buyback, not like the shareholders have anything but a loss sitting in RIMM.

[samab]

Fools and other people's money(shareholders) are soon parted. Why blow that kind of cash on that junk? Couldn't RIM use that money to bolster the low quality issues they are having with their new phone lineup. Why not use that cash to market the new phones? Not like the new BB7s are such a success.

Should have put together a small stock buyback, not like the shareholders have anything but a loss sitting in RIMM.

I disagree with you. Let's screw the shareholders --- RIM ain't going to be sold, and Canadian government ain't going to allow any foreign takeover.

[Rello]

Dash is only 20-30 people company by the time that they were acquired by RIM. It's not a lot of people. And they are trying to make their API accessible to outside developers.

Turn-by-turn will always be governed by licenses given by map makers. That's why Google has to send people driving around every inch of the planet to make their own maps. BB Maps is free and RIM doesn't have the resources to have staff driving around every inch of the planet.

The issue with turn-by-turn navigation has never been with Dash engineers, it has to do with map licenses.

ohhhhhhh......gotcha. well i thank your for enlightening me sir'.....i didnt think about many of the things you said in your post.

still would like turn by turn though lol

also want to see what they'll do with this new acquisition though. Devcon can not come quick enough