[DBX00]

1) Web Interface - Email (compete against Gmail and Outlook), Contacts with social integration, Calendar, Notes, Etc

2) Cloud Storage - Store all my documents, music, movies, etc. in cloud (same interface as PIM items)

3) BBM personal social network - Interface BBM into your web interface and allow for easier BBM friend discovery through a simple web interface (bring BBM to the web)

4) Android app support and native app support - Host hackathons and give VC money for winners

5) Unique, modern, and less conservative UI across web interfaces, mobile OS, and Tablet OS (Let TAT do their thing)

6) Standard UI for App development

7) Voice, Video, and Group Video Chat to BBM with web interface support (the web support could come later)

8) Figure out a way to give BBM Music away for free with a freemium model and integrate into the website.

9) Most IMPORTANT - Have a free version for this integrated solution, with a monthly subscription I can purchase above and beyond for additional cloud storage, BBM Music, enterprise storage access, etc.

10) Work closer with third party developers to make 'connected apps'. Since we have the ability to do real multitasking, there is no reason apps shouldn't be able to speak to the OS and other installed applications. It opens up desktop level productivity and a very unique mobile experience to have two apps running and actually working together rather than one at a time. For example, I should be able to copy a open/edit a movie file directly from powerpoint and save it back in that file. Others may include something as simple as copying a photo to a BBM chat conversation from a webpage or evernote.

Basically, I should be able to login into my Blackberry account and have access to all my documents, entertainment, social communication, email, and contacts without leaving the webpage. Incorporate a strong integrated connection with the new phones and it becomes a strong ecosystem.


**I'm hoping that people would put up their top 10's because I'm interested to see if people want more consumer friendly stuff or things related to business.**

[Laura Knotek]

At this point in time, I'd say their number 1 priority is to fix their infrastructure. The BIS outages are becoming more frequent, affecting more users (global, not just regional), and the outages are lasting longer.

It sounds like the infrastructure is outdated and cannot handle the current capacity of users.

[DBX00]

Fixing the current problem clearly should be their top priority..The threads purpose is moreso, a feature request to build a competitive ecosystem.

[bbzak]

A very resounding AGREE for the list above.

But right now, RIM has to develop a system in which outages and shortcomings can be handled efficiently or with better integrity and a smile.

[inicophone]

I still think the less involvement with Android the better. I think RIM should poach developers or make it easier to port apps.

But other than that, you're points are spot on!

[_StephenBB81]

I kinda agree with the list above

After they have addressed their infrastructure issues, and maybe looked into new redundancy systems


Though I wouldn't separate them out like you have

1: RIM needs to make BES/BIS compelling to Enterprise/Carriers/Consumers.
- THIS encompasses Cloud Storage, Could Management, WebMail,

2: RIM needs to become more developer focused, Develop Tools and release tools BEFORE the Hardware is released, The way they did the PlayBook was a joke, and they are doing the same with OS7! (no theme builder) the OS needs to be developed with 3rd party in mind, make it easy to scale across the platform.

3: MultiMedia Network: BBM Music(Subscription Service, Free Sample Service, Music Purchase service), BlackBerry Direct Video (Download video content, such as movies, TV shows, user made productions), These Services should have a web interface for history and management, as well as a component linked to Desktop Manager,

4evelop Themes to address UI issues, Some love classic BlackBerry, some want something hip, give them both.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[DBX00]

I agree that pushing a development platform is important prior to the release of hardware, however iOS and Android didn't do that before the first hardware release. I believe they are going to push the BBX development platform and the phone OS will probably leverage a similar if not same kit as the Tablet OS. Hopefully, this means that developers can get functioning apps completed prior to the release of hardware.

The most important thing will be for RIMM to actually get the development kit AND phone in developers hands at DevCon and solidify a launch date in EARLY Q1 on multiple carriers. DELAYS WILL KILL THEM. Forget shopping this around to businesses prior to launch, show us something cool and then surprise us with a couple final phones with a release date a few weeks later. Don't let the buzz die because of delays.

Since the OS is so efficient and they have a single source update system, they should then push software updates like once every two months with new features. Make mini announcements of new features with one or two big hardware releases for the year that includes a software release. They need to build up an inventory of good news to drown out the bad and get on a fast iteration track as they don't want to get in a spec race with Android.

[donnyphone]

I agree that RIM needs to do those things. Not really for me (I LOVE my Bold 9930 and BB Playbook), but for the majority of smartphone users. Their QNX phone has the potential to do all those things you mentioned. RIM needs to deliver, and soon....as in October 18th at DevCon. For Playbook: The Android Player needs to be ready to roll next week. They need to have the top 25 apps from the Android market ready to go as well. That means Angry Birds and Netflix. They said on the last conference call they would have a QNX prototype phone to show at DevCon. That phone needs to BLOW PEOPLE AWAY. It needs turn by turn navigation, full touchscreen, smooth UI like the swiping motions on the Playbook, and it needs to have some apps produced by "TAT" that are beyond what we can imagine at this point. If they deliver on the things you mentioned and the things I added at DevCon next week I think their future is bright for years to come. If the Android player is not ready until next year, the QNX prototype is delayed or can't do the things mentioned here, then I think RIM continues to lose ground in the US and starts to lose ground overseas. It's time they step up to the plate and hit a grand slam.

[recompile]

A very nice list!

On cloud storage, I just ran across an app called SugarSync that may interest you.

[Rootbrian]

Maybe you should e-mail this to RIM directly.

1) Web Interface - Email (compete against Gmail and Outlook), Contacts with social integration, Calendar, Notes, Etc

2) Cloud Storage - Store all my documents, music, movies, etc. in cloud (same interface as PIM items)

3) BBM personal social network - Interface BBM into your web interface and allow for easier BBM friend discovery through a simple web interface (bring BBM to the web)

4) Android app support and native app support - Host hackathons and give VC money for winners

5) Unique, modern, and less conservative UI across web interfaces, mobile OS, and Tablet OS (Let TAT do their thing)

6) Standard UI for App development

7) Voice, Video, and Group Video Chat to BBM with web interface support (the web support could come later)

8) Figure out a way to give BBM Music away for free with a freemium model and integrate into the website.

9) Most IMPORTANT - Have a free version for this integrated solution, with a monthly subscription I can purchase above and beyond for additional cloud storage, BBM Music, enterprise storage access, etc.

10) Work closer with third party developers to make 'connected apps'. Since we have the ability to do real multitasking, there is no reason apps shouldn't be able to speak to the OS and other installed applications. It opens up desktop level productivity and a very unique mobile experience to have two apps running and actually working together rather than one at a time. For example, I should be able to copy a open/edit a movie file directly from powerpoint and save it back in that file. Others may include something as simple as copying a photo to a BBM chat conversation from a webpage or evernote.

Basically, I should be able to login into my Blackberry account and have access to all my documents, entertainment, social communication, email, and contacts without leaving the webpage. Incorporate a strong integrated connection with the new phones and it becomes a strong ecosystem.


**I'm hoping that people would put up their top 10's because I'm interested to see if people want more consumer friendly stuff or things related to business.**

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[dalton4L]

1. Fresh new minds paving the way to the future.

They had that for a while but they paved the way to the edge of a cliff. Honestly, I don't think RIM will ever return to dominance or even relevance, their image is too tarnished and they are yesterday's news. When trends are forgotten, they almost never come back (think boys bands, furby, Atkin's diet, Digimon (Pokemon is still cool)).

[twelvezero8]

As I see it there are only two things that will bring RIM success with QNX.

1. Marketing! There are so many people that buy into what the media is saying about blackberry. My sister in law was saying how bad blackberry phones were. My question was have you ever owned a blackberry... Her answer was NO! She is only going off what she hears in the news and from other people. I know people who bash BB when the last time they owned one it was running OS4.something. So their last memory of BB sucks compared to their present memory of Android or Iphone. I'm not doubting QNX... But RIM has to actually get these phones in the hands of the people. This "HAS" to be their biggest marketed devices "EVER". I better see RIM everywhere on every station promoting these phones.

2.I'm a little worried about this one. RIM needs to not abandon their very loyal QWERTY customers. I'm a little afraid RIM is going to try to hard to keep up with android and apple touch screen devices. Yes bring out a full touch screen QNX device that's fine. I do believe QNX is developed to use on touch screen phone. But not soon after the rumored COLT launches... They need to have a 9930 or 9810 type QNX phone launching. It as simple as that. There are millon of BB user that still use their phones because of the keyboard. If RIM deserts them they will be in MAJOR trouble.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[DBX00]

11) One more thing. Documents to go web app thats integrated into BB online or BB Cloud. This should be free to view and basic editing of documents. I think they could attach the premium model to allow for document creation on the web. This almost is a complete Google Docs competitor but with instant implementation b/c all bb users have blackberry id's already and the web.

Who should I send this list to at RIMM? Anyone have an email address for a relevant email? PM me.

[anon(4769336)]

There's a "blackberry feedback" app, that allows to send feedback about any particular screen or option on BB.
Let's gather and flood rim with constructive feedback right from our beautiful handhelds.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[Dugganm]

1: RIM needs to make BES/BIS compelling to Enterprise/Carriers/Consumers.
- THIS encompasses Cloud Storage, Could Management, WebMail,

This is something they will need to look at sooner rather than later.

We have been looking at mobile device security, primarily for smartphones accessing our email system, of which is a mixture of BES and Activesync and have found that this is one area of the industry that suppliers are making HUGE strides in.

BES used to be the only way to enforce policies onto devices, making sure RIM had the monopoly on businesses who wanted control over their phones. Now there are a multitude of companies producing software or appliances which can enforce policies onto devices of all OS, make and manufacturer.

Its soon going to be the case that the only advantage of having a BES environment in your organisation is to enforce credible 256 AES encryption onto the device. I say credible because although the idevice does have encryption, its pretty much worthless as it can be easily bypassed.

[psufan32]

Aside from the dwindling "I can't give up my QWERTY" crowd and the dwindling corporate base, RIM is all but a dead company. The features requested are already alive and working on Apple, Android and Microsoft devices. If we were still living in the '80s or '90s, RIM's pace of innovation and advancement would be competitive. In this second decade of the new millennium, however, RIM is absolutely getting crushed. They trudge along like a bureaucratic giant, slowly and grudgingly making the smallest of tweaks. Meanwhile, the others race along, continually upping their games.

[BBMINI]

Marketing! There are so many people that buy into what the media is saying about blackberry. My sister in law was saying how bad blackberry phones were. My question was have you ever owned a blackberry... Her answer was NO! She is only going off what she hears in the news and from other people. I know people who bash BB when the last time they owned one it was running OS4.something. So their last memory of BB sucks compared to their present memory of Android or Iphone. I'm not doubting QNX... But RIM has to actually get these phones in the hands of the people. This "HAS" to be their biggest marketed devices "EVER". I better see RIM everywhere on every station promoting these phones.

+1. Totally. Their marketing is all but completely absent in the marketplace, (which is astonishing to me) so people like the referenced sister-in-law have nothing else to go on except the currently popular bandwagon buzz. I think bringing an excellent marketing team to Waterloo and supporting them in a full-on marketing blitz would do wonders for RIM, for morale among employees and BB users, for retailer salespeople who won't/don't promote BBs because of the current lull in BB image, and for BB users who could sureashell use some marketing reference backup when trying to talk about how much we love our phones and tablets.

I remain befuddled by how little marketing RIM has done (if any!) when faced with such growing, aggressive and successful phone and tablet competition that's supported by sleek, cool, appealing and effective whiz-bang advertising. RIM is seemingly doing nothing to combat the accelerating momentum of negative sentiments about BBs. At some point, if not already, it'll be too late to catch up because they stayed quiet for too long rather than tooting their own horn and trying to defend their position, brand and reputation. Personally, I find it rather annoying and certainly a dern shame. You'd think a global company with a name brand like BlackBerry would have smarter folks at the Marketing helm than that . . . or is there actually anyone at the Marketing helm up there in Waterloo these days?? For that matter, do they even have a Marketing Helm position at all?? Seems maybe not, unfortunately.

[DBX00]

Marketing is great when you have a great product on the shelf. However, they need to land the good reviews, get the launch right, and then hit the world with simple and relevant marketing. Basically, they have to make it cool to purchase the product and selling it as a business device just won't do that. You have to have at least one or two killer features that your competition doesn't have and sell the world on why they need those features.

Once you are able to do that, people will look down at their phone and say why doesn't my phone do that?? Showing a device can play movie, music, and etc. is simply expected today. They need to blow people away with something completely new. Heck, I would put a commercial that shows someone typing an email, check facebook, then pick up a video chat conversation and back to typing the email while still having the video call going....that's multitasking

[BBMINI]

^^ I would argue that BB already HAS great product on the shelf and that strong, consistent marketing would have brought a lot more first time smartphone buyers to BB rather than to iPhone. Instead, Apple hit the market with awesome marketing, got a lot of buzz about their product, and has been eating RIM's lunch ever since (and that's also partly since Apple keeps itself in the marketing spotlight with yet more sleek marketing and ongoing product launches that become newsworthy on CNN and other media outlets, whereas RIM makes news with service outages rather than the release of the very cool 9930).

There are a TON of people who bought iPhones who would have been just as well off, if not better off simply due to BB's physical keyboard and lower price, by buying a BB instead since BBs have plenty of features that would satisfy lots of smartphone users who have very basic needs and probably would only use a small portion of BB's current features anyway (my wife is a great example of a BB user who certainly doesn't get the most out of her device). But market momentum and buzz has been with iPhone and very much against BB. There are also lots of people who don't even need a smartphone at ALL but they've bought an iPhone because "iPhone" seems to be approaching default terminology status for what used to just be called a cell phone. My 67 year old mother in law bought an iPhone a few years ago, largely due to the growing hype about them. She ended up returning it within the 30 day window after realizing it was too complex, had too many features she didn't need, and she hated the virtual keyboard. But the point is that when deciding to buy a smartphone she never even considered a BlackBerry, and that was certainly influenced by Apple's awesome flood of great, effective advertising compared to zero from RIM.

I'm all for product differentiation and selling unique features, and I agree that RIM needs to step up with some type of game changer very soon, but my general point is that if RIM had been putting out excellent, cool, persuasive marketing to support the BB brand for the last few years I believe a lot of people who bought non-BB smartphones would have bought BBs instead (and would be happy with them and well served by them) and that RIM's share of the growing smartphone pie would have remained quite a bit larger than it is now.

[psufan32]

^^ I would argue that BB already HAS great product on the shelf and that strong, consistent marketing would have brought a lot more first time smartphone buyers to BB rather than to iPhone. Instead, Apple hit the market with awesome marketing, got a lot of buzz about their product, and has been eating RIM's lunch ever since (and that's also partly since Apple keeps itself in the marketing spotlight with yet more sleek marketing and ongoing product launches that become newsworthy on CNN and other media outlets, whereas RIM makes news with service outages rather than the release of the very cool 9930).

There are a TON of people who bought iPhones who would have been just as well off, if not better off simply due to BB's physical keyboard and lower price, by buying a BB instead since BBs have plenty of features that would satisfy lots of smartphone users who have very basic needs and probably would only use a small portion of BB's current features anyway (my wife is a great example of a BB user who certainly doesn't get the most out of her device). But market momentum and buzz has been with iPhone and very much against BB. There are also lots of people who don't even need a smartphone at ALL but they've bought an iPhone because "iPhone" seems to be approaching default terminology status for what used to just be called a cell phone. My 67 year old mother in law bought an iPhone a few years ago, largely due to the growing hype about them. She ended up returning it within the 30 day window after realizing it was too complex, had too many features she didn't need, and she hated the virtual keyboard. But the point is that when deciding to buy a smartphone she never even considered a BlackBerry, and that was certainly influenced by Apple's awesome flood of great, effective advertising compared to zero from RIM.

I'm all for product differentiation and selling unique features, and I agree that RIM needs to step up with some type of game changer very soon, but my general point is that if RIM had been putting out excellent, cool, persuasive marketing to support the BB brand for the last few years I believe a lot of people who bought non-BB smartphones would have bought BBs instead (and would be happy with them and well served by them) and that RIM's share of the growing smartphone pie would have remained quite a bit larger than it is now.

She was one of the few who thought that way. Apple products "complex"? One of their greatest selling points is how simple and intuitive they are to use and maintain.

Apple has killed it for 10+ years now. iPod. iTunes. iPhone. iPad. Each product played into the next.

RIM were caught with their heads down, sound asleep. Is marketing one part of Apple's success? Absolutely. Is marketing one part of RIM's struggles? Absolutely. However, to chalk the difference up to marketing alone is an absolutely ridiculous notion. Apple and RIM are and have been night and day in terms of vision, innovation and product. RIM hasn't budged from its original goals of e-mail and security. Meanwhile, Apple was willing to give a long, slow death to the iPod in favor of the future (iPhone). One lives in the past and only grudgingly gives ground (RIM) and one races forward, embracing technology and figuring out how that technology can change the way that we operate day to day.

[BBMINI]

^^^ Good points, psufan. There's no question that Apple has been the most forward-thinking and creative smartphone company and that RIM was caught off guard as it had become too fat and happy without much competition, but you should read the last paragraph of my post again. I didn't claim that better marketing would have held Apple at bay kept RIM as the dominant leader in the smartphone world, only that marketing would have swayed some number of smartphone purchasers to buy BBs rather than some other brand (be it iPhones, Droids or WinPhones) and that RIM's current marketshare would be larger than it is now.

Whenever consumers have choice among similar products, advertising undeniably affects their final buying decision, and I believe RIM's lack of advertising over the last few years left them out of the running when people were considering which smartphone to buy for the first time. There's a lot to be said for top-of-mind awareness and "mindshare" when it comes to influencing buying decisions, and RIM has been sorely lacking in that department while Apple has executed it persistently, consistently, and amazingly well. Kudos to Apple for getting it right and reaping the rewards. I hope RIM and their marketing efforts will start getting it right sometime very soon.

Sorry to sidetrack the OP's thread, by the way.

[DBX00]

1) Web Interface - Email (compete against Gmail and Outlook), Contacts with social integration, Calendar, Notes, Etc

2) Cloud Storage - Store all my documents, music, movies, etc. in cloud (same interface as PIM items)

3) BBM personal social network - Interface BBM into your web interface and allow for easier BBM friend discovery through a simple web interface (bring BBM to the web)

4) Android app support and native app support - Host hackathons and give VC money for winners

5) Unique, modern, and less conservative UI across web interfaces, mobile OS, and Tablet OS (Let TAT do their thing)

6) Standard UI for App development

7) Voice, Video, and Group Video Chat to BBM with web interface support (the web support could come later)

8) Figure out a way to give BBM Music away for free with a freemium model and integrate into the website.

9) Most IMPORTANT - Have a free version for this integrated solution, with a monthly subscription I can purchase above and beyond for additional cloud storage, BBM Music, enterprise storage access, etc.

10) Work closer with third party developers to make 'connected apps'. Since we have the ability to do real multitasking, there is no reason apps shouldn't be able to speak to the OS and other installed applications. It opens up desktop level productivity and a very unique mobile experience to have two apps running and actually working together rather than one at a time. For example, I should be able to copy a open/edit a movie file directly from powerpoint and save it back in that file. Others may include something as simple as copying a photo to a BBM chat conversation from a webpage or evernote.

11) One more thing. Documents to go web app thats integrated into BB online or BB Cloud. This should be free to view and basic editing of documents. I think they could attach the premium model to allow for document creation on the web. This almost is a complete Google Docs competitor but with instant implementation b/c all bb users have blackberry id's already and the web.

12) GPS and Proximity BBM Feature - You should be able to setup a Group or Find BBM people near you, so it makes BBM friend discovery fast and easy. Clearly, you should be able to control whether you broadcast your PIN.

Case 1: I can find and add all the contacts in a business meeting without having to track BBM Pins or emails.

Case 2: Makes joining groups for events or finding specific contacts quick and easy.

[kitten24901]

They need some decent app's!

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

This thread has been revived from the dead for those wondering.

[kevinnugent]

And it's interesting to see what people thought back then. A lot of its coming true now.


P.s. Where's deRusett gone?