BlackBerry App World Storefront Launches

RIM has announced that its online storefront for the BlackBerry App World marketplace is now live and accessible.

The BlackBerry App World web storefront will allow BlackBerry users to browse, rate, review and purchase applications directly via the web, downloading them for later installation or syncing apps directly to the BlackBerry itself in real time.

The App World storefront can be visited any time at its new permanent home.

RIM CEO Hits Back at Steve Jobs

The ongoing feud between BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) and Apple, or more specificly Jim Balsillie and Steve Jobs, respective CEOs of those companys, has heated up again.

Following comments made on Monday by Jobs suggesting that 7″ tablets, such as those planned by BlackBerry, would not play a major role in the market, Jim Balsillie struck back at Jobs concerning everything from Adobe Flash to revenue reporting, suggesting that Apple had constructed a distortion field around its customers:

For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7″ tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple’s attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 – 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter. Apple’s preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM’s August-ending quarter doesn’t tell the whole story because it doesn’t take into account that industry demand in September is typically stronger than summer months, nor does it explain why Apple only shipped 8.4 million devices in its prior quarter and whether Apple’s Q4 results were padded by unfulfilled Q3 customer demand and channel orders. As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story.

Jim Balsillie, CEO of RIM

BlackBerry Storm 3?

Web site BerryReview has released a photo that allegedly shows RIM’s latest smartphone, potentially the third incarnation of the BlackBerry Storm series.

Assuming the tipster is accurate, the BlackBerry Storm 3 sports a 3.7″ touchscreen display along with 8GB of internal memory. Wireless features will include both mobile hotspot connectivity and 4G LTE support, making it compatible with American networks such as AT&T and Verizon.

How accurate this report is remains to be seen; we’ll keep you posted with additional details as they come!

RIM Announces Revenue Jump

Research in Motion, maker of the popular Blackberry line of devices, has announced its earnings for Q1 2010, showing a great improvement over the slow year seen by all handset manufacturers in 2009.

The results are mixed with a revenue increase at the lower end of estimates but the 24 percent increase over Q1 2009 results still represents a good start to the year for RIM. Overall revenue came in at $4.24 billion, also an increase over the $4.08 billion the company reported in Q4 2009.

Those numbers translated into 4.9 million new Blackberry subscription accounts during the quarter, bringing the company’s total to 46 million subscribers. The 11.2 million units shipped during the quarter also represent a 43 percent increase over the same quarter last year, offering clear insight into the price drops all manufacturers have been forced to put into place following the worldwide economic recession affecting people since 2008.

Blackberry App World Gets Themes

Blackberry Storm2Blackberry maker Research in Motion has expanded on the Blackberry App World online storefront with the addition of a category for themes.

This latest addition will allow Blackberry owners to browse, purchase and download themes directly to their handset with one-click installation. The Blackberry App World application can be download by pointing your Blackberry’s browser to http://blackberry.com/appworld/download.

RIM Reports 33% Q1 Revenue Increase

Blackberry StormDespite the global economic downturn and the poor numbers being offered by handset manufacturers like Nokia and Sony Ericsson, Blackberry maker RIM is reporting a net income of $643 million USD in Q1 2009, up from $482.5 million USD in the same quarter last year.

RIM also reports that their share of the American smartphone market grew to 55% in this time span, up from 40% as reported in the previous two quarters. The total number of Blackberry subscribers rose to 28.5 million, up 3.8 million during Q1 2009.

The positive news comes on the heels of RIM CEO Jim Balsillie’s failed bid to purchase a professional hockey team, turned down last week by a bankruptcy judge attempting to mediate between Balsillie, the bankrupt franchise he wishes to purchase and the National Hockey League.