Is This The First BlackBerry 10 Superphone?

CrackBerry has managed to stumble upon a potential candidate for the first BlackBerry 10 “superphone”. The device depicted above is quite different from the claimed “first” BB10 device we saw back in November which itself was more or less a rebranded Porsche Designed P’9981.

Specs are still undefined, though keep pointing towards some sort of TI OMAP dual-core in the range of 1-1.5 GHz, a fat gig of RAM, “exceptional” efficiency, and whatever else RIM decides to throw in.

Despite numerous missteps in recent years (and more specifically the last few months), we’re hoping that BB10 is a new beginning full of awesome devices. Of course, we hope they can actually launch the first device let alone an entire family of them.

RIM’s co-CEOs Stepping Down. Time For A New Beginning?

Monday morning on Twitter is sure to be full of…BlackBerry. But not for the reason you might think — co-founders and co-CEOs Jim Ballsillie and Mike Laziridis are out! Taking their place is RIM COO Thorstein Heins.

The news is hardly surprising, if not grossly past due. The co-founders propelled the BlackBerry name to dominance through 2003-2007 only to have Apple literally kick them in the groin with the original iPhone in early 2007. Since then, numerous missteps, missed deadlines, and empty promises have caused RIM’s once great empire and relevance on the forefront of mobile technology to fall to not only Apple and iOS, but Google’s Android OS too.

While the duo will no longer hold the unique co-CEO role, the two men will remain on RIM’s board of directors. Officially, Balsillie will take the director role while Lazaridis will move over to Vice Chairman. Both men will keep their significant count of shares in the company as well.

Is this shake-up enough to get RIM back on track? We’ll have to see if the incoming executive talent can right the ship before there’s nothing left to right.

**Bloomberg is reporting that the change happened yesterday (Saturday) while the WSJ is claiming the new boss begins tomorrow. Either way, it’s about damn time.

Analyst: RIM Considering Licensing BlackBerry 10 OS To 3rd Party Manufacturers.

It goes without saying RIM had a terrible 2011. Yeah, they still turned a profit, but there share price tanked ~70% and public/consumer interest couldn’t have dropped any faster. Android and iOS (and perhaps even a tinge of WP7) have captivated most consumers. So how does RIM dig themselves out of this seemingly infinite whole? By licensing the OS.

According to Jefferies & Co.’s Peter Misek in a note to investors, RIM’s only real option moving forward is to seriously explore licensing the BlackBerry OS to the likes of Samsung, HTC, and others. Doing so would allow RIM to obtain a “critical mass” that in-house hardware hasn’t retained by itself. Judging by “his own checks”, that’s exactly what RIM is doing.

Now, let us remind you these are analysts claims — hardly certain or guaranteed. That said, we don’t really see RIM’s plans if they aren’t looking at licensing. They’re going to need not just one, but several successful, high profile devices to bring consumers back in droves, away from Android and iOS.

While we’re not convinced RIM, even in their dire situation, would ever license the in-house OS, we would certainly entertain 3rd party handsets with Canada’s best installed within. What about you?

Rumor: RIM’s First BB10 Qwerty Slider Cancelled.

Remember that nifty BlackBerry 10 toting, sliding QWERTY BlackBerry we showed you back in early December? Well, it’s dead. According to BB enthusiast site, N4BB, RIM has shelved the “Milan” as it was called over an apparent hardware issue. What exactly the issue is wasn’t revealed, though it could have something to do with how insanely long a 4.2″ display with a full QWERTY sliding out underneath would be.

Regardless, a sad day for BlackBerry enthusiasts no less. For now, it appears RIM is putting all their eggs in one basket with the all-touchscreen 4.3″ BlackBerry “London” (here). Let’s hope it is truly something unique.

RIM Loses $1.7 Million In BlackBerry PlayBooks From Indiana Truck Stop In Daring Theft.

RIM may not be able to get the public to love their BlackBerry Playbook tablet, but that doesn’t mean the 7″ slabs of neglect aren’t lust worthy to some people. The only problem for RIM in this case is that the latest group of Playbook-loving people are a band of thieves who managed to drive off with a semi loaded with 22 pallets worth of Playbooks from an Indiana truck stop. For those keeping count, that equates to about 5,000 Playbook talbets valued at roughly $1.7 million. Unfortunately for RIM, the truck and it’s contents weren’t equipped with a tracking device so it’s anyone’s guess as to where the tablets in question are being taken to.

Local, state, and federal agents are getting involved in the search for a believed 5-person posse of whom one person allegedly left some traceable fingerprints. For now, RIM’s going to have to play the waiting game. Though ultimately, those 5,000 Playbooks may just be gone forever.

In the meantime, if you happen to see a gray 2007 Volvo semi w/ attached sleeper and license plates reading “J407603″ Indiana police and RIM would love to have a word with you.

RIM’s Alleged Porn Problem Is BS.

I’ll be upfront about my views on RIM and their BlackBerry platform: it’s woefully outdated and heading down the dangerous path of extinction. But if we’re going to criticze RIM’s failures and shortcomings, let’s actually do so to things which are legitimately their own problems — not this developing “story” (via: The Telegraph) about an alleged pornography problem on BlackBerry phones.

News flash: Any smartphone can pull up a bajillion (scientific number) different porn sites. Parental controls are great and all, but let’s be honest with ourselves. Most kids who’ve grown up with cellphones and smartphones already know how to get around such things.

As for claims that RIM’s specialized network, which uses their own servers to handle BlackBerry services contributing to the problem, we call BS. While the normal method of using NOC filters in the UK wasn’t specifically used by RIM to protect kiddies from the naughties of the web, RIM did provide tools/services for UK cellular carriers to make use of. The only problem: Only T-Mobile UK actually made use of said tools.

So why is Ofcom calling out RIM? Beats me. But “protecting children” isn’t the first/sole motivation. That is, unless there’s more to this story that hasn’t been revealed yet.

All that said, we have a hard time believing that presiding members of government and Ofcom are really incompetent enough to believe BlackBerries are the only devices which can be exploited by youngsters to view naughty bits — oh wait…no we’re not. Hopefully RIM can talk some common sense into Ofcom and the local cellular carriers, and maybe even convince them to use the tools they’ve already provided to deal with such problems. Stay tuned.

Bolt BlackBerry Browser Is Dead.

Well this is sad — The Bolt BlackBerry browser, originally launched in 2009, is officially dead. A message posted to Bolt’s website simply reads:

“Dear BOLT User,

The free BOLT mobile browsing service will be discontinued. Unfortunately, the economic circumstances prevent us from running a free service going forward. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your loyalty and support.

The BOLT Team”

The specific mention of “free service” seems to suggest that the Bolt team could be working on a new offering that would require some type of payment whether it be a one-time charge or recurring monthly payment. Though, at this time any such speculation is purely rumor.

While the BlackBerry browser has come pretty far since the earlier 4.x days, it’s still a pretty pathetic option, meaning 3rd party options such as Opera and (up until today) Bolt made web browsing on RIM’s smartphone platform bearable.

Now that one of the better 3rd party browsers for BlackBerry is dead, what will you turn to, dear BlackBerry reader?

Say Hello To RIM’s First BlackBerry 10 Slider, The BlackBerry Milan.

Hard specs for the upcoming BBX BlackBerry 10-powered “Milan” (see: left) still aren’t known at this point. But if looks alone are anything to go by, we’d have to at least say RIM’s future still has some faint glimmers of hope. If they can get their software up to par and competitive with the competition, we’ll have some Canadian gear to lust after once again. Please, RIM. Don’t screw this up.

RIM Loses Trademark Battle With BASIS International. BBX Officially Renamed “BlackBerry 10″

Too bad RIM didn’t plan well enough ahead when deciding to take the “BBX” name as the label for their next-gen mobile OS, specifically in clearing all trademarks and making sure they actually own the name. The company just announced at BlackBerry DevCon Asia that their upcoming “BBX” operating system is now officially known as “BlackBerry 10″ (likely due to losing a key trademark battle with BASIS International whom owns the “BBX” trademark/name).

You’d think RIM would have secured this well ahead of schedule with as much as the company’s future hedges on this next-gen OS. Oh well.