BlackBerry delayed its BB10 handsets twice before finally launching the flagship Z10 in the UK on 1 February. (UPDATE: On 14th May 2013, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins announced Z10 users would soon get the 10.1 software update)

Although analysts and naysayers have said the Canadian firm has waited too long to release its latest smartphones, we can confirm that BlackBerry has created an excellent device, proving that good things come to those who wait.

Everything has been revamped from the design of the handset to the operating system. Even seasoned BlackBerry users will find the Z10 completely different to anything they have used before. And this is a good thing.

BB10 OS Interface

Built on the QNX code base which was introduced in the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet the BB10 operating system has been fine-tuned for use on a smartphone.

The homescreen is consistently changing so the device adapts to how you use it. It allows you to access any of the last eight applications you were using which is handy. There are no fancy Live Tiles or widgets draining power and your apps, messages and settings are always just a flick away.

The interface relies entirely on four main gestures for interaction as there are no physical buttons on the front. These are explained in a tutorial when you first start up the smartphone, and are so easy to understand it will take you about 30 seconds to pick them up.

Left to right; Home screen; Message Hub; Quick Settings; Apps

Swiping from the bottom of the display will take you back to the homescreen. A flick from the left hand edge will take you to your BlackBerry Message Hub and flick from the right will take you to your apps.

Meanwhile, a swipe down from the top will allow you to access controls for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, screen rotation, notifications, as well as shortcuts for the settings and the alarm. Simples.

BlackBerry Hub

Messaging is at the heart of the BB10 OS and the BlackBerry Hub, in our opinion, is the best messaging aggregation and notification system of any mobile operating system. It fits all your accounts together like a jigsaw puzzle.

The Hub has Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter integrated into it, so you can reply to a message without having to open up individual apps. It's possible to sync up work and personal email. The Hub separates messages by account clearly and aggregates them together so you can see everything in one place as well.

You are never more a swipe away from your messages. Even if you are in an app you simply swipe up an upside down "L" shape from the bottom of the screen to bring up the Hub.

BB10 Keyboard

With the Z10 being a full-touch screen, BlackBerry has had to revamp text input to keep it ahead of the competition. Instead of typing out words letter-by-letter, the keyboard will aim to predict the next word you are going to type. It gives you a variety of options depending on the sentence and users can enter words by simply flicking up on the relevant key.

The keyboard "floats" suggestions over the next letter it thinks you are most likely to hit next and there are multiple options. S0, for example, if you type in "I'm" the words "sorry", "going", "just", "in" and "not" appear above their corresponding letters and give you a head start in terms of bashing out a sentence. It'll take a little getting used to, but once you've mastered the art of the flick you won't want to type out long words ever again.

If you're adamant that you want a physical keyboard, BlackBerry has confirmed it will release the Q10 in the near future.

Apps

There are number of useful apps preloaded including Box, Docs to Go, Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare. There is a Maps apps pre-loaded which provides free turn-by-turn navigation without having to download anything.

The BBM instant messaging service has also been boosted to include free voice and video calling over Wi-Fi. Although it would have proved more useful if BlackBerry had made an effort to make the service cross platform like competitors such as Whatsapp. Still it is an improvement and the quality of calls and video is good over a solid connection.

Business users will find the ability to share their screen with a colleague via BBM particularly useful, and has the potential to enhance collaboration on the move and negates the need to use third party services.

It's all about content with the BlackBerry App World providing 70,000 apps on launch the biggest repository for any platform on launch. It is also possible to buy music, movies and TV shows with an option to rent the latter also. This shows that BlackBerry is really making an effort to provide an all-round experience.

Another excellent feature of the App World is the carrier billing it offers for the purchase of low-cost apps. You'll only have to enter PayPal or credit card details if you want to purchase music, movies or TV shows.

Despite the presence of the heavy hitter Angry Birds Star Wars there is still work to do in the area of apps. BlackBerry has promised that Skype and Whatsapp are on the way which will increase the usefulness of the device tenfold. SAP has also committed to developing products on the platform.

Security

With mobile malware threats plaguing popular platforms such as Android, the BB10 OS remains one of the safest available and this is likely to make it a draw for businesses where security is paramount.

The software was granted FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 certification before it was released. BlackBerry uses certified encryption algorithms to store data and protect it during transmission.

Out-of the-box, users can enable the BlackBerry Protect app by signing in with their BB ID. This allows users to track their device, and lock or wipe it remotely should it be lost or stolen.

IT admins will be pleased to know they can activate BlackBerry Balance software on handsets too. This allows business and personal data to be kept separate on the handset and policies can be put into place to ensure that content cannot be copied from the workspace to the personal space. Should an employee leave a company and then take the handset, the "business" part of the OS can be deleted without affecting any personal data.

Internet

BlackBerry devices have always been let down by a poor internet experience. Can the revamped browser on the Z10 banish the painful memories? In a word, yes. The 4.2in screen is a good size for web browsing in landscape mode and BlackBerry users will finally have some speed.

The BB10 browser has got all the features you'd expect private browsing, multiple tab support and double tapping for zooming in on text. There is one key differentiator which separates the BB10 browser from the competition. The browser has Adobe Flash integrated, so it will support all the content on the internet. This can be switched on/off by the user as well so if you're happy without it, you won't need to activate it.

Not only does the browser have this Flash support, but BlackBerry claims it has been developed specifically to make use of HTML5 standard so it's future-proofed. How fast is it exactly compared to other smartphone browsers?

We tested it using the Futuremark Peacekeeper benchmark and the BB10 browser scored a solid 315 in the test. This translates to swift real-world performance. Sites load up in a couple of seconds over both Wi-Fi and 3G.

The score puts the BB10 browser ahead of other well established software such as Chrome (285), Opera (225) and Firefox (189). But it lags behind Maxthon (319) and Safari on the iPhone 5 which scored a phenomenal 907.

There is also an option to active "desktop mode" so you get the full version of websites as default.

Navigation

BlackBerry has included turn-by-turn navigation into the OS as standard and, whilst testing this out on the motorway, we found it to be particularly useful. When driving, the device gave plenty of warning before approaching exits. It gives about 500 yards' notice before approaching a roundabout, for example, so you can get ready to tackle the right exit.

However, there's no offline mode - unlike Nokia Drive - so you could end up lost if the data connection wobbles. TomTom supplies the mapping data, points of interest, and traffic information, so it should be reliable although further testing is required.

Camera

There is an 8-megapixel camera on the rear which has an F2.2 lens, autofocus, flash and image stabilisation. The camera supports 1080p HD video recording also.

There are a couple of interesting features built into the camera app. First up the Time Shift feature takes a multiple burst of pictures and allows you to cycle through the faces of individuals so you can choose the best picture. It is also possible to add effects to photos, bypassing the need to use services like Instagram.

Second is the Story Mode feature which allows you to create a short video presentation using videos, pictures and music directly on the device. It's a great little feature built-in and is easy to use. It'll mostly be used to create memories of holidays and days out, but it could have a potential business use case for more creative minds who are always looking to develop ideas on the move.

We've had a little pay play with the feature and here's what we managed to conjure up in a few minutes:

Design and display

With its block rectangular look the Z10 looks like a cross between an iPhone 5 and a Samsung Galaxy S2. That's a good thing. It's comfortable to hold because of the matte finish on the back and it's not heavy at 137g.

Pull it out of your pocket and you'll attract "oohs" and "aahs" from friends and they'll be surprised when you tell them "it's a BlackBerry". Yes it's cool to have a BlackBerry again because it no longer looks like it was made in 1997.

The screen is a good size at 4.2ins and comes with a resolution of 1280 x 768 and a pixel density of 356PPI.

It's bright too, although it was hard to provide an exact measurement of the brightness because there is no way to turn off the auto-brightness. This means the display on the BB10 constantly adjusts to surroundings.

In bright sunlight we did manage to get a maximum reading of 715cd/m2 on the Z10, which blows away the figure we got on the iPhone 5 (582cd/m2).

We have a theory in the Dennis office that auto-brightness cannot be turned off on the BB10 because, if it was disabled and a user left the brightness on maximum, the battery would be chewed up in a couple of hours.

Hardware

BlackBerry hasn't talked up the hardware like some other manufacturers insist on doing, but this doesn't mean that it's sub-par.

The Z10 is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 processor and is paired with 2GB of memory. Performance of the OS is super smooth easily on par with iOS and Windows Phone when it comes to smooth transitions between screens and apps. There's absolutely no stuttering.

We particularly like the ability to see exactly the amount of RAM being used in the Settings > About > Hardware menu, so you can kill apps to free up memory. However, it would be useful to be able to monitor data allowance as not everyone has an unlimited allocation.

In terms of storage, there's 16GB of internal space on offer, which can be topped up with 32GB via the micro SD card slot. The device has all the usual features such as an accelerometer, digital compass, gyroscope and GPS. It's also got Bluetooth 4 and NFC connectivity as well as 4G functionality. It has the standard micro USB connection and also micro HDMI output, so you can connect it to a TV or projector.

The device has also got the ability to create a mobile hotspot so you can connect other devices such as laptops and tablet to the internet when you're on the move.

Battery

BlackBerry has packed in an 1,800mAh battery pack into the Z10, which the firm says should keep it going for up to 10 hours of video playback or 11 hours of talk time. It's swappable too, so heavy duty users can always carry a spare.

In terms of real-world usage, you'll get a day out of the handset with moderate usage as long as your location tracking is turned off.

We did find the battery had drained 25 per cent overnight when it wasn't connected to any Wi-Fi networks and had only received a handful of messages. This seemed a bit much and we'll be looking into this further. We've raised this issue with BlackBerry and will let you know when we hear anything.

In our intesiveIT Pro battery test, which simulates a 12 hour day, the BB10 handset powered through the day and still had 19 per cent battery left after 12 hours. To but this in context, this puts its behind the Galaxy S3 (27 per cent remaining), and outdoes the iPhone 5, which died after 10 hours.

Overall

BB10 feels like a polished OS, not rushed like the original version of the Windows Phone. The BlackBerry software may not have the quantity of apps available to iOS and Android users, but it is the safest OS and has the best messaging system on any platform. We'd rank it higher than the Windows Phone OS in terms of usability and it has the potential to woo disgruntled iPhone and Android users. The Z10 is a solid all-rounder and BlackBerry will no doubt continue to boost functionality with software updates.

Update:BlackBerry is now rolling out the BlackBerrry OS 10.1 update to BlackBerry Z10 device users to further help enhance their mobile experience. The news was revealed during the BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando at the same time as announcing the BlackBerry Q5 device and BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10.1 download availability.

"BlackBerry 10 as a platform is entirely new. This is not an update to an older BlackBerry OS. It has been completely redesigned, re-engineered and reinvented," Heins told conference delegates. "We're committed to making BlackBerry 10 the mobile platform that will take the industry into the next and new era of mobile computing. That's what we're destined to do.

BlackBerry released its first software update for the BB10 OS at the beginning of March 2013. It provided five critical updates including fixes for the battery life, camera video playback and apps. The update was pushed out via carriers and BlackBerry said it was working to make it available as soon as possible.

The Canadian firm also confirmed that the Whatsapp would be made available for BB10 during March 2013.

Then, in May 2013, BlackBerry held the first of its European BlackBerry Experience Forum events in London, which are designed to reiterate the business benefits of its new BB10 handsets, operating system and enterprise server.

During the event, the company treated attendees to a sneak peek at some of the new features it is planned to introduce to BES 10 in order to bolster its interoperability with iOS and Android devices.

Meanwhile, the firm's CEO Thorsten Heins discussed the early success of the Z10, describing early sales of the device as "encouraging".

In June 2013, BlackBerry claimed that a security flaw in the Z10 - which potentially risked allowing hackers to get root-kit access to the phone - was too difficult to exploit without a great deal of user help.

This article was first pubilshed on 04/02/14 and has been updated multiple times (most recently on 11/08/14) to reflect new information that has become available since its original publication.

Verdict

An excellent effort from BlackBerry, the BB10 OS is smooth and has all the key features you'd expect. It's easy to navigate and the messaging hub is the best on any platform. The hardware included in the Z10 is also up there with iPhone and Galaxy S3.

OS: BB10

Display: 4.2in 1280 x 768, 356PPI

Processor: 1.5GHz Qualcomm dual-core

RAM: 2GB

Internal storage: 16GB + micro SD support up to 32GB

Camera: 8-megapixel rear w/Flash, autofocus, 1080p HD recording, 2-megapixel front

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, 4G

Ports: micro USB, micro HDMI

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) users might soon be able to send and receive messages from contacts with Android and iOS devices.

BlackBerry, the smartphone maker formerly known as RIM, said it plans to make BBM available as an app for iOS and Android devices later this summer.

Before that can happen, BlackBerry will need to get the software approved by Google and Apple to get it listed in their respective app stores.

The announcement coincides with the BlackBerry Live conference, which is currently taking place in Orlando, Florida. It also follows yesterday's announcements at the event about updates to the BB10 operating system and the imminent arrival of its new Q5 device.

• Read our BlackBerry Q10 review here
• Read our BlackBerry Z10 review here
• Read our BlackBerry 10 OS review here

In a blog post, BlackBerry said iOS and Android users will be able to take advantage of BBM's instant messaging, multi-person chat and voice note sharing capabilities.

They will also be able make use of the BlackBerry Groups feature, which allows BBM users to invite up to 30 people to privately share calendar invites, photos and other documents.

Andrew Bocking, executive vice president of software product management and ecosystem at BlackBerry, said the time is right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service.

"BBM has always been one of the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy," he said.

"We're excited to offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community."

BlackBerry claims BBM is used by more than 51 million users everyday who send and receive an average of 10 billion messages each day. This figure could potentially skyrocket if Google and Apple grant permission for the software to be used on their devices.

This isn't the first time the company has opened up its services for Android and iOS users, as it recently announced that BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 (BES 10) will soon provide support for competing devices.

The software will allow iOS and Android device owner to make use of a BlackBerry Balance-like feature called Secure Workspace that will keep personal and corporate information on the same device separate.

BlackBerry has treated users to a sneak peek at some of the enhancements in the pipeline for its newly launched Z10 smartphone device and BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) 10 product.

The smartphone maker, previously known has RIM, is planning to ramp up the amount of support BES 10 offers iOS and Android users by providing them with a dedicated workspace on their devices where corporate data can be securely kept.

The feature is called BlackBerry Secure Workspace and can be accessed on Apple iPhones by selecting an app on the home screen and logging in using a PIN code.

Android users simply need to double tap the home button on their devices to access a similar login screen.

The feature mirrors the BYOD-friendly BlackBerry Balance capability the firm debuted on the Z10, which allows users to separate personal and corporate information on the same device.

However, the firm stopped short of revealing when the functionality will be rolled out to users.

It was one of a number of features showcased to users during the opening keynote at the BlackBerry Experience Forum (BEF) in London today.

During the address, attendees were also shown another iPhone-friendly feature the company is planning to launch, which will allow users to securely connect to the BlackBerry infrastructure.

Lock downSecurity was a recurring theme of the keynote, with the firm's vice president of security product management and research, Mike Brown, claiming it is something that is in the company's DNA.

"Go back in time when BlackBerry first came to market in 1999, and the same message we got time and again was, no matter how exciting this technology is, if this puts my data at risk, I will not deploy it," said Brown.

The event is the first of many the company is doing across Europe over the coming months, which will see it reiterating the benefits of its new BlackBerry 10 platform to business users.

The company has seen its stronghold on the enterprise weaken in recent years, as rival devices from the likes of Apple and Samsung have found favour with consumers who have seized on their internet capabilities to access corporate email and other line of business apps.

The firm has also suffered outages, which left many in the UK unable to access email or make calls on their devices for several days back in October 2011, while the release of the Z10 was also delayed, all of which have taken their toll on its standing in the smartphone market.

The firm's CEO, Thorsten Heins, has gone to great lengths to acknowledge BlackBerry's shortcomings in recent years, while reiterating that the new devices would be worth the wait.

So far, reviews for the BlackBerry Z10, which went on sale in the UK at the end of January, have been largely favourable, with IT Pro's tech editor recently praising the device's messaging capabilities and its BB10 operating system.

The company also revealed at the event that, since its launch, around 1,000 apps are being added to the BlackBerry World App Store each day.

During a briefing with the press afterwards, Jeff Holleran, senior director of enterprise product management at BlackBerry, said the firm's devices should no longer be considered "dumb email terminals."

"[With the] BB10 we've done a lot to enable BYOD [within the enterprise] and empower users that have been given a corporate device," he explained.

"In years past, the word BlackBerry became synonymous with this dumb email terminal, whereas we had devices in the company that ran Twitter and Facebook and had great camera applications, for example.

"We know, if end users have choice, they will have full diversity [of devices in their environments] and we now have the ability [to cater for that]," he concluded.

It's been a busy day for the firm formally known as RIM. Not only has it re-branded itself to become BlackBerry, but has finally launched its eagerly awaited BlackBerry 10 devices.

We walk you through everything you need to know about the devices and platform, to see if you think it will be right for your business.

What are the device options?

BlackBerry has started off by unveiling two devices running the new platform. The UK will be the first to receive the BlackBerry Z10 this is the full touchscreen edition and will be available from 1 February.

BlackBerry will also offer the Q10 smartphone. This will come with the traditional keyboard which has been featured in the firm's Bold range.

Related content

Can RIM win back businesses with BlackBerry 10?

[a href="https://www.itpro.com/645394" target="blank"]

RIM rebrands itself and unveils BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 devices[/a]

BlackBerry 10 - First look review

What's so special about the BlackBerry 10 operating system?

Even if you've been a hardened BlackBerry user, the changes will surprise you. BlackBerry has revamped the user interface and it relies on swipes from the edge of the screen to navigate. Don't worry though, there is a tutorial during set up to guide you through and it is a straightforward system.

Apps - On launch there will be 70,000 apps in the BlackBerry World store. This may be 10x less than the Android platform currently has, but this is the largest collection available to users upon the launch of a new platform.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare come pre-installed. Apps which have committed to being developed for BB10 include Angry Birds, Facebook, Skype, SAP and Whatsapp.

BlackBerry Hub Allows you to set up your accounts and manage everything from your email to your social networking messages and can be accessed from any app via the "peek" feature simply by swiping from the right hand edge of the screen.

Enterprise support BlackBerry was one of the pioneers of push email so it was a given that its BB10 devices would come with Exchange ActiveSync support. Devices can also be managed and remotely wiped by IT admins, and the next feature is being touted as the major selling point to businesses.

BlackBerry Balance Built in to the software, this tool is designed to create separate personal and work content. The transition between this content is seamless with users able to select between work and personal accounts by swiping down from the top of the screen. If an employee ever leaves a firm, IT admins can delete content stored in the Work section, allowing the employee to take the device with them.

Security - BlackBerry devices have been renowned for their security and the BB10 platform is no different.

The BB10 devices carry FIPS 140-2 certification. This could make the handsets ideal for healthcare, government, legal and financial institutions.

Improved BBM One of the most popular features of BlackBerry devices has always been the BBM instant messaging service. It is now possible to carry out video calling directly through BBM and also to share what's on your screen with another device. This is likely to prove extremely useful for business users when it comes to collaboration on the move as documents, presentations, images and videos can be shared without having to use email.

Revamped keyboard One of the most striking changes has been made to the keyboard. It is designed to adapt to the way individuals type learning the words you use. It also has a heat map built in so it recognises where you are pressing.

Instead of typing out words letter-by-letter, the keyboard will aim to predict the next word you are going to type. It gives you a variety of options depending on the sentence and users can enter words by simply flicking up.

Camera There are a couple of interesting features built into the camera app. First up the Time Shift feature allows users to alter the faces of individuals so you can choose the best picture. It is also possible to add effects to photos, bypassing the need to use services like Instagram.

Finally, the Story Maker mode allows you to compile and edit photos and videos together and add music to create a movie of day-trips etc.

HTML5 Internet browser BlackBerry claims its browser leads the industry when it comes to HTML5 support on smartphones. It's got many of the features you would expect from desktop browsers, such as private browsing and multiple tabs. We'll be putting it through its paces to see just how good it really is.

Multitasking - BlackBerry is touting this as the first "true mobile computing device" as it boasts PC-like multi-tasking capabilities. It's possible to start watching a video, then check an email or browse the internet while it's still playing. On paper this sounds like a neat feature, but we can't help but feel it's a bit of a novelty at this time and something which is likely to drain the battery.

BlackBerry Remember - A feature which allow users to collect documents, links, pictures, videos and emails into folders, for future reference. It's also possible to create a to-do list.

Is the hardware any good?

The BB10 devices come with solid specifications, but they are not quite up there with the Galaxy S3 or the iPhone 5.

The flagship Z10 comes with a 4.2in screen with 1280 x 768 resolution and a pixel density of 356 PPI, which the CEO claimed would deliver a "cinematic experience".

The BB Z10 is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm dual-core processor together with 2GB of RAM. This is paired with 2GB of RAM and there is 16GB of internal storage. The inclusion of micro SD card support means that users can boost this by an extra 32GB. The devices also support micro-SIMs.

Ports include micro USB and micro HDMI connections. On the back there is an 8-megapixel camera, with a 2-megapixel snapper on the front. The flagship Z10 also includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G and NFC support out-of-the-box.

What about battery life?

Inside the Z10 is a 1,800mAH battery pack, which should provide up to eight hours on a single charge. We'll put it through our intensive IT Pro battery test soon, but our gut feeling is that it's unlikely to outlast devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, which powered through a 12 hour day without any problems.

The battery is removable so it's always possible to carry a spare.

Pricing

Perhaps the only stumbling point looks like pricing - as the BlackBerry devices are not going to be cheap. O2, Vodafone, Phones 4u, BT, 3UK and Carphone Warehouse will all offer the BB Z10.

Price points will vary according to carriers and retail partners, while the device is expected to cost 480 SIM-free.

EE has announced that the Z10 will be available to buy for 49.99 on a 41 per month 24 month 4G package, which will give users 1GB of mobile data, as well as unlimited UK calls and texts.

For SMBs, the firm is offering the device for 41.67 on a 30 per month 24 month package, where users will receive 1GB of mobile data, as well as 1,000 UK calls and texts.

RIM has re-branded itself as "BlackBerry" and finally launched its BlackBerry 10 range of devices, as the Canadian firm fights to claw back market share from Apple and Samsung.

The firm has announced two handsets, which will runs its BB10 operating system, but was coy on specs.

The flagship BB Z10 will feature a 4.2in display with 356 pixels-per-inch density.

BlackBerry has revamped the keyboard - and instead of typing out words, users will be able to "flick" words onto the screen - allowing them to type with just one hand.

Meanwhile, the Q10 combines BlackBerry's traditional physical keyboard with the BlackBerry 10 software and looks to be the the equivalent of the BlackBerry Bold.

What's in it for business?

BlackBerry 10: Can RIM re-ignite its business love affair?BlackBerry 10 - First look review

BlackBerry 10 is based on the QNX operating system which RIM introduced in its ill-fated PlayBook tablet. The firm has spent the entirety of 2012 fine-tuning the OS, and claims it is future-proofed for "the next 10 years".

There will be over 70,000 apps available on launch in BlackBerry World, and the firm expects thousands more to be added each week.

Key apps which are "committed" to the BB platform include Angry Birds, Facebook, Skype, SAP and Whatsapp. However, it is unclear if they will be available at launch.

BlackBerry claims the new software allows for "true-multitasking" - so users can play a video on the internet and check an email without pausing it via its "Peek" feature.

The BlackBerry Hub is deeply integrated into applications. Users can manage messages and social networks without actually having to go into applications such as LinkedIn or the Calendar.

Thorsten Heins, CEO of RIM, took the stage and claimed the BB10 software will transform the market and will mark the start of "true mobile computing".

"We will soon give you more ways to connect your mobile experiences to everyone else. We will be the leader of connecting you to the internet of things," he said.

"Today is a new day in the history of BlackBerry. Two years ago we had to make a serious decision to use someone else's platform or to build a whole new one. We made the decision to go it alone."

One of the key features which is aimed at attracting businesses to deploy the device is inclusion of the BlackBerry Balance software.

The Balance software allows IT admins to split work and personal information on the device and put restrictions in place. So, for example, admins can set the device up so sensitive data may not be copied to a personal workspace.

In the event that a user leaves the firm and takes the BlackBerry device with them, the company says admins will be able to remotely delete all corporate information without affecting any personal data.

Further to this, the BlackBerry 10 platform has received FIPS 140-2 certification. This could make handsets supporting the new BlackBerry software highly desirable in sectors where information needs to be kept confidential such as healthcare, government, legal and financial verticals.

The smartphone maker has seen its grip on the smartphone market slip from a dominant 20 per cent in 2008 to just six per cent in 2012.

Apple and Samsung have seen sales of their flagship iPhone and Galaxy S3 devices go through the roof. Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones in the last quarter, and analyst estimates suggest Samsung shipped over 60 million smartphones during the same three month period.

BlackBerry said the device will launch with 110 carriers and partners worldwide. The BB Z10 will be available in the UK from 1 February and price points will vary depending on the network or retailer.

O2, Vodafone, Phones 4u, BT, 3UK and Carphone Warehouse are all expected to offer the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone on fully subsidised, competitive monthly pay contracts.

Price points will vary according to carriers and retail partners, while the device is expected to cost $480 sim-free.

Meanwhile, EE has announced that the Z10 will be available to buy for 49.99 on a 41 per month 24 month 4G package, which will give users 1GB of mobile data, as well as unlimited UK calls and texts. For SMBs, the firm is offering the device for 41.67 on a 30 per month 24 month package, where users will receive 1GB of mobile data, as well as 1,000 UK calls and texts.

Stay tuned for a hands-on and a full review.

Lenovo and RIM have played down talks of a potential M&A deal despite the chief financial officer of the Chinese PC maker claiming a merger could be on the cards.

Wong Wai Ming, CFO of Lenovo specifically name-checked the Canadian firm when he was asked about how it might strengthen its position in the mobile market.

"We are looking at all opportunities - RIM and many others," Wai Ming told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

"We'll have no hesitation if the right opportunity comes along that could benefit us and shareholders."

In statements to IT Pro, both firms have since downplayed the comments.

"We are aware that Lenovo's CFO Wai Ming was speaking broadly about M&A strategy in a recent interview," Lenovo noted.

"RIM was raised as a potential target by the journalist and Mr Wong repeatedly answered in a manner consistent with all of our previous statements on M&A strategy.

"Lenovo is very focused on growing its business, both organically and through M&A. When inorganic ideas arise, we explore them to see if there is a strategic fit," the statement added.

Similarly, RIM emphasised that it is solely focused on the launch of its BB10 range, which is set for 30 January.

"We do not have anything new to report on our strategic review at this time. [CEO] Thorsten Heins has made it very clear that we are focused on the delivery of BlackBerry 10," RIM said.

"As he said on our most recent results conference call on 20th December, we continue to examine all available options to create new opportunities, focusing on areas where we will be more effective partnering rather than going it alone, and ultimately maximising value for all stakeholders."

At present Lenovo has been focusing on the smartphone market in its home territory of China where it has launched devices such as the K800.

The firm was one of the first to sign a deal with Intel to use x86-based Atom chips in its smartphones. However, Lenovo has yet to take the plunge into the western Europe and US markets where Apple and Samsung dominate.

Meanwhile, RIM has been losing its grip on the smartphone market as it delayed the launch of its BB10 to make sure it wasn't rushed out.

Although acquiring RIM's hardware business could be beneficial for Lenovo, the chances remain slim at this point, as there would a host of regulatory hurdles to overcome.

Under its rules for foreign investment, the Canadian government would have to greenlight the deal as it would be worth more than $344 million.

A more likely scenario would see Lenovo making a deal with RIM to license out the BB10 OS, especially given comments from Heins earlier this week.

The RIM CEO claimed that it was conceivable that the BB10 operating system could be licensed out in the same way that Microsoft had done with the Windows Phone software.

"Before you licensed the software, you must show that the platform has great potential. We must fulfill our promises first. But if such proof is provided, licensing is conceivable," Heins said.

Research In Motion's (RIM) new BlackBerry 10 (BB10) mobile device management service is now available to download.

The firm's new BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 can be used to manage the firm's range of tablets and smartphones, including its highly anticipated BB10 device, as well as Android and iOS devices.

BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10provides business and IT leaders with the confidence that corporate data is protected.

The product is aimed at enterprise users and will allow firms to manage the devices and applications employees use, and provide users with secure access to corporate data.

It features a web-based admin console, which IT staff can use to manage their company's plethora of devices, and supports the use of BlackBerry's BYOD-friendly Balance technology.

The latter is being touted by RIM as one of the standout features of the forthcoming BB10 device, which will launch on 30 January, and allows business users to keep their personal and corporate data separate on a single device.

Peter Devenyi, senior vice president of enterprise software at RIM, said: "BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10provides business and IT leaders with the confidence that corporate data is protected and the manageability that CIOs and IT departments have long enjoyed with BlackBerry."

The offering is available to download now or as a limited 60 day free trial, while existing BlackBerry users can upgrade for free through the firm's BlackBerry 10 Ready Programme.

Nick McQuire, research director for mobile enterprise strategies for EMEA at IDC, said the service offers some important operational improvements for BlackBerry's existing user base.

"We believe RIM is poised to capitalise on its strong history in delivering reliable, scalable and secure mobile enterprise management solutions to help organisations address an increasingly diverse mobile environment," he added.

Research In Motion (RIM) shares surged to a 13-month high yesterday after its chief executive said the company may consider licensing its software to other mobile phone makers.

In an interview with a German newspaper on Monday, Thorsten Heins, the chief executive, said RIM's ongoing review could potentially lead to the sale of its handset business or the licensing of its software to rival smartphone companies.

"The main thing for now is to successfully introduce Blackberry 10. Then we'll see," Heins was reported as saying.

The main thing for now is to successfully introduce Blackberry 10.

The company, set to launch its new line of devices on January 30, played down the significance of the comments, saying that Heins's comments were in line with his prior statements.

"We do not have anything new to report on our strategic review at this time," said RIM spokesman Nick Manning.

The comments sent RIM's Toronto-listed shares up as much as 17.6 per cent, with the shares up 15.3 per cent at C$18.12 at 1400 ET. The company's typically more-active Nasdaq-listed shares were not being traded on Monday because US financial markets were closed for a public holiday.

RIM announced a far-reaching strategic review last May in which it was widely expected to examine all options, from software licensing deals to an outright sale of the company.

The company virtually invented mobile email with its first BlackBerry devices more than a decade ago, but its market share has evaporated as consumers have flocked to Apple's iPhone and devices based on Google's Android operating system.

RIM now hopes its revamped line of touchscreen and keyboard devices will help it win back market share.

RIM shares are down almost 90 per cent from an all-time high of over C$150 in 2008, but the stock has rallied in the last four months as the launch of the BlackBerry 10 devices nears. Its shares have nearly tripled in value since dipping as low as C$6.10 in late September.

The stock rose more than 6 per cent on Friday alone, after an influential analyst raised his rating on the company and said that the BlackBerry 10 operating system performed as well or better than rivals in recent tests.

Byron Capital analyst Tom Astle on Monday raised his price target on RIM shares to C$18 from C$14.

"There are several emerging datapoints that suggest this may be a more successful product cycle than many expected," said Astle in a note to clients.

BlackBerry 10 (BB10) users could find a well-stocked app store by the time the new smartphone drops at the end of this month.

A "Port-a-thon" saw developers submit 15,000 apps to BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) over a single weekend.

The event was held to create apps for the new platform, with incentives given to developers to encourage them to participate.

RIM executives were reportedly pleased with the result.

"Well there you have it. 37.5 hours in, we hit 15,000 apps for this portathon. Feel like I've run a marathon. Thanks to all the devs!" wrote Alec Saunders, vice president of developer relations at RIM, in a Twitter message.

Developers were offered $100 for each app submitted and approved for use in the Blackberry App Store.

The first 200 developers to have five-to-ten apps approved receive a BB10 Alpha device.

Developers with more than ten approved apps receive a device and could bag a chance to attend February's Blackberry Jam conference in Amsterdam.

The event was split into two halves. One focused on porting Android apps while the other was open to porting software from other platforms, such as Marmalade, Sencha, jQuery, PhoneGap, Qt, AIR, Enyo, and previous versions of the BlackBerry OS.

RIM has also promised developers that if their apps generate more than $1,000 in income, it will make up the difference between that figure and $10,000.

BB10 is essential to RIM's future as it has gradually seen its share of the smartphone market eroded by Apple and Samsung in recent years.

The new smartphone OS and handsets are scheduled for launch on 30 January.

The final "BlackBerry 10 Last Chance Port-A-Thon" will begin on January 18 and run for 36 hours.

Mobile software developer Synchronoss Technologies has acquired Research In Motion-owned cloud service provider NewBay for $55.5 million (34.3 million).

The sum is half what RIM paid to acquire the firm in October 2011.

Dublin-based NewBay produces a white-label software platform, LifeCache, which lets mobile operators deliver cloud-based content services, such as video streaming and photo albums to their customers.

The company was acquired 15 months ago by the troubled BlackBerry maker for an undisclosed sum, believed by analysts to be in the region of $100 million (61.8 million). However, continuing financial troubles have forced RIM to shed non-core assets.

Reports that NewBay was up for sale first surfaced in August 2012 and the acquisition by Synchronoss was completed in December.

Stephen G. Waldis, Synchronoss' CEO, said: "By adding NewBay's technology assets and millions of subscribers, this transaction further establishes Synchronoss as the clear leader in providing cloud based mobile content services for mobile operators around the world.

"We are excited to bolster our international presence through the acquisition of NewBay, including a major European mobile operator in the early stages of a significant planned expansion ... [and] we believe that the combination of NewBay and Synchronoss will further ensure the success of the significant cloud services launch being prepared at Verizon Wireless, which remains on schedule," Waldis added.

BlackBerry smartphone manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) has paid Finnish rival Nokia 50 million (40.6 million) to settle a patent dispute, it has emerged.

The court battle between the two companies centred on the use of Wireless local access network (WLAN) technologies in BlackBerry devices, to which Nokia holds the intellectual property rights.

The Finnish phone manufacturer filed lawsuits in the UK, Canada and the US in November 2012, seeking to enforce a Swedish ruling against RIM.

It stated that RIM was in breach of contract and was not entitled to manufacture or sell WLAN products without agreeing royalties with Nokia.

RIM is not entitled to sell WLAN products without agreeing royalties with Nokia.

The settlement was reached on 21 December 2012, with the two organisations announcing an end to "all patent litigation between the companies" and a new license agreement.

However, details of the settlement and the lump sum payment have only now come to light, thanks to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the Financial Times, RIM is expected to pay a license fee of between 1.24 and 3.10 per handset sold that uses Nokia's technology.

Nokia and RIM have seen their marketshare dwindle in recent years as the popularity of Android and iOS devices has soared.

However, Nokia is believed to hold the industry's most extensive wireless technology patent portfolio, from which it derives an estimated 402 million in revenues each year.

Research In Motion (RIM) shares tumbled more than 10 per cent yesterday after the company reported the first ever decline in its subscriber numbers and outlined plans to transform the way it charges for BlackBerry services.

RIM, which hopes to revive its fortunes and reinvent itself via the launch of a brand new line of BlackBerry 10 devices next month, caught investors off-guard on its quarterly conference call, with plans to alter its service revenue model.

They're certainly in a much better position than they were three or four quarters ago.

The move could put pressure on the high-margin business that currently accounts for about a third of RIM's sales.

"RIM provided few details regarding the economics of these changes, thus adding a large cloud of uncertainty to the primary driver of its profitability, which we view as especially worrisome given risks already surrounding the firm's massive BlackBerry 10 transition," said Morningstar analyst Brian Colello.

Subscribers who need enhanced services like advanced security will pay for these services, while those who do not will generate much lower to no service revenue, RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins told analysts and investors on the conference call.

"I want to be very clear on this. Service revenues are not going away, but our business model and service offerings are going to evolve...The mix in level of service fees revenue will change going forward and will be under pressure over the next year," cautioned Heins.

The news startled investors, who had earlier in the evening pushed RIM's stock more than 7 per cent higher in post-market trading, after the company reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss and said it boosted its cash cushion ahead of next month's crucial launch of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

RIM's shares have for weeks been on a tear as optimism around BB10 has grown. Following RIM's surprise announcement on service revenues, however, the stock ended 9 per cent lower at $12.85 in trading after the closing bell.

Analysts also expressed concern about the decline in RIM's subscriber base.

"The early reaction was probably just 'Hey, numbers looked OK, better loss, the cash flow was good' but if you know the company, you're looking at the subscriber base falling off," said Mark McKechnie at Evercore Partners in San Francisco.

Cash balance

One reason the shares rose earlier was RIM managed to build up its cash cushion to $2.9 billion from $2.3 billion in the previous quarter.

Analysts have been keeping a sharp eye on the size of RIM's cash pile, as RIM will need the funds to manufacture and effectively promote BlackBerry 10 in a crowded market.

RIM is counting on the new line to claw back market share lost in recent years to the likes of Apple's iPhone and a slew of devices powered by Google's Android operating system.

"They've done a great job at generating cash," said Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt in Nashville. "They're certainly in a much better position than they were three or four quarters ago."

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said it is now testing its BB10 devices with more than 150 carriers - up from about 50 carriers as of the end of October. RIM expects more carriers to come on board ahead of the formal launch of BB10 on January 30.

Positive feedback from developers and carriers around RIM's new BlackBerry 10 devices has buoyed the stock in the last three months. Despite the plunge in RIM's share price on Thursday, the stock has more than doubled in value the last three months.

On an operating basis, RIM fared a little better than Wall Street had expected. It reported a loss of $114 million or 22 cents a share, excluding one-time items. Analysts, on average, had forecast a loss of 35 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

RIM also reported a surprise net profit of $9 million, or 2 cents a share, for its fiscal third quarter ended December 1, on the back of a one-time income tax related gain. That compared with a year-ago profit of $265 million, or 51 cents.

RIM said it shipped 6.9 million smartphones in the quarter, even as its subscriber base fell to about 79 million in the quarter from about 80 million in the period ended September 1.

In recent years, RIM's user base has grown, even as the BlackBerry lost ground in North America and Europe, boosted by gains in emerging markets. While eye opening, the shrinkage was not as bad as some observers expected during the last quarter before the BB10 launch.

"We're encouraged that the subscriber base only declined slightly during a very public transition, and BlackBerry sales were about what we expected," said Morningstar's Colello, who is based in Chicago.

Research In Motion (RIM) said a US federal agency, which recently outlined plans to move away from BlackBerry in favor of iPhone, is to begin testing the new BlackBerry 10.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) will begin a pilot program on RIM's new line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10) early next year.

The news, which comes just as shares of the embattled company rallied to their highest close in seven months, signals that RIM's BlackBerry 10 platform is gaining some traction ahead of its official launch next month.

RIM, a one-time pioneer in the smartphone industry, has lost market share in recent years to the iPhone and devices powered by Google's market-leading Android operating system, even among the business audience who once used BlackBerry devices exclusively.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM is now seeking to persuade both corporations and government users to stick with its smartphones, which have long been valued for their strong security features.

It promises that its new line of devices, which will be powered by the BlackBerry 10 operating system, will be both smoother and faster than previous BlackBerry phones.

RIM is betting that these new devices - to be launched on January 30 - will revive its fortunes. But that may well depend to a large extent on the response from enterprise customers, many of whom have recently begun to flee to rival platforms.

ICE is one such example. The agency, in October, announced plans to end a long relationship with RIM, stating that its now aging line-up of BlackBerry devices could "no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency.

At the time, ICE outlined intentions to buy iPhones for more than 17,600 employees. It is not immediately clear whether the agency plans to revisit this plan or whether its intends to use RIM's new BES 10 platform to manage both iPhones and BlackBerry devices.

A spokeswoman for the agency was not immediately able to comment on the pilot program or the agency's plans.

Shares surge

The news comes soon after yet another rally in RIM shares on Wednesday, after Eric Jackson - a long-time bear on RIM's stock - penned an opinion piece on his now bullish stance on the company.

Jackson, the founder of Ironfire Capital, in his piece, said parallels drawn by some analysts between RIM and its now-defunct rival Palm are flawed, as Palm never had the kind of installed subscriber base that RIM enjoys.

In his article, published on Wednesday on the TheStreet.com, Jackson contends that RIM's new BlackBerry 10 devices have much better odds of success than Palm's Pre device, which failed to capture a following despite positive reviews on the device and its operating system.

Jackson, who was short RIM's stock for an extended period, argues that the positive sentiment building in RIM's stock ahead of the launch of the make-or-break line of devices is unlikely to dissipate in a hurry.

This is because a large portion of RIM's 80 million subscribers are likely to upgrade to BB10 when the new devices are launched. Jackson said he now has a long position in RIM.

Shares in the company rose 5.6 per cent to close at $13.31 on the Nasdaq - their highest close since May 1. Its Toronto-listed shares rose 5.8 per cent to close at C$13.14.

The stock has more than doubled in price since September 24, when the shares were trading slightly above the $6 level in both New York and Toronto.

Beleaguered smartphone manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) may have to halt sales of its BlackBerry devices after losing a contract dispute with Finnish rival, Nokia.

Nokia said on Wednesday a Swedish arbitrator had ruled that "RIM was in breach of contract and is not entitled to manufacture or sell WLAN products without first agreeing royalties with Nokia."

Wireless local access network (WLAN) technologies, usually marketed under the WiFi brand, are used across BlackBerry devices and by most other smartphones.

Nokia, which is trying to boost its royalty income as its phone business slides, said it had filed cases in the United States, Britain and Canada to enforce the arbitrator's ruling.

"This could have a significant financial impact to RIM, as all BlackBerry devices support WLAN," IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said.

RIM declined to comment. At 6 a.m. EDT its Frankfurt-listed shares were down 5 percent at 8.245 Euros (6.66). Nokia shares were down 1.6 percent at 2.526 Euros (2.04).

"If a sales ban was imposed it would be a massive blow for RIM as it manages its transition to the new BlackBerry 10 software platform," said Canalys analyst Pete Cunningham.

However, analysts think it is much more likely that RIM will reach a royalty agreement with Nokia to avert such an outcome.

RIM, a smartphone pioneer, hopes new devices using BlackBerry 10 software, due early 2013, will rescue it from a prolonged slump in the face of competition from the likes of Apple and Samsung.

RIM promises its new devices will be faster than previous smartphones, and will have a large catalogue of applications, which are crucial to the success of any new line of smartphones.

Nokia said it signed a cross-license agreement with RIM covering standards-essential cellular patents in 2003, a deal that was amended in 2008.

RIM sought arbitration in March 2011 with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, arguing the license should be extended to cover WLAN patents.

The arbitration tribunal concluded a nine day hearing in September 2012 and it issued a decision on November 6, Nokia said in a US court filing seeking to enforce the ruling.

During arbitration RIM did not contest it manufactures and sells products using WLAN technology in accordance with Nokia's WLAN products, Nokia said, quoting the tribunal decision.

Nokia, along with Ericsson and Qualcomm, is among the leading patent holders in the wireless industry. Patent royalties generate annual revenue of about 500 million Euros (403 million) for Nokia.

Based on a Nortel patent sale and Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility, some investors and analysts say Nokia's patent portfolio alone merits its current share price of around 2.50 Euros (2.01).

However, the patent market has cooled since those deals were made and industry experts say that fair value of patents in large portfolios is $100,000 (62,505) to $200,000 (125,010), pricing Nokia's portfolio at up to 0.50 Euros (40p) per share.

Research In Motion (RIM) received a boost on Tuesday when one of its most influential critics raised his rating on the stock ahead of the launch of its new make-or-break line of BlackBerry 10 devices.

The upgrade by Jefferies & Co analyst Peter Misek pushed RIM's share price into double digits for the first time in five months, with the stock up more than 3 per cent at $10.04 in early trading on the Nasdaq.

Misek based his more optimistic view of the BB10 launch, set for January 30, on a favorable reaction by telecom carriers to the devices and the new operating system that powers them.

Carriers have a much more positive view of BB10 than we expected.

"Preliminary results from our quarterly handset survey indicate developed market carriers have a much more positive view of BB10 than we expected," Misek said in a note to clients.

Shares of Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM, a one-time leader in the smartphone industry, have plummeted in recent years as its aging line-up of devices lost ground to faster and snazzier devices from rivals. The company has bet its future on the new BB10.

RIM hopes BB10 smartphones will help claw back the market share it has lost in recent years to Apple's iPhone and devices that run on Google's Android operating system.

Misek, who doubled his price target on shares of RIM to $10 from $5, also raised his rating on the stock to "hold" from "underperform".

"With greater carrier shelf space and marketing support, we now believe BB10 has a 20 percent to 30 percent probability of success," said Misek, who has long been skeptical of RIM's odds of engineering a turnaround.

Misek cautioned that there is still downside if RIM's gamble on BB10 fails, but he noted that the stock could be worth as much as $43 within the next 12 months if RIM's bet pays off and its new operating system gets licensed by other handset makers.

RIM says its new devices will be faster and smoother and have a large catalogue of applications, which are now critical to the success of any new line of smartphones.

While feedback from both developers and carriers on the new devices has been largely upbeat, financial analysts have been much more circumspect about the company's prospects.

Misek's view is not shared by at least one of his counterparts.

In a note to clients on Monday, Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette reiterated his "underperform" rating on RIM's shares. He said regardless of its quality, there is almost no chance that BB10 will meaningfully change RIM's trajectory.

One of the downsides of the BlackBerry platform at least, from a business point of view has been the trickiness of hooking the handsets up to office phones, and of making calls over WiFi.

Rival mobile platforms, including Android, iOS and even Symbian, support industry-standard internet calling technologies. Nokia's Symbian-based business phones even came with voice over IP (VoIP) software, based on SIP, in the box.

This made setting up the handsets as mobile phone extensions as easy as downloading a few settings; some enterprising VoIP even sent out the settings as a text message. Asterisk, the open-source office phone system, works well with SIP software, especially for Android; it's possible to put together quite a comprehensive system all using free software.

BlackBerry handsets, though, for all their security and other features, have had minimal support for third-party voice applications. RIM has rolled out some large mobile extension projects with BlackBerry customers, mostly in North America. But most of these have used mobile calls to the mobile phones, rather than VoIP.

The most glaring omission, though, is a lack of BlackBerry support for Skype. RIM has a deal with Verizon Mobile, the US carrier, which allows its users to use Skype on the handsets. In the UK, 3 supports Skype on BlackBerry, but only with the most recent phones. With more businesses using Skype both to save on call charges and for ad-hoc voice and video conferencing, a lack of wider support for the technology might put smaller companies off BlackBerry phones.

RIM, though, has now responded to demands for internet phone support, but in a rather different way to most other smartphone makers. Instead of supporting Skype, or a standard SIP platform, BlackBerry phones will offer free WiFi calls, using the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service.

In some ways, this is a similar approach to that taken by Google with its Talk service (now rolled up into Google+) or Microsoft with Messenger: take an IM service and add voice, and video. But it does not provide the control and integration of a standard VoIP app.

For younger BlackBerry users, voice calls over BBM will be popular and fun; for businesses, the closed and hard to control nature of BBM may put people off. BBM, after all, achieved some notoriety for its role in the riots in the UK last year. And BBM bypasses companies' call monitoring and recording systems, which might rule out its use in fields such as healthcare, and financial services.

Small businesses that already use BlackBerry phones might well take to the technology, though, especially as a free and easy way to make calls to other people in a team. And BBM's upgrade, for all its limitation, might yet worry the mobile phone operators. Yet another way for customers to make free calls can only hurt the operators' voice revenues, and push them even further down the line of just providing a raw data "pipe".

RIM has always worked closely with the phone operators, and that partnership was very much part of its business model. BBM might be aimed at teens rather than suits, but it is just more evidence of how that relationship is changing.

Stephen Pritchard is a contributing editor at IT Pro.

Research in Motion (RIM) will take the wraps off its highly-anticipated BlackBerry 10 (BB10) device at a launch event on Wednesday 30 January 2013.

The ailing smartphone maker confirmed the move earlier today, adding that the first two BB10 devices will make their debut at the event.

The company is also expected to use the event to announce further details about the pricing and general availability of the devices.

RIM has seen its stronghold on the mobile market diminish in recent years, as corporate users embrace rival devices from the likes of Apple and Samsung.

On top of this, the firm has also been rocked by a succession of senior management departures.

As a result, BB10 is being viewed by many industry watchers as a make-or-break device for the company, but details of when it will be released have been scant.

RIM CEO, Thorsten Heins, recently walked users through some of BB10's key features at a preview event in September, including its new Flow operating system and BlackBerry Balance a BYOD-friendly offering that lets users separate personal and corporate apps on the device.

In a statement, announcing BB10's launch date, Heins said the firm was looking forward to finally getting the device into the hands of customers.

"Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities," said Heins.

"All of this will be integrated into a user experience the BlackBerry Flow that is unlike any smartphone on the market today."

Research In Motion (RIM) has bagged US government security clearance for its yet-to-be launched BlackBerry 10 platform that is expected to hit stores in the first quarter of 2013.

The company said its BlackBerry 10 platform has received the FIPS 140-2 certification, which would allow government agencies to deploy the devices, along with the new enterprise management platform to run them, as soon as the new smartphones are launched.

Achieving FIPS certification for a new platform, before launch, is quite remarkable.

RIM, a one-time pioneer in the smartphone industry, has seen its fortunes fade in recent years as rivals Apple and Samsung have eaten into its market share with faster and snazzier devices.

RIM's fate now depends almost entirely on the long-awaited line of so-called BB 10 devices.

Last month, the company said it had begun carrier tests on the new line of devices, which the company hopes will help turn its fortunes around.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said this is the first time BlackBerry products have been FIPS certified ahead of launch.

"Achieving FIPS certification for an entirely new platform in a very short period of time, and before launch, is quite remarkable," RIM's head of security certifications, David MacFarlane, said in a statement.

FIPS certification, which is given by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is one of the minimum criteria that is required for products used by US government agencies and regulated industries that collect, store, transfer, and share sensitive information.

The stamp of approval gives confidence to security-conscious organisations - including some of RIM's top clients like US and Canadian government agencies - that the data stored on smartphones running BlackBerry 10 can be properly secured and encrypted.

RIM promises that BlackBerry 10 will deliver a better user experience, along with the ability to separately manage both corporate and personal data on the same device.

RIM has belated launched a 3G edition of its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in the UK, as the firm aims to capitilise on the growing interest in 7in form factor.

The PlayBook 3G+ largely unchanged from the original PlayBook, which debuted in 2011. The tablet features the same 7in 1024 x 600 multi-touch capacitive screen along with micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports. The tablet also features a 3-megapixel front facing camera and a 5-megapixel camera on the rear.

The device runs on RIM's propitiatory QNX operating system and is one of the few tablets to support both HTML5 and Adobe Flash platforms natively, as even Android devices have ceased support.

In terms of upgrades, RIM has boosted the processor up to a 1.5GHz dual-core chip, doubled the memory (32GB) and of course added cellular connectivity.

However, the pricetag could be a downfall. The PlayBook 3G+ is priced at 415, which makes it 176 more expensive than the 3G edition of the Google Nexus 7 (32GB). Despite being 34 cheaper than the equivalent iPad mini 4G, Apple has a flourishing ecosystem of apps, TV shows, music and movies to offer customers.

Despite being one of the first prominent 7in tablets on the market, the PlayBook was deemed to be a disappointment on launch. The device was plagued with bugs and a lack of apps. The tablet also needed to be used in conjunction with a BlackBerry smartphone to make it fully functional.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) said it will end its contract with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion in favour of Apple's iPhone.

The agency said in a solicitation document posted last week that it intends to buy iPhones for more than 17,600 employees - a purchase worth $2.1 million.

The agency said it has relied on RIM for eight years, but the company "can no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency."

If your handsets are a brick that no one wants to use, it's going to drag down your business.

It also said it analysed Apple's iOS-based devices and Google's Android operating system and concluded that, for the near term, Apple's iPhone services offer the best technology because the hardware platform is tightly controlled.

The agency said the iPhone will be used by a "variety of agency personnel, including, but not limited to, Homeland Security Investigations, Enforcement and Removal Operations and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor employees.

"The iPhone services will allow these individuals to leverage reliable, mobile technology on a secure and manageable platform in furtherance of the agency's mission."

Last week, consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton said it was dropping BlackBerry and switching to iPhone and Android smartphones for its staff of around 25,000.

Analysts said that other businesses and agencies are likely to follow suit, especially in light of demand for other smartphones.

"You're going to see this happen more and more," said Ed Snyder, an analyst at Charter Equity Research.

"They still have excellent security ... but if your handsets are a brick that no one wants to use it's going to drag down your business."

RIM has high hopes that its new BB10 smartphone, expected in early 2013, will compete with iPhones and Android phones. The BB10 will come equipped with a revamped operating system and is aimed at putting an end to a precipitous decline in RIM's market share over the past year and longer.

"Of course, we are disappointed by this decision," RIM vice president of government solutions Paul Lucier said in an emailed statement. "We are working hard to make our new mobile computing platform, BlackBerry 10, meets the future needs of government customers."

RIM said that, after accounting for the ICE move, it had one million government customers in North America.

RIM's advantage has been what industry experts widely describe as superior security and device-management features that have made the BlackBerry appealing to corporate IT managers and a crucial tool for police, government and military use.

But that advantage is waning with the growing number of providers that help companies beef up security on iPhones and Androids and with Apple working on better security on its devices.

"Apple is really addressing security," Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said, adding that it had improved security with the acquisition of AuthenTec and that it now supports Cisco's VPN.

Wu said RIM's problems were compounded by questions over the company's economic viability.

"Is the company going to be around in the next couple of years?" Wu said.

In addition, he added that "a lot of these enterprises have moved beyond email and voice, on to apps and, with RIM, it's pretty clear that their app ecosystem is very weak."

RIM posted a narrower-than-expected loss on Thursday, sparking optimism ahead of the launch of its make-or-break line of next-generation smartphones.

Shares of RIM surged 20 per cent in after-hours trade on indications the company will have plenty of cash to ramp up production of its new BlackBerry 10 devices and mount a robust marketing campaign for the revamped line, due in early 2013.

It was the biggest jump for the stock since a 50 percent surge in December 2003, underlining the importance of the BB10 launch. The company, which has fallen far behind its rivals in a smartphone market it once dominated, has staked its future on the BB10 and its completely redesigned operating system.

RIM's second fiscal quarter brought shareholders additional glimmers of hope, a break from a succession of dreadful quarterly reports. The company not only generated more revenue than Wall Street had forecast but it topped expectations on the number of devices shipped in the period, which ended on September 1.

"It's very impressive," said Jefferies & Co analyst Peter Misek. "I didn't expect they could execute on the business given the models they have in the market, but they obviously did really well in emerging markets."

RIM was also able to bolster its cash pile by collecting on cash owed to the company, drawing down inventories and cutting costs.

It's still bad, but it's a much smaller disaster than expected.

A one-time smartphone pioneer, RIM has failed to keep pace with rivals such as Apple and Samsung, and its stock price has tumbled about 70 per cent over the past year while its market share shriveled.

But the latest quarter showed that RIM is still able to lure buyers for its lower-end smartphones in the more price-conscious emerging markets. And that has helped make up for ground the BlackBerry has lost to cutting-edge devices such as Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S III in North America and Europe.

"RIM and its products, however obsolescent, are still relevant in the parts of the planet where most people live," said CCS Insight analyst John Jackson.

"The bad news is that these results have little or no bearing on what remains true, and that is, RIM still needs to execute on BB10."

In an attempt to create a buzz, chief executive Thorsten Heins gave a preview of the new smartphone and its features to app developers at an event on Tuesday in San Jose, California.

Analysts said RIM struck the right chords at the event but cautioned that it is hard to evaluate how well the BB10 devices will work in real world conditions until they are on the market.

"We are now just a few months away from our launch and our teams are working night and day to meet the expectations we have of ourselves," said Heins on a conference call after the results were released on Thursday.

Heins said RIM executives have met with dozens of carriers in more than 16 countries in the last few weeks and the feedback on the new devices so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

Shipments of BlackBerry smartphones were 7.4 million in the quarter, easily outpacing Wall Street's expectation of about 6.9 million.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company reported a net loss of $235 million, or 45 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter. That compared with a profit of $329 million, or 63 cents, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding one-time restructuring-related items, the loss came in at $142 million, or 27 cents a share, in the quarter just ended.

Revenue rose to $2.9 billion, a gain of 2 percent from the fiscal first quarter, but the latest result was down about 30 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had expected RIM to report a loss of 46 cents a share, on revenues of $2.5 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

"You still have revenue declining 31 per cent on a year-over-year basis but it's certainly not the train wreck that a lot of people feared," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis. "They live to fight another day."

RIM also increased its cash to about $2.3 billion from $2.2 billion in the fiscal first quarter.

"In the last two quarters RIM has done a really good job on collecting on receivables," said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, but he cautioned that this was not sustainable over the long run and RIM would have to return to a profitable business model for it to thrive once again.

While RIM has warned that it faces another operating loss in its fiscal third quarter, it expects its cash position to remain stable unless it is hit by restructuring charges.

Wu believes that the company can achieve this by continuing to draw down on its receivables, which stood just shy of $2.2 billion as of 1 September.

RIM's chief financial officer said the company had entered into a new secured credit facility of $500 million which expires in September 2013, and in the first half RIM realised some $350 million of the up to $1 billion in cost savings it hopes to achieve in fiscal 2013, which ends on March 2 of next year.

The company, which earlier this year said it would cut about 5,000 jobs to save money, said it has already laid off roughly 2,500 workers.

"It's still bad, but it's a much smaller disaster than expected," said Wu. "These stocks all trade on expectations. Expectations were really low, and they were able to beat that."

Research In Motion's (RIM) share price received a boost yesterday after it signed a patent licensing deal with Microsoft to use one of the technology giant's file storage systems.

Microsoft said the patent being licensed by RIM greatly expands the size of files that flash memory devices can handle and increases the speed at which those files can be accessed.

What it does is give investors a glimpse of what the BlackBerry 10 devices can do.

The technology also provides the ability to seamlessly transfer data between a variety of different devices.

"This is potentially money out of RIM's coffers for the right to use the ex-FAT patent in its technology. But what it does for investors and others is provide a glimpse into what the BlackBerry 10 devices can do," said Kevin Restivo, a mobile device analyst at global research firm IDC.

RIM has seen its once dominant position in the smartphone market slip away to Apple, Samsung and other competitors, and the company's fate may depend on the success of its new line of devices, the BlackBerry 10, which is set to hit the market early in 2013.

RIM hopes the BlackBerry 10 will help it regain market share that has been ceded to snazzier devices such as Apple's iPhone and others that run on Google's Android operating system.

"I think there is some anticipation and speculation around the devices that RIM will launch as a result of the announcement today," Restivo said.

IBM is said to have expressed interest in acquiring RIM's enterprise division, which consists of the encrypted servers that support BlackBerry devices.

An informal approach has been made but no talks are under way, two sources have told Bloomberg.

A purchase by IBM would be interesting, as Big Blue has focused on the software side of its business since the sale of its ThinkPad PC division to Lenovo in 2005.

Shares of RIM have almost halved since the start of 2012.

RIM hired JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to study strategic options in May. Thorsten Heins, RIM's CEO said he would prefer to find a partner or license the BlackBerry OS, rather than pursuing a sale. However, this doesn't look likely at this stage.

Fellow smartphone competitor Samsung had been touted as a possible suitor, but has confirmed it is not interested in purchasing its rival or licensing out the Blackberry operating system.

The Korean firm has experienced major success using the Android platform and also has its own Bada operating system.

Shares of RIM have almost halved since the start of 2012, and there are concerns it is burning through its cash reserves due to the delayed launch of its BlackBerry 10 device.

The embattled smartphone manufacturer has struggled to compete with Apple and Android and by the time Blackberry 10 hits the market in 2013 it could be left too far behind.

Samsung Electronics has not considered acquiring Research In Motion or licensing the embattled BlackBerry phone maker's new mobile operating system, the company has confirmed.

A lack of support from potential partners such as Samsung could mean more trouble for RIM, which is seeking various options to turn around its embattled business.

Shares of RIM had risen more than 5 percent early on Wednesday after an influential analyst said it may license the BlackBerry 10 system to Samsung.

RIM has lost its initiative in the smartphone market.

"RIM has already lost its initiative in the smartphone market and what is left doesn't look really attractive to the likes of Samsung," said Lee Sei-cheol, an analyst at Meritz Securities. "Should they have a deep patent pool, that might be the most appealing asset to potential acquirers."

Samsung is the biggest seller of phones that run on Google's Android system, but it also makes phones using Microsoft's Windows as well as its proprietary software called bada.

Its strategy of making phones with multiple platforms had raised speculation it may also license BlackBerry's system to stretch its lead over rivals such as Apple and diversify away from Google, which now owns a handset manufacturing business after acquiring Motorola Mobility.

RIM plans to use its new operating system, known as BB10, in a next-generation line of BlackBerrys expected to launch early next year. It is considered RIM's last hope of reversing BlackBerry's steady decline in market share.

RIM's shares have fallen more than 80 percent since the beginning of 2011 when Apple and other smartphone makers started to widen their lead on RIM, which once dominated the business.

Shares in Samsung closed up 1.5 percent on Thursday, versus a 2 percent rise in the broader market.

RIM has denied giving the Indian government encryption keys to its secure corporate email and messaging services.

India is one of the Canadian smartphone maker's few growing markets, where it is expanding aggressively. The company is facing falling sales elsewhere as customers abandon BlackBerrys in favor of Apple's iPhone and devices running Google Android software, leading to RIM's shares falling by more than 50 per cent over the past one year.

RIM, which has been grappling with the Indian government for years, reiterated that it cannot provide access to its enterprise email and messaging services as the company itself does not possess the encryption keys for the same and these remain in the control of its corporate clients.

The Indian government is fearful that encrypted BlackBerry services could be used to foster unrest or allow militants to organise or carry out attacks.

The Economic Times cited a telecom department official and certain documents reviewed, said that RIM had provided the Indian government a solution that gave it access to corporate emails.

RIM categorically denied this claim in a statement. It has more than once refuted similar claims in India over the last two years.

"RIM is providing an appropriate lawful access solution that enables India's telecom operators to be legally compliant with respect to their BlackBerry consumer traffic, to the same degree as other smartphone providers in India, but this does not extend to secure BlackBerry enterprise communications," said Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM in a statement.

RIM gave India access to its consumer services, including its Messenger services, in January last year after authorities raised security concerns, but said it could not allow monitoring of its enterprise email.

The Indian government is fearful that encrypted BlackBerry services could be used to foster unrest or allow militants to organise or carry out attacks.

'SECURE AND ENCRYPTED'

David Paterson, RIM's head of government relations, said he is positive that the Indian government recognises encryption is fundamental to attracting and maintaining international business in the country and that it would not make any demands that could jeopardise foreign investment in India.

"The fact is that BlackBerry enterprise communications in India remain secure and encrypted. No change has been made or ever can be made in India or anywhere," he said in an interview.

RIM has also faced similar political pressures in the Middle East and elsewhere. It also blocked pornographic sites on its browsers in Indonesia last year following government pressure.

Enterprise clients - corporations and government agencies signed up to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server - are assigned encryption keys stored only on individual user accounts. For such users, any data sent from a BlackBerry is scrambled at the source and reconstituted on arrival at the receiving device.

RIM has long maintained that only the sponsoring business or organisation has the technical capability to grant access to encrypted enterprise email.

Amazon is gearing up for a push into the smartphone market, as the web giant aims to replicate the success of its Kindle e-reader and tablet range.

The online retailer is working in conjunction with Foxconn to develop a mobile handset, according to Bloomberg.

The firm has experienced huge success with its budget Kindle e-reader and Kindle Fire tablet, as it has closely tied these devices to its online media operations.

Users have been able to download digital books, movies, TV shows and music directly to devices from the firm's online store.

There are no details about the type of device Amazon is set to launch,but based on the e-reader and tablet strategies, it is likely to be a budget handset that is tied to its services.

The Kindle Fire tablet has a basic version of Android and the same OS could be applied to a mobile device.

Amazon is the latest in a long line of firms trying to break into the lucrative, but highly competitive, mobile market.

Social networking giant Facebook is also rumoured to be working on a device, having hired former Apple engineers who worked on the iPhone and iPad devices.

Despite the resources at the disposal of Amazon and Facebook, success in the smartphone market is not guaranteed.

Established device manufacturers, such as Dell and HP, have had to discontinue products, including the Dell Streak and Pre device, after they failed to gain traction.

Samsung and Apple are the current market leaders when it comes to high-end smartphones, so the emergence of Amazon and Facebook as competitors could dent sales.

However, the news is more likely to worry Nokia and RIM who seem to be haemorrhaging market share at the moment.

RIM has delayed its BlackBerry 10 operating system until 2013 and Nokia is struggling to get foothold in the market with its Windows 7 devices.

Research In Motion (RIM) is under mounting pressure to sell its network business or form an alliance with Microsoft after the Blackberry maker delayed the release of its next-generation smartphones.

Shares in the Canadian company, which announced a steeper-than-expected quarterly operating loss yesterday, plunged 18 percent in extended trading, slashing its market value to $4.1 billion. The stock has fallen about 70 percent in the past year.

The RIM board would prefer to see through its efforts to develop the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

RIM said the launch of BlackBerry 10 mobile devices has been postponed to early 2013 - more than a year later than initially promised - because the development of its new operating system had "proven to be more time-consuming than anticipated."

The latest setback has increased pressure on RIM's board to more seriously explore other options, including measures that would amount to an admission that it cannot survive by sticking to its current strategy, said the sources, who declined to be identified because the information was confidential.

One of these options is for RIM to abandon its own operating system and adopt Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had approached RIM in recent months, looking to strike a partnership similar to the one the software giant has with Nokia Oyj, the sources said. Under that partnership, Nokia will use Microsoft's latest Windows operating system on its smartphones.

In such a scenario, RIM could also look for Microsoft to buy a stake in the company and fund marketing and other expenses, the sources said. However, this option is not attractive to RIM because it would mean the end of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company's technology independence, they said.

The RIM board prefers to see through the efforts to develop the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, according to the sources.

Microsoft could also be interested in RIM's wireless patents, the sources said.

RIM and Microsoft declined to comment.

Another option for RIM would be to sell its proprietary network to a private equity firm or a technology company. The buyer could then open up RIM's network operating centers to other smartphone providers, allowing them to also provide highly secured emails and other services to companies and government agencies, the sources said.

In that scenario, however, RIM's device business is seen to have no future, they said, adding that private equity firms have been considering how to separate the hardware business from the network business.

RIM has in the past considered opening up its network to rivals, under a plan led by former co-CEO Jim Balsillie. That could offer RIM a way forward as demand for its BlackBerry phones faces fierce competition from Apple Inc's iPhone and Google Inc's Android phones.

The idea would be to clearly define the network as an asset that could exist without BlackBerry handsets - an operational precursor that could have led to a possible legal split if the handset business ultimately proved untenable.

RIM is "going to have to be much more open minded to the idea that Jim Balsillie was working on before he was ousted of opening their network to third parties," said Eric Jackson, a hedge fund manager at Ironfire Capital in Toronto.

Troubled Blackberry maker RIM has warned that it is likely to post a first quarter operating loss, as it struggles to wrest share back from its smartphone rivals.

RIM said it would also cut a "significant" number of jobs, although it did not say how many. Two sources with close connections to RIM have said it plans to slash its workforce closer to 10,000 by early next year from 16,500 currently.

We have a string of bad quarters coming and it really is tough to see how it's going to get better.

The lack of details about the size of the loss and the job losses disappointed some analysts.

"They're clearly moving in the wrong direction right now, so I found it a little frustrating that there wasn't more detail," said Alex Gauna, an analyst at JMP Securities.

"That is a disaster. It's really bad. We did not expect an operating loss this quickly," said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co.

RIM's shares, down more than 75 percent over the past 12 months and trading at eight-year lows, slumped nearly 13 percent to around $9.77 a share in after-market trading, although they pulled back slightly to be last quoted at $10.38. About four years ago they traded at more than $140.

Mark McKechnie, an analyst at ThinkEquity LLC, put RIM's value at "about $10 per share," reflecting what its portfolio of technology patents might bring in a sale.

RIM is also struggling to retain its top talent after a series of high-level executive departures in recent weeks. RIM revealed yesterday that its chief legal officer was resigning and its head of global sales resigned last week to take a job at audio company Sonos.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company hired bankers from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and RBC Capital Markets to help the company evaluate strategies, including a possible overhaul of its business model.

Takeover talks set aside

Last year, RIM held numerous takeover discussions with potential buyers ranging from Amazon and Microsoft to private equity firms, according to sources.

But those talks never resulted in an M&A transaction under former co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. By the end of last year, RIM management had set aside any options for a sale and focused on trying to turn the company's fortunes around.

JPMorgan and RBC were brought in shortly after the announcement that RIM would pursue strategic alternatives in March, said one source close to the matter.

"These advisors have been tasked to help us with the strategic review we referenced on our year-end financial results conference call and to evaluate the relative merits and feasibility of various financial strategies," RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said in a statement.

RIM was not specific about the size of the likely loss in the quarter ending June 2. Before the warning, analysts had expected RIM's earnings to fall to 42 cents a share and revenue to slip to $3.64 billion, according to analyst views collated by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. RIM is due to release the results on June 28.

In March, RIM posted a net loss of $125 million on the back of an inventory write-down for phones launched last year. Excluding those one-time items, RIM reported an adjusted profit of $418 million.

The BlackBerry 10 handsets aren't coming out next quarter, so you know next quarter is going to most likely be worse.

Heins stressed that he planned to maintain spending and hiring for the development of the next-generation BlackBerry 10 phones and to expand its catalog of third-party applications.

A dearth of apps compared with the number available for Apple and Android-based devices has been a major drag on RIM's sales.

RIM's biggest selling point is that other smartphone makers still cannot compete with the security features on RIM's devices, something that has made the BlackBerry a crucial tool for police, government and military use.

RIM said its subscriber base grew to 78 million users, up 1 million from the previous quarter ended March 29. But growth was slower than in any recent quarter.

RIM's market share is falling by the month and the company is pinning its hopes on the BlackBerry 10 models, featuring a new operating system that RIM says will let it compete more effectively against Apple and others.

But the new devices won't be released until later this year, pointing to further difficult quarters to come.

"I don't see the tide turning," said Misek. "The problem is the BlackBerry 10 handsets aren't coming out next quarter, so you know next quarter is going to most likely be worse. Then you look at the November quarter, when we'll probably get the BB10 handsets and at the same time we'll have the iPhone 5. So that quarter is probably going to be bad.

"So we have a string of bad quarters coming and it really is tough to see how it's going to get better."

Blackberry's chief legal officer has become the latest high profile member of the ailing mobile maker's senior executive team to hand in their notice.

The loss of CLO Karima Bawa - who litigated numerous patent disputes and helped write many of RIM's commercial deals - follows the resignation of RIM's head of global sales, Patrick Spence, last week.

"Thorsten Heins [the firm's CEO] is reframing the RIM organisation. Not everyone will fit into the new picture," said IDC analyst Kevin Restivo. "Departures, forced or otherwise, are inevitable anytime management sets a new course for an organisation."

The resignations come ahead of what are expected to be massive layoffs this year as the company prepares to launch BlackBerry smartphones that run a completely different operating system for the first time.

RIM's shares have fallen some 75 percent in the last year while its market share has shriveled against competition from iPhone maker Apple and a slew of manufacturers using Google's Android operating system.

RIM's Toronto-listed rose 0.9 percent to C$11.34 late Monday afternoon. The company's Nasdaq-listed shares were not trading due to a US holiday.

Bawa, who joined RIM in 2000, was promoted to general counsel and chief legal officer in late 2010.

She plans to stay with the company while a replacement is hired and during a transition, RIM said in an emailed statement.

Analysts and former employees have long complained about what they viewed as a hyper-cautious corporate approach at RIM. That grew out of a long patent dispute early in the company's rise and was exacerbated by the hiring of a slew of in-house lawyers afterwards.

Cleaning house

RIM is quietly cleaning out layers of management and recruiting fresh faces to fill important roles in a new structure being fashioned under Heins, who himself replaced longtime co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in January.

"Thorsten has a very different leadership style," said one former RIM employee who left several months ago. "He is picking a very specific organizational structure, inner circle, external hires and strategy, and a lot of folks aren't 100 percent comfortable with it."

The former employee spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his ongoing business relationship with the company.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company currently employs around 16,500 people globally. Two sources with close connections to RIM have told Reuters that RIM plans to bring its workforce closer to 10,000 by early next year.

The sources asked to go unidentified because their disclosures would hurt their relationships with RIM.

The cuts will affect RIM's legal, marketing, sales, operations, and human resources divisions, one of the sources said.

"The Research In Motion people have come to know is very likely to be a much smaller organization in the near future," said IDC's Restivo. "It's a reflection of the company's smartphone struggles. Call it an trailing indicator if you will."

RIM's share of the global smartphone market slipped to 6.7 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from 13.6 percent a year earlier, according to IDC.

A round of 2,000 job cuts was planned for around June 1, the day before the end of RIM's quarter, the Globe and Mail said on Saturday, citing several people close to the company.

Last July RIM said it cut 2,000 jobs, after its worker count ballooned to near 20,000 following a string of acquisitions in recent years.

Balsillie remains the departure with the highest profile. While cutting all formal ties to the company, he remains a major shareholder. Lazaridis is still influential on the board.

A chief operating officer, Jim Rowan, and the head of software David Yach left in March. Soon after, Alan Brenner, a senior vice president for the BlackBerry platform, and Alistair Mitchell, vice president for the BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging product, also left.

The head of RIM's India unit left in November, its head of government relations left months before that, and former chief marketing officer Keith Pardy departed more than a year ago.

RIM said this month it had replaced Pardy with wireless veteran Frank Boulben, who has yet to start work.

It has also named Kristian Tear as its single chief operating officer. He replaces Heins, who took the CEO job, Rowan, who departed, and a third operating head, Don Morrison, who retired last year.

RIM's BlackBerry 7 operating system has been approved by the Communications-Electronics Security Group (CESG) in the UK to carry classified information.

BlackBerry handsets including the flagship BlackBerry Bold 9900 have been certified to store 'Restricted' material. The release of such information to the public would causes significant distress to individuals, adversely affect military operations or compromise law enforcement, according to CESG guidelines.

Stephen Bates managing director of RIM UK, noted the security of RIM devices is still an advantage over competitors and they help increase employee productivity.

"BlackBerry smartphones are widely deployed in UK public sector organisations including the Ministry of Defence (MoD), most of central government and more than half of the UK's police forces, NHS and local government organisations," he said.

"BlackBerry smartphones are enabling greater efficiencies and improved citizen service by providing access to data such as patient records, the Police National Computer and other government systems at the point of need."

Government approval gives a timing boost to RIM, which has seen shares plunge by 70 per cent over the past 12 months. Consumers have opted for the iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy SII ahead of BlackBerrys and the firm may become increasingly reliant on business customers.

With RIM's BlackBerry 10 due to come out later this year, the firm could have an uphill battle. The highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S III is due out on 29 May in the UK and the Android handset could have a six month headstart over BlackBerry 10 devices. To make things worse for RIM, Apple may even launch the iPhone 5 at the back end for 2012.

HTC, RIM and Samsung are among a tranche of smartphone makers who have had their devices approved to carry out contactless Mastercard payments.

The handsets are the first to receive the new Mastercard PayPass Ready certification. It is designed to let end users know their devices have been approved for use with the credit card company's contactless payment system.

Mung Ki Woo, group executive of mobile at Mastercard, said: "In the near future, millions of phones will ship with [near field communications] technology embedded within them.

"The new PayPass Ready identifier will [provide] a visual mark that indicates devices are certified to make simple, smart and secure payments via the MasterCard PayPass network."

The devices covered by the scheme include the Blackberry Bold, the Blackberry Curve, the HTC One X, the LG Viper and the LG Optimus Elite. Several members of the Samsung Galaxy, Sony Xperia and Nokia smartphone families have also won Mastercard's approval.

Andrea Bacioccola, NFC lead programme manager at Nokia, said the firm was pleased with the Nokia Lumia 610's inclusion in the list.

"This sends a clear message to operators, banks and other service providers that Nokia is able to quickly enable their payment services on this smartphone," he said.

Andrew Bocking, senior vice president of software product management at RIM, added: "[The branding] provides consumers with a visual confirmation that an NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone can easily be [used] with a MasterCard account for tap-and-go payments."

Research In Motion (RIM) has released an app developer toolkit for people who want to get a head start on creating apps for the firm's upcoming Blackberry 10 device.

The toolkit is available in beta and is free to download and can be used to create applications using HTML 5 or Blackberry's own native code.

The firm has yet to confirm a release date for the Blackberry 10, but has indicated that it will ship at some point later this year.

Christopher Smith, vice president of handheld application platform and tools at RIM, said the contents of the toolkit will be revised as the launch date for the Blackberry 10 approaches.

"Developers can use this first beta of the tools to get started building apps for Blackberry 10 and as the tools evolve over the coming months, developers will have access to a rich API set that will allow them to build even more integrated apps."

Developers have told us they wanted hardware to test on before the platform launches and we are delivering

The company revealed that applications designed for use with the Blackberry 10 will also run on the vendor's tablet PC, the Playbook.

The toolkit's release coincides with the first day of the BlackberryWorld and Blackberry Jam events in Florida, United States.

During the latter, developers were given a Blackberry 10 prototype, which boasts a 4.2 in screen, microSIM and microUSB for charging purposes, to bolster their application development efforts.

However, in a Blackberry blog post published earlier today, the firm insisted the device was definitely not the finished article.

The BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha is not a BlackBerry 10 smartphone for end users nor does it run the final BlackBerry 10 software," said the post. "It's been created just for our developer partners to help them prepare for the launch of BlackBerry 10."

The firm added that having access to a device would make it easier for developers to create applications.

"You can test your apps on real hardware to work out interface, ergonomic and usability issues," it added.

"Developers have told us they wanted hardware to test on before the platform launches and we are delivering."

Research in Motion (RIM) has launched BlackBerry Mobile Fusion,its new mobile device management (MDM) solution for business and government customers.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, originally announced in November 2011, gives corporate users the ability to link employees' personal smartphones and tablets to the BlackBerry network.

RIM claims the system is a cost-efficient and reliable solution that provides businesses with a single, unified, secure web-based console for device management.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion will clean up mobile device management within firms, according to Alan Panezic, vice president of enterprise product management and marketing at RIM.

"For businesses and government, managing a mix of mobile devices on any scale is chaotic. Organisations face pressure to allow employees to bring their own devices into the workplace, and they are looking to RIM as the global leader in the enterprise mobility space to solve that problem," Panezic said.

"BlackBerry Mobile Fusion allows organisations to manage a mixed environment of devices in the most secure, simple, and cost efficient manner possible. It also means that businesses and government do not have to move to the lowest common denominator on security for all the devices they need to manage."

BlackBerry users are not the only ones who stand to benefit from BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. The service provides MDM capabilities for iOS and Android devices as well.

Some of the features include:

Support for multiple devices per user;

Connectivity management (Wi-Fi, VPN, certificates);

Access to the unified we-based console;

Security, asset and configuration management;

Security and protection for lost or stolen devices.

To connect iOS and Android devices, users must download the Mobile Fusion Client app, which is available for free from the corresponding app stores.

While Blackberry Mobile Fusion is available as a free download, actual prices depend on the number of devices being managed.

Client Access Licenses (CALs) start at $99 (63) per user or $4 (2.50) per user per month.

RIM will offer a 60-day free trial to allow users to create a business pilot before committing to purchasing a CAL.

The second major iteration of RIM's PlayBook operating system was released today, bringing features many would have liked to have seen in the first version.

In particular, an integrated email client has been added in PlayBook OS 2.0, allowing users to lump all their emails together in one place, as well as messages from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Calendar and contacts applications also bring in data from social media, so users can tie all valuable information into a single app.

Those with BlackBerrys can use their phone to link up with their PlayBook via Bluetooth, syncing content between the two so content is viewable on a larger screen.

Half a year (thinking optimistically) in the smartphone space is an eternity.

A remote control feature allows a BlackBerry smartphone to be used as a wireless keyboard and mouse for the PlayBook.

There's also support for Android apps repackaged for sale in BlackBerry AppWorld, addressing some concerns over the quality of software available for RIM's tablet.

PlayBook users can download the software today, free of charge.

"Building on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet's proven web browsing, multimedia and multitasking strengths, the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 introduces a range of new communications and productivity enhancements as well as expanded app and content support," said David Smith, senior vice president for mobile computing at RIM.

As for business support, RIM also made an initial release of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion available today. It gives IT managers a single web-based interface to provision, audit and protect BlackBerrys and PlayBooks, as well as iOS and Android devices.

The general release of Mobile Fusion is scheduled for late March 2012. iOS and Android functionality is expected at some point later in the year.

Craig Cartier, analyst for ICT practice at Frost & Sullivan, wondered whether it was "too little, too late" for RIM, but was positive about the potential impact of the PlayBook 2.0 release on RIM's fortunes.

"The Playbook updates are sorely needed, and should have a positive effect on both Playbook sales and RIM's brand perception. And the brand will need that boost, as the new Playbook software seems to be the only major update coming from RIM until the much anticipated (and much delayed) Blackberry 10, due in the latter part of 2012," Cartier said.

"Half a year (thinking optimistically) in the smartphone space is an eternity, however. Nokia can attest to the detriment of idle time during a market share slide, as their own struggles with the Symbian platform and new Microsoft partnership have left this other traditional market leader far behind in the smartphone era."

RIM has struggled to sell PlayBooks. In December, the company revealed it had sold around 150,000 tablets in the third quarter ending 26 November, down from 200,000 in the previous quarter.

At the time, the mobile maker warned it would fall short of its financial targets, partly because of the weak PlayBook performance.

A price drop in the UK and elsewhere may help it post better figures next time around.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 was a real return to form for RIM, although it's still too early to know whether or not the platform has much of a long-term future.

The recent leak of its next-generation London' smartphone did at least show that RIM hasn't forgotten how to excite with its hardware (assuming it's the real thing), but until its overdue BlackBerry QNX devices launch later this year, users have the new Bold 9790 to keep them busy.

The Bold 9790 sits below the top-end 9900 in the BlackBerry range and isn't quite so opulently appointed. It still feels like a solidly built smartphone, but the screen is plastic rather than glass, as is the back cover, albeit with a rubbery finish.

As with the earlier 9700, the design of the Bold 9790 is combination of the Bold 990 and the more consumer-orientated Curve. It's very much a classic Bold from the front, but has the Curve's wider silver band around its sides. The 9790 is also a few millimetres shorter and narrower than the Bold 9900, and packs a smaller keyboard and screen as a result.

The 2.45" screen is 0.1" larger than on the old Bold 9700, but has the same 480 x 360 resolution, but neither figure compares terribly favourably with the large, high resolution screens on smartphones from other manufacturers.

Plastic screens are particularly prone to showing greasy finger marks and the one on our review model gained a small scratch within days, but it's otherwise both clear and bright. The low resolution does mean lots of zooming is required to read text on web pages though, making this a less than satisfactory smartphone who spends a lot of time online.

The Bold 9790's keyboard looks much like that on the Bold 9900, but it isn't as wide and so not quite so quick to type on although it is actually a little wider than the on-screen keyboard of the iPhone.

Although the Bold 9790 responds smartly to multi-touch gestures and feels generally snappy in use (no doubt helped by the 768MB RAM), its 1GHz Marvel processor isn't quite as capable as the 1.2GHz Qualcomm chip in the Bold 9900. This is most apparent in the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, where the 9790's score of 5478ms is almost three seconds slower than the 9900's.

The rest of the Bold 9790's specification is essentially the same as the 9900's, right down to the NFC chip and 5-megapixel camera with LED flash.

Images captured with the latter are markedly better than on the 9900 though, thanks to the inclusion of continuous autofocus. Despite having the same capacity battery, battery life is a little better than on the Bold 9900 too and the 970 lasted for almost 27 and a half hours when playing MP3s on a loop with flight mode enabled.

We covered the new features of BlackBerry OS 7 in our Bold 9900 review, so we won't repeat them here, but the Bold 9790 does make them available for considerably less. The unlocked, contract-free device is available for 330 inc VAT, which is 125 less than the Bold 9900.

Verdict

The Bold 9790’s lower price makes it a more tempting proposition than the 9900 for BlackBerry owners looking to upgrade to BlackBerry OS 7, but as with that other device, it otherwise offers little to attract defectors from other platforms.

Operating system: BlackBerry 7 OS

Processor: Marvel Tavor MG1 (1GHz)

Storage: 768MB RAM; 8GB user plus microSDHC slot

Screen: 2.45” (480 x 360) capacitive multi-touch

Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP & EDR, microUSB 3.5mm headphone socket

Other: AGPS, NFC

Bands: GSM 850/900/1800/1900Mhz, HSDPA 800/850/1900/2100MHz

Camera: 5MP rear with autofocus and LED flash

Battery: 1230mAh (up to 5.3 hours talk time, 18 days standby)

Size: 110 x 60 x 11.4mm

Weight: 107g

BlackBerry maker RIM's co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie recently stepped down to make way for new blood.

RIM needs to reinvent itself.

Thorsten Heins, a RIM employee at the company since 2007, has taken over the reins as leader. He's already unveiled bold plans to change things

But what does the company need to do to get back in the good books of businesses? We asked some of the members of our IT Pro Leader Board that very question:

What does RIM need to do to recapture the attention of businesses?

"I believe that RIM needs to reinvent itself. It has lost too much ground to Apple and Android devices in what is a very fast paced competitive market.

It still has a robust enterprise application set that it could consider offering as a solution for securing a hybrid BYOD landscape within a large organisation.

Also, in my opinion, RIM still has great handsets for the business user that could potentially be offered with a non-RIM OS, probably Android, but Windows Mobile may also be a worthy contender.

It still has great potential from its IP, however, its leadership team needs to regroup and refocus in a relatively short time frame if they are to capitalise on opportunities still available."

Adam Gerard. CTO, Late Rooms

Over the last few years it is safe to argue that RIM has not had the right strategy and has underestimated the impact of the devices designed for the consumer space.

RIM, it would seem, has also become complacent with its current market share of the corporate space. This was based on the perception of the security model, which turned out to be unfounded.

For RIM this is harsh realisation that Blackberry is no longer an exclusive corporate device.

Today, with the implementation of Mobile Device Management (MDM) the same level of security can be achieved, which opens the corporate environment up to a plethora of devices designed for the consumer market that have a better functionality and require a less infrastructure complexity to deploy.

More importantly, this approach is also giving the corporate space more options when aligning itself with a device. For RIM this is harsh realisation that Blackberry is no longer an exclusive corporate device.

This exposed RIM. It opened its platform up to the holy grail of app development as well as attempting to bring to market a tablet that is more geared towards the consumer space.

RIM is in an immediate need of a strategy overhaul. It has clearly lost the battle in the consumer space and, after this year's performance, both with the loss of service and the impact it had in the Middle East, it is in serious risk of losing the battle in the corporate space.

The market has become saturated with devices and vendors with a better value proposition and there has been a trend of big mobile device makers aligning themselves to big technology providers building alliances for the future such as Ericsson/Sony, Nokia/Microsoft, and Motorola/Google. There is not much left for RIM.

It appears that RIM will have to survive on its own. In order to do that it will have to concentrate on its core and existing market share, leveraging the fact that it is still strong in the corporate space.

The devices design needs an overhaul. It needs to deliver a bigger screen and a better document presentation and a much better integration with Microsoft Office."

Vlad Botic, chief enterprise architect, Norton Rose

The company's not "cool" any more.

For a company of our size, we want to offer our users something they want to have. They need to be happy to use and own it and not try to bypass it. For the majority of our users, that just isn't the case with RIM.

The company's not "cool" any more and doesn't have all the extra apps that people want. Most of them want to use their own devices anyway. They are happy to follow simple instructions and don't rely on the IT team for detailed support.

The consumerisation of IT in general and mobile devices in particular means that the choice of smartphone is a very personal one and can't be driven from a central IT policy.

Instead of Research In Motion, RIM seems to now be an abbreviation of "Reactive In Market.

From an IT perspective, it doesn't have the right offering either. We have a hosted exchange environment. We can connect any Apple, Android and Windows smartphones without the need for any additional hardware, software or licensing charge. Why would we want to incur additional costs for a worse solution?

RIM needs to make a set of tough decisions and realise the world of smart devices has changed. Maybe not for large corporations, but SMEs won't take it seriously with its current architecture."

Liam Quinn, IT director, Richmond Events

Whilst the hardware was really good - I loved the HD video - where were the apps? Blackberry phones - again, too reactive. Apple caught RIM totally unawares, closely followed by Android and now Windows Mobile, which seems to be gaining traction too.

The best bit of phone business for Microsoft and Apple was Apple licensing ActiveSync from Microsoft and, thereby, making Microsoft Exchange available to anyone with an iPhone or, subsequently, iPad.

Microsoft reinforced Exchange as a corporate email server and Apple had a tool which could address the email needs of the iPhone community who usually want access to their corporate email when it's usually on an Exchange server.

Outages? The embarrassing outages of service were just too much for cautious corporates and where security of email wasn't a huge consideration the 'compelling' nature of Blackberry and the accompanying Enterprise Server became something less than 'compelling' with corporates moving over-the-air email back to their own control.

On the subject of security... Aftermarket providers are coming in and pulling that particular plank from under RIM and so the company is notionally left as the Betamax or HD-DVD format for the phone community.

RIM should admit that it has lost the battle, pull graciously out of the war and slowly extricate from the phone market without leaving customers high and dry.

Instead of "Research In Motion", RIM seems to now be an abbreviation of "Reactive In Market" and having [seemingly] lost its initiative, RIM has lost the initiative."

Mark Evans, IT manager, RLB

What do you think? Get in touch with our expert panel here.

The next version of software running on RIM's PlayBook tablet will give users some of the functionality they've longed for from day one, including native email support.

The BlackBerry maker have attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), in Las Vegas this week a sneak peek at what is coming when version two of the software is made available next month.

Those using PlayBooks running on the updated software, will be able to access their emails straight from the tablet - thanks to a new, unified inbox - rather than having to pair the device with a BlackBerry handset, as is the case now.

The unified inbox boasts a built-in messaging app that will help users manage their social networking feeds as well as emails, RIM said.

There's also an email management tool that aids search, auto signatures and other features of use to business users and consumers alike.

"BlackBerry PlayBook is already recognised for delivering powerful performance, true multi-tasking, advanced web browsing and HD multimedia in an ultra-portable design," said RIM's president and co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis.

"With BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 we are building on this strong foundation, as well as leveraging our strengths in communications, social integration and productivity, to allow people to use their BlackBerry PlayBook in new ways throughout the day."

The new software also features an updated version of Documents To Go, including new formula wizards and presentation editing functionality.

RIM has also promised to extend the app catalogue current available for the PlayBook with the launch of the software.

If users do choose to pair their BlackBerry with the PlayBook, under the update, they'll be able to use it as a keyboard and mouse to power their tablet device, making it easier to launch and close applications and execute other commands.

RIM said it has no comment on whether reports suggesting two phones planned for launch in 2012 have been ditched were true.

It was claimed two of three phones had been cancelled, including one featuring the new QNX, or BlackBerry 10, operating system.

Reports indicated the touchscreen Milan phone and the QWERTY-keyboard Colt device had been canned. The London model is set to stay, according to reports.

RIM declined a request for comment from IT Pro.

The news came after reports in December noted RIM had delayed the launch of its QNX handsets.

RIM was set to release some QNX phones this year. The only device it offers running the OS is the PlayBook, which has been causing trouble for the firm.

After revealing it was sitting on a pile of unsold PlayBook devices, RIM revealed the tablet had cost the company $485 million.

Earlier this week it emerged the cost of a PlayBook had dropped to 169 in Currys for the 16GB model.

RIM said it still had promotional plans in place with its partners that it expects to continue through to its fiscal Q4 period ending 3 March 2012.

Reports have also suggested RIM will uncloak its OS update for the PlayBook next week after receiving criticism for not releasing the software sooner.

Users have complained the PlayBook is unable to run BlackBerry Enterprise Server for email or the hugely popular BBM.

RIM today said it remains confident of PlayBook success, despite the price being cut to 169 in Currys for the 16GB model.

The cost of the PlayBook has gradually been coming down over the last year, going down from the original price of 399 to 249.

The PlayBook has seen lacklustre sales. In December, RIM revealed it had sold around 150,000 tablets in the third quarter ending 26 November, down from 200,000 in the previous quarter.

At the time, the mobile maker warned it would fall short of its financial targets, partly because of the weak PlayBook performance.

We continue to have a number of promotional plans in place with our partners that we expect to continue through our fiscal Q4 period.

Apple has sold over 11 million of its iPad devices. Yet RIM is remaining bullish about the PlayBook's prospects in the face of strong competition.

"As outlined on our Q3 earnings call, 15 December 2011, we continue to have a number of promotional plans in place with our partners that we expect to continue through our fiscal Q4 period (ending 3 March 2012)," a spokesperson told IT Pro.

"These promotional plans are intended to drive increased adoption of the BlackBerry PlayBook within the consumer and enterprise channels. The BlackBerry PlayBook is an ultra-portable, high-performance tablet and we believe these activities, along with the upcoming PlayBook 2.0 software update, will help generate increased demand and sell-through over the coming months."

At the time of publication, RIM had not requested to a response for comment on whether the company would be reassessing the state of the PlayBook on 3 March.

Late last year, RIM admitted it had a high level of PlayBook inventory, revealing the device had cost it $485 million.

The latest price drop comes amidst turmoil at the top of the company, with a report this week indicating it is close to a decision on stripping its co-chief executives of their shared role as chairman of the board.

The National Post newspaper, citing sources familiar with events, said Barbara Stymiest, currently an independent member of RIM's board was favourite to replace Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie to become chairperson.

2011 has been a year of contrasts between those companies, products and technologies that have soared high despite all the economic doom and gloom of the wider world and those that haven't fared nearly so well.

We take a look back at the winners and losers of the past year in no particular order, but the technology world is a fickle one, so this year's winners may well end up being next year's losers.

The Winners

Siri

The inclusion of Siri as a tech winner in this list may seem controversial as Apple's voice activated personal assistant is less than perfect and is currently available on just one rather expensive product, the iPhone 4S.

However, Siri is the first voice recognition product we actually use on a regular basis while it's context-sensitive answers and integration with online databases and apps is not only technologically impressive but could point the way for other voice recognition systems.

Plus, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Despite initially downplaying the usefulness of Siri, Google is now rumored to be working on its voice activated personal assistant code-named Majel.

Social networking

Social networks have been all the rage long before 2011 stumbled into being, but this year highlighted the importance of social networking to businesses. A business that doesn't have a presence on Twitter to respond to customer complaints is behind the times, while the potential of advertising on Facebook to increase your company's visibility in the marketplace is immense.

There's also another side to social networking and that's their potential for embarrassment and legal liability via data leakage and employee misuse. This has given rise to a host of security software, services and appliances dedicated to controlling access to social networks with varying degrees of success. Social networks must be important if there are now products dedicated to blocking them.

Windows Phone 7

Although Windows Phone 7 was officially launched in late 2010, it was only in 2011 that Microsoft's replacement for the awful Windows Mobile 6 finally became a viable alternative to iOS and Android. Updates throughout the year, especially the 'Mango' 7.5 update, added much needed features and refined others.

Although the fledgling operating system is still immature and needs refining, it's now good enough that we know of several employees at companies with BYOD policies adopting Windows Phone handsets in place of Android phones. If this trend continues, Windows Phone 7 will supplant Blackberry as the third mobile operating system of choice besides iOS and Android.

Consumer technology companies

One of the biggest changes to affect IT departments this year is the growing trend towards consumerisation, or more specifically Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, where employees can choose their own computing clients rather than being given one by IT.

Although BYOD won't be suitable for all companies depending on what they do, where it is allowed employees have tended to shun traditional IT vendors such as RIM, Dell, HP and Fujitsu in favour of consumer tech providers like Apple, Samsung and HTC who have reaped the benefits as a result.

The cloud

The cloud finally came into its own in 2011. Consumer cloud storage services like Dropbox have gained widespread acceptance, while new cloud services and cloud-based versions of widely used existing products like Microsoft Office 365 have prompted many businesses and even entire governments to either move to the cloud or at least seriously consider doing so.

2011 hasn't been without its problems for the cloud, from controversies surrounding Dropbox's privacy policies and procedures to the outage affecting Amazon EC2, but these problems only serve to highlight the growing importance of cloud computing in our personal and professional lives.

The ARM processor architecture

The market for processors used to be dominated by just two companies Intel and AMD. There's now a third company though ARM. Almost every smartphone and tablet currently available uses a processor based on ARM designs - Intel and AMD have virtually no presence in these two growth markets. ARM processors are even making their way into servers.

Just as remarkable as ARM's dominance of the two major markets with its power-frugal chip designs is its business model. The British company licenses its processor designs to other companies, rather than dealing with the complexities and problems of being a manufacturer itself. Even AMD has emulated this business model by spinning off its manufacturing business into a separate company, GlobalFoundries, back in 2009.

Intel will doubtless remain dominant in the market for server, desktop and laptop processors, but with more and more computing taking place on ARM-powered mobile devices, but the company will have to move fast if it wants a piece of ARM's mobile action.

The Losers

WebOS

If 2011 marked the ascendance of Windows Phone 7, then it also marked the downfall of webOS. We have a great deal of fondness for the many thoughtful design touches in webOS, but clearly owners HP didn't.

Within a month of the launch of the webOS TouchPad tablet, then-CEO Leo Apotheker canned the mobile operating system despite the imminent launch of new webOS Pre smartphones. A firesale of remaining TouchPads ensued and the very future of the much mooted webOS printers and the operating system itself was thrown into doubt by HP's drawn out pondering over its future.

Diehard webOS fans may take solace in the HP's decision to open source the operating system (despite the ongoing ambiguities over which open source license will apply to webOS), but this merely looks like a long, drawn out slide into irrelevance to us. To survive in a fiercely competitive market, mobile operating systems need companies with significant resources to design matching hardware, foster vibrant third party support and a strong design, technical and marketing vision to back it up.

If HP wasn't willing or able to this when it owned the source code, what has changed now that webOS will be open source? Is new CEO Meg Whitman expecting some other company to step up and take its place? Bye bye webOS and thanks for the memories.

Netbooks

Netbooks were all the rage a mere year or two ago, but their sales have stagnated and Intel's Oak Trail refresh of its Atom netbook processors earlier this year went largely unheralded. Meanwhile tablets and smartphones have taken the place of netbooks as the highly mobile but affordable computing device of choice for many, while Intel's new Ultrabook brand for more powerful ultraportable laptops threatens to undermine the long term support and demand for netbooks even more.

While netbooks still have their place for some customers, especially in price-sensitive emerging markets, the final nail in their coffin may well be Dell's decision to stop selling netbooks altogether.

Itanium

The Itanium processors may not be household names like Intel's other chip brands, but they're just as important powering business critical servers all over the world with a high degree of reliability.

Why would you make that inference that because I announce support for X86 that I'm less committed to Itanium? I'm very committed to Itanium!

Unfortunately, the future of Itanium is now severely in doubt following a highly public withdrawal of support from Oracle and moves by the now sole Itaniui client HP that suggest it too is deemphasizing support for the niche chip, despite strenuous denials by HP executives to the contrary.

Despite revelations of a secret Itanium development contract between HP and Intel, we doubt Intel is diverting its best engineering minds and devoting serious resources to a niche server chip that isn't compatible with its other processors. Especially when the company is losing out to ARM in the far bigger mobile processor market.

Tablets other than the iPad

The Apple iPad 2 has been the dominant tablet computer of 2011. Although there are now a multitude of computers, market data suggests the vast majority of customers are buying iPads. Besides the aforementioned HP TouchPad which was abruptly pulled from the market by its manufacturer, RIM has also failed quite spectacularly with its lackluster BlackBerry Playbook.

The only serious competition to the iPad 2 lies in the form of Android Honeycomb-based tablets, but even these are immature when it comes to hardware and interface design and app support.

This could all change in 2012 though when Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the next generation of Android tablets emerge, plus there's the potential rise of Windows 8 tablets.

For those who haven't seen the announcement, can you recap what BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is and why IT departments should be getting excited?

We're announcing BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. It's a next-generation enterprise mobility solution. It's really our entry into the multi-platform mobile device management (MDM) marketplace.

For many years we've provided MDM for BlackBerry smartphones. Over the last few years, we've seen a significant increase in customer demand to

extend the management capabilities that they've already got with their

BlackBerry platform into other areas.

With this introduction we're also providing device management for the PlayBook and enabling customers to manage iOS-based and Android-based

smartphones and tablets from a single user interface. If a business user has a mixture of devices, such as a personal BlackBerry smartphone and a corporate-issued PlayBook, with perhaps another device maybe largely corporate or personally liable, it will enable their IT department to manage those devices all from a single console.

We've seen a significant increase in customer demand to extend the management capabilities that they've already got with their BlackBerry platform into other areas.

The customer demand has been coming from the enterprise because of the rise of consumerisation and a real willingness to allow personally liable or bring your own devices and policies into the workplace.

We do have a lot of customers out there who are extremely security

conscious, particularly in the public sector and financial services, so we don't expect all customers will want to put this type of technology in, but certainly many of them have been asking for this kind of service for some time.

We acquired a company called Ubitexx at the end of May and we've been working on [making use of] its technology since then to get it to market. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion includes not only existing BlackBerry management for smartphones but also the new mobile device management for PlayBooks, Android and iOS devices.

We've had [interest] from our partners and both enterprise and SME-focused operators across, as well as systems integrators - they also want to provide MDM as a service to their clients as the number of devices increases in the workplace and as many of them will be personally liable rather than corporate issued.

When will it be available to businesses?

We've been running betas with customer across the European region, North America and Asia Pacific for some time now. Closed beta opens in January and customers can register their interest for that. We expect full availability at the end of March.

Will you be taking that time and feedback to iron out any issues and bugs?

Yes. We're getting some really strong feedback from our beta customers. They tend to be some of our really large customers with large device estates. Also, it's a really evolving marketplace. We've been in the MDM space for many years but this is really our first step into multi-platform MDM. We see that as a real growth market. There are a lot of companies entering that space. It's a really nascent market.

So it's a growth opportunity as well as a platform development opportunity more widely.

How can customers register interest in the beta programme?

They can register for news updates on the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion website, contact their BlackBerry account manager or their mobile operator...

The first step is to register interest. We've got large number of beta customers already so the closed beta will be available from January and the general availability will be March.

We've not put a cap on beta numbers at the moment but we've had a lot of interest in the first beta. We've tended to work with our largest customers for the first set of betas as we want really big device

estates but don't have a cap on it.

We have the ability to scale those betas up really fast. We're well versed in large beta programmes as it's super important for us to get that customer feedback before we fully launch.

You said this product was borne out of customer demand, was that in mind when you acquired Ubitexx?

The Ubitexx acquisition was really in response to customer demand. [It's also based on] what we've heard in last few years as our consumer retail business has grown enormously.

If you take the UK, we have more than eight million users in the UK market and many of those are consumers. Those consumer users are bringing their BlackBerry smartphones into previously quite locked-down enterprise environments and requesting that the IT department connect their mail and applications. Last year, when we launched BlackBerry Enterprise Service Express (BESX) and new capabilities like BB Balance, that was in response to personal liable bring your own BlackBerry devices coming into the workplace so this is just an [extension] og that.

It's also worth pointing out that across our whole portfolio now we have introduced quite a few MDM capabilities. Earlier in the year we launched BlackBerry Protect, which gives remote lock and wipe

and location discovery for lost or mislaid phones over the air (OTA) for an individual consumer user. That's a cloud-based service. We also introduced the BlackBerry Management Centre, which allows small and medium business, up to 100 users, to do many of the same things. Again as a cloud-based service. We've now got MDM for our own products all the way from an individual user right up to the largest enterprise. We wanted to extend that at the top end to allow larger businesses to support other platforms.

We've got a big installed base of customers who are using our MDM

capabilities already so our first initiative is to help them deal with bring your own device (BYOD) and personally liable devices. Then we'll look at how we roll out BB Mobile Fusion to others. So, initially, it's [just aimed at] large corporates and public sector organisations.

What are the headline features? As an IT manager why should I choose BlackBerry Mobile Fusion rather than A N Other MDM solution?

The reason you'd come to us first of all is you prob already have BlackBerry device management in your corporate infrastructure, so being able to upgrade that to simply add BlackBerry PlayBook device management, iOS and Android smartphone and tablet device management means not having to invest in a new device management platform. That's really what customers have been telling us. That they already manage their BlackBerry smartphones, and they'd like to be able to manage other devices, and multiple devices per user through a single user interface and single experience rather than having to have several different pieces of software or services.

Some 90 per cent of the Fortune 500 already have us in their IT infrastructures so it's a natural extension for them as they start introduce a multi-platform or BYOD policy.

Does it just slot on to what they have already then?

Absolutely. It is a new user experience... Our current user experience for device management is web-based anyway. This just adds an extra layer. It will be familiar but will allow the IT department to get asset management, configuration, security, lock and wipe, administer users at either an indiviual or group level but also deal with environments where you have multiple devices per user.

It's BlackBerry, Playbook, iPad and Android management capabilities.

What about usability? Can users expect the same experience?

Yes. We put a lot of effort into making the user experience was smooth and graphically rich. The IT department wants something quick and simple to use that is easy on the eye as well.

The real difference thing here is if you're looking at a user, you'll be able to see all of their devices in one management console. It will show you the status of all those devices even though there will be a different set of policies and management capabilities potentially for each device.

With BlackBerry devices we have security and management built in from the hardware right through the infrastructure to our device management software. We're now providing device management for third party devices, so the APIs may not be available for all of them. We have BlackBerry Balance for example and that level of functionality is not yet currently available for iOS and Android. It may well be in the future.

Our committment is that we will allow our customers to manage those third-party devices to the greatest extent that we can and secure them to the greatest extent we can.

Which is a bigger draw for businesses - security or managability?

Security and the ability to apply security polices remotely and

OTA is probably one of the most important things for many of our customers.

But [from a priority standpoint] security and management are on a par as it really differs from customer to customer. The public sector, particularly defence and local government and financial services, need to be secure and this is possibly higher up the IT director or CIO's list of concerns. In other sectors, pure manageability aspects might rank more highly. It really depends on the individual customer and

security sensitivity of that industry.

Some may think it's a bit of a risky move, supporting competing devices. Is this brave on RIM's part or something you have to do to respond to customer demand?

It's about responding to customer demand. We've benefited enormously from consumerisation as business. The large number of BlackBerry smartphones going into consumer channels are coming back into the enterprise and users with their individual handsets are asking to have corporate applications and mail on those devices.

We're fully supportive of cosumerisation and of helping our customers and making it as easy as possible for them to secure and manage devices on whatever platform. We see it as an opportunity.

The MDM market is a real growth area. Wee have this heritage in device

management of BlackBerry smartphones and a large customer base so extending that to other operating systems is really a natural step for us.

Is it the case BYOD and consumerisation is invetiable so you might as well make it safe and secure?

That's spot on.

Can we expect further moves, like the acquisition, in response to different business needs?

Yes. Certainly when it comes to device management and security. This year has been one of our biggest years for introducting device management capabilities all the way from BlackBerry protect to the BlackBerry Management Centre fo SMEs. We recently anouncned BB Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 and cloud-based device management for

Microsoft customers.

Whether it's the individual user all the way up to the largest corporate business or public sector organisation, we want to respond to their requirements for managing and securing, locking and wiping and scaling up those devices. The simple demand of employees and end users to have more mobility in their working lives and have more

control, is encouraging organisations across the board to open up their doors to consumerisation.

Do you have any details about pricing?

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is going to be price competitive. We're already price competitive in pure device management terms for BlackBerrys so now we will be [here].

We're not releasing detailed pricing info yet, it will be released in the new year but, absolutely, our intention is to be as price competitive [as we can] for device management of other operating systems.

One thing we hear from customers a lot is there is a significant value associated with having a single platform for device management. It's only when you have that single platform you can compare the cost of ownership, the TCO the reliability and the impact on the business of the different smartphones and tablet platforms and operating systems you're using.

From a customer point of view, they want to be able to look across their whole estate at old versions of device X to new devices and

tablets and different form factors of the future and be able to

say this is the reliabilty of this device in this particular user environment, this is the cost, the data efficiency, the security and be able to compare those.

We see a lot of demand for that comparative cost not just in terms of the device themselves and the data they use but also the cost of managing and securing them. That's another driver behind us launching BlackBerry Mobile Fusion.

Our general message to customers is consumerisation is something we encourage them to embrace but we also recognise that they may be in a very security conscious industry or mindset so the ability to control policies is absolutely essential. We give them that ability to take a different approach.

Someone in a less security conscious role in the same organisation may want to use BESX and allow them to bring their own BlackBerry smartphone in and have a different level of access and control over apps and emails. And have a diff set of policies to someone in the same organisation who has a BlackBerry and iOS or Android-based device. It's that ability to take the policies and apply them by either user or group across multiple devices per user. Customers want flexibility.

The Torch 9860 is the second of RIM's new smartphones to feature its new BlackBerry OS 7 operating system, but it's a very different beast to the previously reviewed Bold 9900. Whereas the Bold 9900 was an elegant refinement of RIM's traditional Qwerty keyboard design, the Torch 9860 is an all-touchscreen smartphone that's obviously intended to compete against the iPhone.

The Torch 9860 isn't the first BlackBerry to do away with a physical keyboard. RIM first tried it with the Storm in 2008, but its awkward haptic display wasn't very good, to say the least. The subsequent switch to a capacitive multi-touch display for the Storm 2 did little to improve things either, though its failings were largely due to the inadequacies of the then-current BlackBerry OS5.

RIM didn't abandon large multi-touch screens completely though, and earlier Torch devices were also so equipped, albeit with the safety net of a Qwerty keyboard hidden inside their slider designs. All this makes the Torch 9860 RIM's first solid attempt to go head-to-head with the iPhone since 2009 and this time it has the touchscreen-friendly BlackBerry OS 7 operating system to back it up.

The size and shape of the Torch 9860 are reminscient of the iPhone 3GS, with a similar squared-off appearance, but then there are only so many ways to design a touchscreen smartphone, after all. The design is essentially that of a BlackBerry Curve though, with the same bevelled top and bottom edges, plus the wide silver band that runs around the case's perimeter; the only real difference is that there's no physical Qwerty keyboard.

The screen itself measures 3.7in from corner to corner, with an 800 x 480 pixel resolution, so physically it's a fraction larger than the iPhone's, but not quite as densely packed with pixels as the iPhone 4. The display is still crisp, bright and vibrant though (it has the same 24-bit colour depth as the Bold 9900), and even the default 8pt font used for the application legends on the Home screen is perfectly legible.

Anyone who's already familiar with a recent version of BlackBerry OS should have little trouble adapting to OS 7 on the Torch 9860's touchscreen, since it works in essentially the same way when used with the optical trackpad and hardware buttons. The larger screen does make interacting with the operating system much easier than on the Bold 9900 though, and web pages in particular benefit from the increased size not least since they can now be viewed in large landscape mode, too. The new-and-improved BB OS7 web browser is also nippy, giving a time of 3203ms in the SunSpider JavaScript test, which is a shade faster than the Samsung Galaxy S II's browser but also a bit slower than the iPhone 4S.

Since there's no physical keyboard, the screen is also a critical factor when it comes to typing. The capacitive touch-sensor is just sensitive enough to make using the on-screen keyboard straightforward enough to use and autocorrect helps with typing accuracy. RIM has opted for a slightly different layout to its physical keyboards though, and while Backspace still sits below P, two Shift keys now sit at either end of the bottom row of letters. Return has been relegated to the far right of the Space bar too, while the Symbols key now sits to the left. The changes aren't drastic, but they seem pointless and are a little disorientating to anyone more used to a physical Blackberry keyboard. One more annoying feature is that the Shift keys barely change appearance when pressed they just gain a thin blue outline. Since the key legends stay in upper case all the time, this makes it all too easy to accidentally press Shift and not realise until something is typed.

The rest of the Torch 9860's hardware is essentially the same as the Bold 9900's it has the same 1.2GHz processor and 768MB RAM, but on-board storage has been halved to 4GB. The 5-megapixel camera with LED flash is the same too, but the addition of continuous autofocus makes for better-quality photos.

Battery capacity is the same as the Bold 9900 (1230mAh) and RIM states near-identical figures for the Torch 9860's battery life. As with the Bold 9900 though, we couldn't match the claimed figure of "up to 44 hours" of music playback we only managed 23 hours with an MP3 playing on a loop, with the screen and all wireless turned off.

The Torch 9860 is a strong attempt by RIM to offer an iPhone-like experience on a BlackBerry and there's enough here to sate those users who are tied to the platform. However, Apple has since moved on with the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 making the Torch less attractive to those who aren't tied to the Blackberry platform.

Unlocked SIM-free pricing is reasonable though. At 299 ex VAT, the 4GB Torch 9860 compares favourably with the 343 ex VAT 8GB iPhone 4.

So what's our verdict?

Verdict

The lack of a physical keyboard may limit the appeal of the Torch 9860 to some existing BlackBerry users, but RIM has done a reasonably good job at copying what the iPhone has to offer, even if it is now effectively a generation behind Apple with both its hardware and software.

Connectivity: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, 3G 900/1700/2100 Display: 480 x 800 pixels, 3.7 inches OS: Blackberry OS 7 Camera: five megapixels rear facing GPS: A-GPS Processor: 1.2GHz Qualcomm Scorpion MSM 8655 Bluetooth: 2.1+EDR Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n Storage: 4GB internal RAM: 768MB Dimensions: 120 x 62 x 12 mm Weight: 135g Battery: Lithium Ion 1230 mAh

RIM has unveiled BlackBerry Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 by launching an open beta in over 30 countries.

The new online services are hosted by RIM and aimed at mid-sized businesses (SMBs) that want to extend their existing Microsoft Exchange Online environments to BlackBerry smartphones and manage their BlackBerry deployments in the cloud.

In a move away from its traditional, on-premise model, the services offer web-based IT and employee self-service smartphone management and security functions, as well as new unified view feature called Balance.

Alan Panezic, RIM's vice president stated that BlackBerry Business Cloud Services was an easy and cost-effective way for businesses and government agencies to extend Microsoft Office 365 to BlackBerry smartphones in the cloud.

RIM's recent 'cloudburst' will not go unpunished, so it also needs to address this angle with suitable service level undertakings.

"We have been working together with Microsoft and select customers through an early access programme and we are pleased to now launch an open beta for the service," he added.

RIM said a number of Fortune 500 customers and several US government agencies in the participated in the early access programme.

The service includes BlackBerry Balance technology, which is designed to present a unified view of work and personal content on its smartphone device while keeping the content separate and secure. Online access to employee self-service smartphone security functions also allows users to reset a device password or remotely lock or wipe a device in the event of loss or theft.

And access to Microsoft Exchange Online email, calendar and organiser data from the smartphone is controlled from a web-based console for IT administrators to provision, manage and secure the device estate.

RIM is also courting managed service providers, systems integrators, carriers, resellers and other partners with the cloud service to manage BlackBerry deployments on behalf of their customers.

Rob Bamforth, principal communications and convergence analyst for Quocirca, told IT Pro's sister title Cloud Pro that cloud-based services for SMB mobile fleets were generally a good thing.

"However, it shows a tacit acceptance by RIM that exchange is the key email platform and it has to try harder to avoid being side-lined from enterprise decision making," he said. "Extending device management features is a good step, but more are needed. RIM's recent 'cloudburst' will not go unpunished, so it also needs to address this angle with suitable service level undertakings."

Laurent Lachal, Ovum senior analyst, added that he thought there was nothing particularly groundbreaking from his point of view. "You've been able to consumer and edit Microsoft documents for donkey's years," he said. "It's a good thing to add, but it's not going to make a big difference to the downward trajectory of RIM."

As part of its newly-announced BBX platform, RIM will deliver a new version of the BlackBerry Server with a host of security-focused additions.

This includes features to simplify management of personal devices at work, bringing the BlackBerry Balance service to PlayBook and adding private enterprise app distribution.

With the consumerisation of IT, the conundrum is IT wanting to manage and the end user wanting to have one device that gives them access to all their experience.

Balance is included with BlackBerry 7 smartphones, allowing IT admins to encrypt, manage and delete company data on the phone without affecting personal content like photos. BBX will combine that with business app deployment through BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

"We're going to take Balance all the way down to the metal of the OS," said Alan Panezic, RIM's head of enterprise product development. "When you have a PlayBook with Balance and it's provisioned against a BlackBerry server, it gets a new secure area and any app pushed by the business is automatically stored there.

"With the consumerisation of IT, the conundrum is IT wanting to manage and the end user wanting to have one device that gives them access to all their experience. CIOs are saying I'm ok with that as long as I can be sure that data is protected.' Security and compliance is critical."

These enterprise apps will appear in a new tab in the PlayBook OS, labelled Work, and they'll support single sign-in with the user's existing corporate password. Employees won't have to use a password on the PlayBook itself (unless that's set by a separate policy), so they won't have to type in a corporate password until they open an enterprise app.

On the next version of the PlayBook OS, enterprises will also be able to provision their apps directly to the PlayBook through BlackBerry App World without having to upload their apps publicly. When the PlayBook is connected to a BlackBerry server that pushes apps to devices, a new Work section appears inside App World, showing only the enterprise apps they can install from the server. To the PlayBook user, they appear and install like any other application in App World.

This allows enterprises to virtualise the full Windows desktop or to package up and stream individual PC applications, using existing Citrix infrastructure. The Receiver interface is written in AIR and supports single sign-on, multitouch and multitasking, so users can run multiple virtualised apps or multiple remote desktop connections on the PlayBook, alongside other PlayBook apps.

As expected, RIM has announced the next generation of BlackBerry devices will run a new operating system based on the QNX OS used on the PlayBook tablet.

"BBX combines the best of BlackBerry and the best of QNX using open standards to connect people, devices, content and services," co-CEO Mike Lazaridis told the BlackBerry Devcon audience.

"It's a single unified platform for the entire world: for phones, for tablets and for millions of embedded devices," he said, hinting at applications that could also run in cars and on TVs. "We've got the security certification, the reliability certification and the security. We've built on top of that, we've added open source to write great apps with and with HTML5 we're intercepting the future."

BBX combines the best of BlackBerry and the best of QNX using open standards.

RIM hasn't announced any details of BBX-OS BlackBerry phones yet, referring only to what RIM VP Alec Saunders carefully called "future unnamed devices that are coming," which will run apps written for the PlayBook.

"Anything you write today in HTML5 or with any of the native PlayBook development tools will go forward onto BBX," Saunders promised.

That includes Flash 11 and AIR 3, which are included in today's Developer Beta release of PlayBook OS 2.0, along with support for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics using WebGL and the first appearance of RIM's Android runtime. This is for Android applications that have been repackaged for PlayBook by developers using the new Android SDK, but RIM demonstrated familiar Android apps like Pulse.

No BlackBerry on BBX

What the OS does not include is any support for the Java ME apps that have run on BlackBerry in the past.

Although RIM had previously suggested there would be a way to run BlackBerry apps in an emulator like the Android player, this won't be delivered.

"We spent a lot of energy on getting the BlackBerry Java platform to run in BBX but at the end of the day we concluded it wasn't an experience we wanted to deliver to customers and developers," Saunders explained. "Looking forward to where we see the platform going, to the next generation of mobile experiences, Java ME doesn't fit with that experience."

"This is strictly a developer release, it is not indicative at all of what the final PlayBook 2.0 release will be," Saunders said.

RIM is also launching a new version of the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK 2.2 for building HTML5 apps, as well as the WebKit-based Ripple emulator for testing WebWorks and HTML5 apps either on a desktop PC or in a viewer directly on a PlayBook.

RIM is porting key open source framework and libraries like SQLite, Box2D and CouchDB to BBX.

BBX-OS also includes a new user interface framework called Cascades for native hardware accelerated animations and graphical effects in applications. It's built on top of QtCore but aimed at both developers and designers, in much the same way as Microsoft's Expression Blend tools for building Metro apps.

"This is the future of mobile computing," said RIM VP Chris Smith; "the user interfaces are going to change, with 3D being used not just frivolously but for something useful in the app. Nobody else has this level of capability baked into a framework for developers to access."

Research in Motion (RIM) today announced a variety of applications will be offered free of charge to subscribers, rewarding them for their patience during the recent widespread service disruptions.

Last week, many customers experienced interruptions and delays in service over a period of three days in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, and for around one day in Latin America, Canada and the United States.

"We truly appreciate and value our relationship with our customers. We've worked hard to earn their trust over the past 12 years, and we're committed to providing the high standard of reliability they expect, today and in the future," said RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.

We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to help prevent something like this from happening again.

Global teams worked around the clock to try to minimise the impact on customers, ending the issues on Thursday 13 October.

As an expression of gratitude to customers, the apps, with a value more than $100, will be made available to download in the coming weeks on Blackberry App World. The apps will be accessible until 31 December 2011, RIM said.

The selection of free apps includes SIMS 3, Bejeweled, Texas Hold'em Poker 2, Photo Editor Ultimate, iSpeech Translator Pro and Shazam Encore, amongst many others.

Along with the availability of free apps, RIM enterprise customers will be offered one-month's free technical support. Current customers will be offered a free one-month extension of their existing technical support contract, and customers who do not have a contract will be offered a one-month free trial of the support system.

"We are grateful to our loyal BlackBerry customers for their patience," added Lazaridis. "We have apologised to our customers and we will work tirelessly to restore their confidence. We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to help prevent something like this from happening again."

Read on for our look at how RIM's service outages shook confidence not just in its brand, but in mobile working too.

In a week where Apple launched a new iPhone, we would usually take the time to mock the fanatics lining up in the cold outside Apple Stores worldwide to be the first to own the latest gadet. We'll pass this time though, if only because it's an old joke. And there was still plenty to chortle at beyond the world of Cupertino.

Imperial March

If there's any doubt that China is a rising economic power, then this week's PC shipments figures from Gartner will lay them to rest. Lenovo, the Chinese owners of IBM's old ThinkPad brand, is now the world's second largest PC manufacturer in terms of units shipped. HP still reigns supreme, while Dell, Acer and Asus occupy the third, fourth and fifth spots respectively.

The PC industry is still one where low margins are the rule rather the exception, but Lenovo has the advantage of being native to the Chinese market where people aren't bored of desktop PCs. On the other hand, it's probably a market full of cheapskates with no brand loyalty which doesn't bode well for profits.

Passing the buck

Sony can't seem to get its security house in order. Following the embarrassing security breach of the PlayStation Network earlier this year, another attempt has been made to hack into 93,000 customer accounts.

We can't heap all the blame onto Sony though. According to some whisperings, many of those accounts still had the same passwords as they did at the time of the first breach! To paraphrase an old war propaganda poster, IT security begins with you.

Stop droning on

Sony isn't the only massive multinational entity to suffer embarrassing security problems. A keystroke logger has repeatedly infested the US military base where pilots remotely control the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones) used in the War on Terror.

It seems unlikely the security breach will have serious operational consequences, but it's very embarrassing following the remote theft of data from a UAV manufacturer's servers and a more serious breach back in 2009, when Iraqi insurgents managed to hack the video link between operator and drone using off-the-shelf software. The spin doctors are doubtless coining a term right now for this sort of cock-up friendly, collateral shock and no awe?

Get me on the BBM blood

If there's anything more incredulous than the news that Blackberry users were left without email, BBM and web access for three days, it's the explanation that a switch failure in a Slough data center was the reason for it. The broken switch apparently led to a 'cascading failure' that knocked out other, overwhelmed switches while backup systems failed to come online.

Nothing built by mortal hands will ever be 100% perfect, but it's a bit pants that RIM's backup systems failed so spectacularly. Given RIM's weakness in the smartphone market, if heads aren't rolling then they need to sharpen the guillotines and buy extra rope right now.

Only rarely does a technology story lead a national radio bulletin, and when it does, it is rarely good news. So when BBC Radio 1 featured the problems affecting BlackBerry messaging and email services, Research in Motion will not have been pleased.

But it is the sheer scale of the BlackBerry outage, along with its "now it's up now it's down again" storyline, and RIM's less than comprehensive explanations that have pushed a story about a technology failure, once again, into the headlines. People who would no more have uttered the words "single point of failure" than they would teach themselves C++ are now debating the merits of core switches.

...If such an important tool fails, it also fails in the bosses' hands. And even if their particular devices or systems are not affected, their belief in the technology, and more broadly in IT, will be shaken.

For consumers unable to access email, and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), the failure is a nuisance. For small businesses that depend on their email, it has been close to a disaster. More and more business processes are based around email today, whether it is for exception handling from an SAP back-office system, or asking the boss to sign off on travel expenses.

Unplug the email, and those processes either fail, or become desperately clunky. And many users bought into the BlackBerry system because of its perceived security and reliability.

Nor is it only consumers using the BlackBerry Internet Service, or BIS, who have been affected. Reports are emerging that hosted business BlackBerry users and possibly even some using the enterprise BES system have been caught up. According to Barry Gill at Mimecast, an enterprise messaging vendor, BES users have been affected too, despite RIM's denials.

RIM's failure to issue clear and timely statements about the outage has not helped confidence either. Although it is quite possible that the company simply did not know the cause of the problems, a lack of proactive communications has only led to more rumours and more chatter on Twitter and other social networks. And, with reports coming in late on Wednesday that US BlackBerry users were also starting to be affected, there is a growing sense of panic in some quarters of the small business community.

The problem is this. As a CIO, IT director, or manager looking after IT, you have to persuade an, often sceptical, board to invest in technology. Mobile email is a visible technology that is quite easy to understand and brings a solid return on investment. But if such an important tool fails, it also fails in the bosses' hands. And even if their particular devices or systems are not affected, their belief in the technology, and more broadly in IT, will be shaken.

Is that exaggerating the scale of the problem? Talking to some small business BlackBerry users over the last few days, it is not. The hope is that RIM finds a fix, and the fix works. But for IT professionals, the hard work of rebuilding confidence is just beginning.

Stephen Pritchard is a contributing editor at IT Pro

Millions of BlackBerry users around the world have been left without text communication services for a third day as parent company RIM struggles to fix what it claims is a switching failure in its private network.

Users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and India suffered patchy email service and no access to browsing and messaging, ratcheting up negative sentiment toward a company already losing market share to Apple and Samsung.

t's a blow upon a bruise. It comes at a bad time.

RIM, which had said on Tuesday that services had returned to normal, said later the problems had actually spread beyond EMEA and India to Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

"The messaging and browsing delays ... were caused by a core switch failure within RIM's infrastructure," it said. "As a result, a large backlog of data was generated and we are now working to clear that backlog and restore normal service."

The service disruptions are the worst since an outage swept north America two years ago, and come as Apple prepares to put on sale its already sold-out iPhone 4S on Friday.

"It's a blow upon a bruise. It comes at a bad time," said Richard Windsor, global technology specialist at Nomura.

"One possibility could be that it encourages client companies to look more at other options such as allowing users to connect their own devices to the corporate server and save themselves the cost of buying everyone a BlackBerry."

Many companies, no longer seeing the need to pay to be locked into RIM's secure proprietary email service, have already begun allowing employees to use alternative smartphones, particularly Apple's iPhone, for corporate mail.

RIM has made inroads into the youth market attracted by its free BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service, partially compensating for its losses in the corporate market. But new products like its PlayBook tablet computer have been poorly received.

Following a dismal set of quarterly results and a plunge in its share price, some investors are now calling for a break-up, sale or change of management at the company.

Increasingly frustrated users tweeted their frustration on Wednesday, while RIM's own official Twitter feed was last updated on Tuesday night, saying problems were being resolved and it was sorry for the inconvenience.

Veteran British entrepreneur Alan Sugar, who founded electronics company Amstrad in 1968, tweeted: "In all my years in IT biz, I have never seen such an outage as experienced by Blackberry. I can't understand why it's taking so long to fix."

Some customers used humor to deal with the situation. One joke making the rounds on Twitter said: "What did the one BBM user say to the other? Nothing."

The death of Steve Jobs reminded us of the influence the man has had on the tech industry.

The announcement of the iPhone 4S was closely followed around the world and the news that some of Apple's smartphone rivals could be reorganising themselves is a reminder of just how much Jobs and his company have changed mobile phones.

Goodbye Mr Jobs

Even though Steve Jobs' battle with cancer has been public knowledge for years now, the news of his passing still caught all of us here at IT Pro off-guard. Even if you disagree with Apple's policies and have never bought an Apple product, Jobs' wide-ranging influence on the tech industry, and therefore society in general, is indisputable.

Jobs has received plaudits from rivals, such as Bill Gates, and admirers as well-known as President Obama. It's therefore difficult to pay tribute to the man without sounding repetitive. The words of John Perry Barlow sum up our feelings best: "the world just became a less interesting place."

Jobs is survived by his wife of 20 years, Laurene, and four children.

iPhone 4hisssssss

There's an old saying that you can't please everyone all of the time. Apple must know this more than most. Following fever-pitched speculation, the company unveiled its latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S. As its name suggests the iPhone 4S is a revamped version of its predecessor, but with more powerful specifications and new software features such as the Siri voice recognition capabilities.

All of this wasn't enough to stem an unholy howl of moaning across the internet, presumably from people expecting a totally new iPhone 5. We don't have much sympathy for this whining and neither should Apple it isn't the job of any company to satisfy rumours and unfounded speculation.

Putting aside the easily discernable pattern of previous releases indicating that a new design would have to wait until 2012 and the fact that no company can bring out radically new versions of products every year, a user of China's Weibo microblogging service put it best: "If we can't show off with it, what's the point of buying one? Vain people don't care about features, they care about how it looks."

Shady deals in smoky back rooms

The success of upstarts like Apple and HTC in the smartphone market was always going to lead to consolidation amongst the also-rans at some point and that time may finally have arrived.

There's speculation that Vodafone is in talks to buy Blackberry maker RIM. Given the trend in recent years of power moving away from network operators to phone manufacturers, benefiting customers, the potential of this deal to halt that trend leaves us uneasy. Would a Vodafone-owned RIM would do anything to discourage the use of Blackberries amongst rioters and drug dealers? Not as long as they continue topping up, innit?

Meanwhile, there are reports that Sony could buy out Ericsson, effectively ending the Sony-Ericsson joint venture. Although this would be the end of an era for Ericsson which used to be a major manufacturer of phones in its own right, it makes sense for Sony to have more control in a critical and burgeoning market. Sony may already have signalled that it no longer has faith in the partnership as its Android tablets bear the Sony name, not Sony Ericsson.

It's all a bit like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I wonder if the band music is still playing on their Zunes?