RIM and Microsoft

jdevenberg

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Lets see, Blackberry is hemorrhaging market share, something MS has finally been able to stop doing. They have an unproven, unreleased OS that the public knows next to nothing about (it will be QNX based, be an evolution of PBOS2, and have a pretty good keyboard), MS already has one OS that it needs to draw customers to, it doesn't need another. People are already leaving BES for Exchange, so no point in buying BES when you can get their customers free. MS already has hardware partners. Nokia has made some great keyboard phones (E71), as have both HTC (Dash/Excalibur line) and Samsung (Blackjack line), no need to buy a failing brand to get a keyboard. On top of that, MS killed the one resolution that would have actually made sense for a Blackberry style phone, showing they are not interested in that form factor. Any future WP keyboards will be sliders, and Blackberry has 0 experience in that department, while Nokia and Samsung both have a lot.

So where is the value for MS in buying the whole company? The only thing BB has that MS would want is their patent portfolio.

EDIT: in fact, my two favorite sliders I have ever owned were a Nokia and a Samsung. The Nokia Xpress Music 5300 and the Samsung Blast SGH-T729. I even preferred the Samsung's SureType style keyboard to that of the BlackBerry Pearl I had. I was quicker on the Samsung than I was with my Curve.
 
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fatclue_98

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Lets see, Blackberry is hemorrhaging market share, something MS has finally been able to stop doing. They have an unproven, unreleased OS that the public knows next to nothing about (it will be QNX based, be an evolution of PBOS2, and have a pretty good keyboard), MS already has one OS that it needs to draw customers to, it doesn't need another. People are already leaving BES for Exchange, so no point in buying BES when you can get their customers free. MS already has hardware partners. Nokia has made some great keyboard phones (E71), as have both HTC (Dash/Excalibur line) and Samsung (Blackjack line), no need to buy a failing brand to get a keyboard. On top of that, MS killed the one resolution that would have actually made sense for a Blackberry style phone, showing they are not interested in that form factor. Any future WP keyboards will be sliders, and Blackberry has 0 experience in that department, while Nokia and Samsung both have a lot.

So where is the value for MS in buying the whole company? The only thing BB has that MS would want is their patent portfolio.

EDIT: in fact, my two favorite sliders I have ever owned were a Nokia and a Samsung. The Nokia Xpress Music 5300 and the Samsung Blast SGH-T729. I even preferred the Samsung's SureType style keyboard to that of the BlackBerry Pearl I had. I was quicker on the Samsung than I was with my Curve.
Define slider. If you're referring to a side slider then you're correct. The 9800 series is a portrait slider and I loved it when I had one. Pound for pound, RIM made better built devices than most. The portrait sliders on my Pre2 and 3 were beyond cheap. The one in my DVP is very solid but the layout is not very friendly in spite of the size difference between it and the Blackberry.

As for the software, if it's QNX-based as they state then it ain't all bad. The Playbook's UI was very nice, intuitive and quite snappy. They even "borrowed" (read: stole) the swiping gestures from webOS. The fact that it was a paperweight without the host phone turned a lot of people off if they didn't own a BB phone. Call it an expensive Celio Redfly with a gorgeous screen.

You mention a shrinking market share and I agree, but remember those G-Man contracts that aren't going away anytime soon. WP is the closest competitor for strict IT departments and government agencies and that customer base is quite lucrative.

Based on your statements and my reply it would seem I have to modify my position and join you in hoping MS acquires the patent portfolio as a stand-alone proposition instead of the entire company. It would certainly strengthen Microsoft's position and acquire a competition-free segment of the market.
 

jfa1

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Lets see, Blackberry is hemorrhaging market share, something MS has finally been able to stop doing. They have an unproven, unreleased OS that the public knows next to nothing about (it will be QNX based, be an evolution of PBOS2, and have a pretty good keyboard), MS already has one OS that it needs to draw customers to, it doesn't need another. People are already leaving BES for Exchange, so no point in buying BES when you can get their customers free. MS already has hardware partners. Nokia has made some great keyboard phones (E71), as have both HTC (Dash/Excalibur line) and Samsung (Blackjack line), no need to buy a failing brand to get a keyboard. On top of that, MS killed the one resolution that would have actually made sense for a Blackberry style phone, showing they are not interested in that form factor. Any future WP keyboards will be sliders, and Blackberry has 0 experience in that department, while Nokia and Samsung both have a lot.

So where is the value for MS in buying the whole company? The only thing BB has that MS would want is their patent portfolio.

EDIT: in fact, my two favorite sliders I have ever owned were a Nokia and a Samsung. The Nokia Xpress Music 5300 and the Samsung Blast SGH-T729. I even preferred the Samsung's SureType style keyboard to that of the BlackBerry Pearl I had. I was quicker on the Samsung than I was with my Curve.
BB does have experience with sliders the Torch is/was a pre-like decice
 

jdevenberg

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Yes I had forgotten the torch sliders. I still maintain that given Samsung and Nokia having made many sliders, they still don't need blackberry to release a good slider.
 

CHIP72

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Yes I had forgotten the torch sliders. I still maintain that given Samsung and Nokia having made many sliders, they still don't need blackberry to release a good slider.

I concur. Additionally, I personally prefer landscape sliders (i.e. devices like the Motorola Droid line) rather than portrait sliders like the Blackberry Torch. Portrait physical keyboards are too small/narrow for my thumbs.
 

jdevenberg

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I prefer portrait sliders. I am faster with a virtual keyboard than a physical, but a vertical slider is easier to use one handed than a touch screen.
 

mafu6

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I prefer portrait sliders. I am faster with a virtual keyboard than a physical, but a vertical slider is easier to use one handed than a touch screen.

A little of topic but if you have an Android device and use Swype then I'd say that is the fastest way to type, the more you use it the better it becomes like any 3rd party keyboard.

Just my opinion but i do prefer potrait sliders to landscape ones.
 

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