Make or break for RIM: With BlackBerry 10 launch, can 'CrackBerry' make a ... - Economic Times

NEW DELHI: In the tech world, no one is invincible. Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) was once the most revered smartphone maker in the world but today, its very existence is threatened because of two small events: the launch of iPhone in June 2007 and of Android in October 2008. According to the latest figures culled by Strategy Analytics, 92.1% of all smartphones sold in the world in Q4, 2012 were either iOS or Android. Market share for the whole year (2012) for Android and iOS stands at 87.8%, according to the same report. That leaves barely 12% for all the others, including Microsoft's Windows Phone 8, which has backers like Samsung, Nokia and HTC. Also check: ET's special coverage on RIM's BlackBerry 10 As RIM showcases the much-lauded BlackBerry 10 (BB 10) operating system and devices to the world today, Jan 30 - in global, simultaneous events - many experts agree that BB 10 has a truckload of obstacles ahead. Vaibhav Sharma, founding editor of The Handheld Blog offered some int eresting insight. "Mankind, in general, and the tech press, in particular, loves a good comeback story and that's exactly what BlackBerry is promising with BB 10. But the fact remains that shiny new hardware and an intuitive interface is no longer enough to support an ecosystem. We've seen it happen with Nokia's MeeGo, with Palm's Web OS and despite the positive noises preceding the BB 10 launch, its success is far from guaranteed. We've reached a stage where all major operating systems are competent when it comes to handling email and IM, and there's very little that BlackBerry will bring as an exclusive, at least as far as the general consumer is concerned." He added, "What makes things worse for BlackBerry is that BBM is no longer the de-facto IM app. That title goes to WhatsApp and they have no intention of supporting BB 10 so far. Finally, because BB 10 got delayed so much, the company has let Microsoft establish Windows Phone as the third ecosystem. Most developers may support apps on two platforms, some on three, but very few have the resources to support four and therein lies BlackBerry's problem." In other news, BlackBerry's renamed app store (now called BlackBerry World) will also be offering a large catalogue of DRM-free music, available for purchase in 18 countries, including India. This is what Nikhil Pahwa, editor and publisher of MediaNama, had to say on this: "I do think that bundling content is a great way of attracting users, and it's an even better deal for content owners who are struggling to monetise their content. However, I don't think bundling of content and services will play a big role in a phone buyer's decision-making process: there is enough content on the open web, and people who go for BB 10 will know how to get it on the Internet anyway." via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFu_0siCl031-qfQ-GOZEdj1bjFnQ&url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/make-or-break-for-rim-with-blackberry-10-launch-can-crackberry-make-a-comeback/articleshow/18246371.cms

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