RIM's new BlackBerry Bold targets business market
|
|
|
| Posted
:
Mon, 12 May 2008 14:10:08 GMT |
| By
:
Reuters |
| Category
:
US (Business) |
| News Alerts by
Email ( click
here ) |
|
US Business News |
Home
|
|
|
|
By Wojtek DabrowskiTORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd is launching a new high-end version of the BlackBerry aimed at its core base of business users, but it hopes the sleek device will also catch on in the broad retail market.Shares of RIM jumped on Monday, climbing C$6.20, or 4.7 percent, to C$139.55 on the Toronto Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell. In New York, RIM was up $5.99, or 4.5 percent, at $138.76.The BlackBerry Bold, as the new smartphone is called, is the first BlackBerry to support high-speed HSDPA cellular networks and comes with integrated GPS, Wi-Fi and a host of multimedia features."It's really a step up in function in many core aspects of the system," RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in an interview.The smartphone rolls out globally this summer and will cost between $300 and $400. AT&T will be its lead carrier in the United States.While Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM hopes the Bold will entice corporate users to upgrade the handsets they currently use, Balsillie said he "wouldn't be surprised if it gets picked up by the consumer."The device will be a test of whether the shaky U.S. economy is making corporations less willing to spend on new wireless hardware. Some analysts have expressed concerns that companies will delay upgrades or cut back on spending on items such as the BlackBerry.RIM helped dispel such worries last month when it delivered a higher fourth-quarter profit and a robust outlook.The Bold features the most vivid display ever on a BlackBerry, a 2-megapixel camera with video recording capability, and a media player for watching movies and managing music collections.This isn't the first time a BlackBerry has been loaded with multimedia features to catch the eye of the retail customer. RIM has actively worked at diversifying its client base away from the executives, lawyers and other professionals who use the BlackBerry for sending secure wireless e-mail.More than a third of RIM's 14 million subscribers are now classified as nongovernment and noncorporate.This pursuit of consumers has put RIM in increasingly direct competition with devices such as Apple's iPhone which target the broad consumer market.Still, Balsillie said the Bold is aimed first and foremost at the business, or enterprise, audience."It's pretty fair to say that the Bold does quite a job for cementing our leadership in the (enterprise) side," he said. "We understand our roots and we understand the priority there."RIM also announced that, along with Royal Bank of Canada and Thomson Reuters , it will launch a $150 million venture capital fund that will invest in applications and services for the BlackBerry and other mobile platforms.(Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; Editing by Peter Galloway) (c) Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related News
Five more US bank failures bring total for 2009 to 120 New York - Bank failures in the United States have risen to 120 this year as five more regional institutions were added to the list, the US agency that guarantees the safety of bank deposits said. United Commercial Bank in San Francisco with assets o...
US stocks climb slightly despite double-digit jobless rate New York - US stocks posted mild gains Friday to end the week as investors shrugged off government figures that put the unemployment rate above 10 per cent. The Labour Department said the jobless rate hit 10.2 per cent in the month of October, the hi...
US joblessness hits 10.2 per cent, highest in 26 years - Summary Washington - The US unemployment rate surged to 10.2 per cent in October, the highest in 26 years as another 190,000 people lost their jobs, the Labour Department reported Friday. The figure comes after a 9.8-per-cent jobless rate in September and wa...
US joblessness jumps to 10.2 per cent, highest since 1983 - Update Washington - The US unemployment rate surged to 10.2 per cent in October, the highest in 26 years, as another 190,000 people lost their jobs during the month, the US reported Friday. The figure reported by US Labour Department came after the 9.8 per ...
US jobless rate jumps to 10.2 per cent Washington - The US unemployment rate surged to 10.2 per cent in October as another 190,000 people lost their jobs, according to US Labour Department figures released Friday. The jobless rate stood at 9.8 per cent in September. Unemployment had been ...
Bulls stop James, edge Cavs - Summary Los Angeles - The King couldn't deliver in the clutch. Luol Deng and Joakim Noah combined to deny LeBron James a potential game-winning drive in the final seconds as and the visiting Chicago Bulls snapped the Cleveland Cavaliers' three-game winning...
Mortgage lender Fannie Mae posts nearly 19-billion-dollar loss Washington - US mortgage lender Fannie Mae said Thursday that it would seek 15 billion dollars in federal aid, after posting its ninth consecutive quarterly loss. Fannie Mae reported a net loss of 18.9 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2009, co...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|