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August 26, 2010

Research In Motion says it has acquired Cellmania, a company that makes software used to run mobile phone stores.

Cellmania appeals to wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel and AT&T.

Research In Motion intends to use Cellmania’s specialized software and expertise in its BlackBerry Application World. This acquisition may boost Research In Motion's operating system, user interface and software ecosystem and place it closer to Apple's iPhone and Google's Android operating systems.

Overall, RIM continues to face a particularly challenging environment these days, which was recently reflected in its first quarter 2011 financial results.

Total revenue was a bit over $4.23 billion, but which still came in below the company’s previous guidance.

During the quarter, BlackBerry mobile phones failed to see any significant demand upsurge. Research In Motion shipped 11.2 million BlackBerry devices and added 4.9 million net new BlackBerry subscribers.

Both numbers were at the low end of the company’s guidance, and that made RIM's stock go down quite a bit in the last few weeks.

Overall, robust growth of 3G smartphones throughout the globe may benefit RIM in the near future. The strong brand value of BlackBerry is also expected to keep the earnings momentum high for the company.

The BlackBerry maker continues to face stiff competition from Apple’s iPhone and several newly launched smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system, and especially Motorola’s flagship DROID smartphone.

But we also believe that RIM desperately needs a mobile smartphone that can out perform the iPhone or Android based-phones in the market, whether they are from Motorola or others.

Failing that, RIM will face serious issues about remaining competitive and relevant in a market which is rapidly changing in terms of technology, price and data plan provided by all the many wireless carriers available today.

Two weeks ago, Research In Motion launched its new BlackBerry Torch, its latest flagship enterprise smartphone, on AT&T Mobility's network. At $200 after rebates on a new 2-year contract, the Torch is RIM's latest attempt to breathe new life into its well-regarded brand.

The new smartphone mixes the company's wildly popular keyboard with a large touchscreen in a slider form factor, making it very much a top draw for enterprise and consumer customers alike.

After two rather "dull" touchscreen devices sold under the Storm brand, RIM is hoping it finally has a new winning form factor on its hands that can stand up against the latest offerings from Google and Apple.

Research In Motion has been very rigid with its new device designs over the years, making the Torch only its fifth major form factor design to be released so far in the company's history.

Following its official unveiling of the new wireless device earlier this month, RIM has taken some heat for offering a new device with a comparably slow processor and what many consider to still be a insufficient operating system for a modern smartphone.

Quite a bit is riding on the Torch, however.

While the BlackBerry clearly has its fans and avid users, much of RIM's future growth could depend on its ability to sway customers away from competing devices like Apple's iPhone and Google's growing legion of Android devices.

The new handset sports RIM's latest BlackBerry 6 operating system highlighted by increased integration for touch screens and a new web browser. RIM wasn't supposed to start selling the Torch until sometime next week, but the company must have had a sudden change of heart at the last minute, some say.

The new Blackberry Torch is powered by a 624 MHz processor with 512 megabytes of Flash memory, which while powerful when compared to RIM's other devices, also comes up a bit short against many of its competitors that are now sporting processor speeds of up to 1 GHz.

The new device also includes 4 gigabytes of embedded onboard storage as well as an included 4 GB Micro-SD card. The Torch can support memory cards up to 32 GB.

Hardware wise, the Torch offers a 3.2-inch capacitative touch screen, a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and RIM's traditional optical trackpad.

The screen size is similar to the company's Storm model, but comes up short in real estate compared with the 3.5-inch screen on Apple's iPhone and the 4-inch plus screens on newer devices running Google's Android OS.

The Torch also does include a 5-megapixel camera, which is so far the highest resolution in the BlackBerry lineup.

The Torch includes quad-band support for GSM/GPRS/EDGE, tri-band support for HSDPA in the 850/1900/2100 MHz bands and Wi-Fi support for 802.11b/g/n. There was no word on additional models that would support either T-Mobile's 3G network in the 1700/2100 MHz band or a CDMA version.

AT&T Mobility said it would start offering the new smartphone next Thursday through its direct retail and online channels as well as through third-party retailers Best Buy, Wal-Mart and RadioShack.

Pricing for the Torch will be the standard $200 after all rebates and a two-year minimum contract and the device will require a data package of either $15 a month for 200 MB or $25 a month for 2 GB of data transmissions.

The pricing for the new device will place it in-line with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 at AT&T Mobility, which features a smaller, non-touch screen and Qwerty keyboard.

More importantly for the success of the new unit, it will be priced in-line with Apple's latest iPhone 4 16 GB model, which is also available exclusively through AT&T Mobility.

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Source: Research In Motion.