We saw an influx of Torch ads when it was released, however the 9780 has endured a much more media quiet release.  This device is not only featured in a new T-Mobile commercial, but featured in white by a bunch of ballerina’s!  Lord of the Dance, Taylor Martin, approves.  Check out the video below, and make sure to leave us a comment below if you have gotten a chance to use this new Bold!

via: CrackBerry

While it hasn’t appeared to be a great year for RIM, thanks to the increasingly popular Android and iPhone, it was still a record year for the company. Their US market share is slipping away, and they are definitely scrambling to make the necessary changes, but RIM is actually showing substantial growth. It appears numbers are up almost across the board.

Some of us were worried about RIM and how they would fare amongst the other popular operating systems. While I’m certain they weren’t destined to stay on top forever, they’re still doing well and holding their own. Given some time to rehash some ideas and pull all of the pieces together (TAT, QNX, etc.), they may have the opportunity to surprise everyone once again. They seem to be very good at that.

Here is the official report:

RESEARCH IN MOTION REPORTS THIRD QUARTER RESULTS

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported record third quarter results for the three months ended November 27, 2010 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP)

Highlights:

Record BlackBerry® smartphone shipments  of 14.2 million grew 40% over the same quarter
last year
Revenue grew 40% over the same quarter last year to $5.5 billion
Q3 Earnings per share of $1.74 were up 58% over the same quarter last year
Cash increased by $446 million to $2.5 billion at the end of the quarter
Q3 Results:
Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 was $5.49 billion, up 19% from $4.62 billion in the previous quarter and up 40% from $3.92 billion in the same quarter of last year. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 82% for devices, 15% for service, and 3% for software and other revenue.

During the quarter, RIM shipped approximately 14.2 million devices. Approximately 5.1 million net new BlackBerry® subscriber accounts were added in the quarter.  At the end of the quarter, the total BlackBerry subscriber account base was over 55 million.

“We are pleased to report another record quarter with strong growth in shipments of BlackBerry smartphones leading to record revenue, subscriber additions and earnings. RIM’s business continues to grow and diversify as BlackBerry adoption accelerates in markets around the world,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “With strong results and momentum from our recent product introductions, as well as growing excitement from our partners and customers around upcoming smartphone, tablet, software and service offerings, we are setting the stage for continuing success.”

The Company’s net income for the quarter was $911.1 million, or $1.74 per share diluted, compared with net income of $796.7 million, or $1.46 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and net income of $628.4 million, or $1.10 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year

The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was $2.47 billion as of November 27, 2010, compared to $2.03 billion at the end of the previous quarter, an increase of $446 million from the prior quarter. Cash flow from operations in Q3 was approximately $975 million.  Uses of cash included capital expenditures of approximately $300 million, common share repurchases of approximately $133 million, and intangible asset purchases of approximately $45 million.

Q4 Outlook:
Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 ending February 26, 2011 is expected to be in the range of $5.5-$5.7 billion.  Gross margin percentage for the fourth quarter is expected to be similar to third quarter levels.  Earnings per share for the fourth quarter are expected to be in the range of $1.74-$1.80 per share diluted.

Update on RIM’s Board of Directors:
RIM announced today that its board of directors has appointed co-Chief Executive Officers Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis as co-chairmen of the board. John Richardson remains as lead independent director of RIM and will continue to facilitate the functioning of the board independently of management. The board believes these appointments, in conjunction with Mr. Richardson serving as lead independent director, represent an appropriate and effective leadership structure for RIM. RIM also announced today that Jim Estill has resigned his position as a director of RIM due to a business conflict. RIM thanks Mr. Estill for his 13 years of service on the board.

Conference Call and Webcast
A conference call and live webcast will be held beginning at 5 pm ET, December 16, 2010, which can be accessed by dialing 800-814-4859 (North America), 416-644-3414 (outside North America). The replay of the company’s Q3 conference call can be accessed after 7 pm ET, December 16, 2010 until midnight ET, December 30, 2010. It can be accessed by dialing 416-640-1917 and entering passcode 4310313#. The conference call will also appear on the RIM website live at 5 pm ET and will be archived at http://www.rim.com/investors/events/index.shtml.ue.

via: PhoneDog | BGR

Jive about the upcoming RIM tablet has really slacked off quite a bit over the last month. That could be partially due to us knowing that we won’t be able to get our hands on one until the new year, but we have no clue as to when we will see it beyond that. During the earnings call yesterday, RIM not only showed that they have in fact surpassed some estimates, they hinted at the PlayBook being shipped at the end of Q1 of the next fiscal year, which is March. They also said the expect to see revenue from the PlayBook in Q1 of the company’s fiscal year, which begins in March. That doesn’t really give them a whole lot of time to see numbers on the PlayBook, but revenue is revenue.

March is great and all, but I want my PlayBook now. What about you guys and gals? Can you wait until march to get your paws on the upcoming PlayBook? Will it be worth the wait?

via: PhoneDog | Engadget

Not many BlackBerry applications give you up to the minute stock information and breaking news while it happens.  CNBC aims to change that with their news CNBC Pro application.  This application delivers a laundry list of features for the business minded BlackBerry user, providing you with all the stock market’s ups and downs and the news that you want to see.

We all know BlackBerry to desktop synchronization has always been shoddy at best.  However, the new CNBC Pro application allows you to sync the setting from desktop to BlackBerry and vice versa.  CNBC Pro will allow you to sync only the information you want (or need to those of you who work in investments) and keep the other crap off of you phone.  Of course, you can expect nothing but the best with the $269.99 a year price tag (or $24.99 a month, if you so choose).

For the low-down on the CNBC Pro application, visit here.

As if we weren’t already slobbering with excitement over this lovely device, this video has definitely heightened the expectations that many of us share.  Check out the video below for more.  Under said video there will be a little overview of the various features, just in case you’re at your work computer slacking off with us!

One of the coolest features of the Playbook is definitely all the swipe gestures that are integrated into the system.  This could potentially create an extremely user friendly environment for both techies (like myself) as well as the technologically impaired.  The screen of the Playbook is drop dead gorgeous, even by the standards of being viewed through the lens of a camera.  The interface was snappy and I noticed very little lag.  Several misplaced touches occurred, but that was purely operator error and was in no way the Playbooks fault.

After seeing the video above, please let us know if this device lives up to your expectations!  Also, feel free to include a wishlist of things you’d like to see included in the device before it hits stores.

via: BGR

Ahoy, fellow BlackBerry fanboys! Yesterday we missed a bit of big news for RIM. RIM has just acquired The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), a company with the potential to revolutionize the BlackBerry UI. With TAT on the team, it is becoming more and more obvious that RIM does not take the future lightly and is in the smartphone game for the long haul. With a WebKit browser, courtesy of Torch Mobile and a promising new team (who probably worked on the Tab) improving how we interact with our BlackBerry’s menus, the future looks bright for our slick, QWERTY friends. Check out the video below for some of the impressive work from TAT, and a preview of what we may be looking forward to!

via: CrackBerry

Well folks, it doesn’t look like the Kik storm is about to die down. This morning, RIM filed a lawsuit against Kik, the popular cross-platform Instant Messaging client, for patent infringement. RIM pulling an application from App World doesn’t happen everyday. The first time I used Kik, I was using an Android device, and my first thought was, “This feels like BBM, a lot like BBM.”

I have no doubt in my mind that Kik’s ideas were inspired by RIM’s native messaging client, but whether it infringes on any patents will have to be determined by the courts. According to BerryReview, Ted Livingston, CEO of Kik, is a former RIM employee. This gives Livingston ample opportunity to have used RIM’s own technology to power what users have wanted for well over a year now, BBM for all. If he did in fact use RIM’s patented technology, Livingston will get more than a slap on the wrist. The current lawsuit was filed in Canada, but I’m sure we can expect on here in the States in a few days too. You can view the court filing here.

via: BerryReview

With RIM’s very own tablet looming over our heads, taunting us every time we hear more news of it, the hype is bound to grow. RIM wants to keep developers in the loop and have application support rolling by the launch of the PlayBook. If you’re a developer and patiently waiting for the PlayBook from RIM, this is something that might interest you. RIM has released an updated version of the Tablet OS (by QNX) SDK for your developing pleasure. The update added support for 64-bit Windows, Linux, and Adobe®Flash Bulder 4.5. BerryReview also pointed out that there is a note on the Tablet SDK page stating:

Coming soon: support for content and applications using Adobe Flash 10.1 and HTML5 with the BlackBerry PlayBook Simulator with the BlackBerry® Browser.

If you’re interested in downloading the SDK, you can go ahead and grab it here. If you try it out, let us know how it is.

via: BerryReview

More and more news on the BlackBerry PlayBook emerge. It’s no surprise to see some PlayBook shots in the latest Black Eyes Peas videos, since Will.I.Am is a hardcore BlackBerry user and so it seems he’s already got a PlayBook. The video was posted to his Dipvide website featuring a PlayBook every now and then. Take a look and give us your thoughts in the comments.

via: CrackBerry

Ever wonder who would win if the BlackBerry Playbook and the Apple iPad got into a fight? If you answered yes, enjoy the show. A video comparing the web browsing experience of the two tablets has been posted by RIM on their official BlackBerry youtube channel. The Playbook’s rendering of web pages is overall a much  smoother experience than on the iPad. Speed is definitely a factor as well. Also, having the ability to view Flash content on most web pages is a big plus. I guess the major factor is screen size, but that is a personal preference you’ll have to decide for yourself.. Here is a statement from RIM’s Media Relations Department explaining what you will see in the video.

“The video runs through a series of comparison tests with a PlayBook and iPad which demonstrate three things: the speed of the BlackBerry PlayBook Browser, its support for rich Flash content, and the performance of open web standards like HTML 5 on the BlackBerry PlayBook.”

BlackBerry Playbook and Apple iPad Comparison: Web Fidelitiy

If your a BlackBerry loyalist, as I am, you have to be excitied about the direction RIM is heading in. I can’t wait until RIM gets this OS onto a smartphone. How do you think the Playbook stacks up against the iPad? What is your ideal screen size for a tablet? Comment below.