Posts tagged: smartphone
The Verge:
A final analysis comes from the man whose company pulled the rug out from under RIM in 2007. Speaking in late 2010, he said, “They must move beyond their comfort area into the unfamiliar territory in trying to become a software platform company. I think it’s going to be a challenge for them to create a competitive platform and to convince developers to create apps for yet a third platform after iOS and Android. With 300,000 apps on Apple’s app store RIM has a high mountain ahead of them to climb.”
That man, of course, was Steve Jobs.
Great article on the history of RIM.
Matthew Panzarino, The Next Web, on Nokia Lumia 800:
If you’ve been a mobile phone user for more than a decade, then you remember a time when Nokia made the best cell phones in the world. The landscape was smaller then, with Motorola and Nokia dominating most of the 1990′s.
Now, with its sidelining of the custom-built MeeGo OS, Nokia has joined forces with Microsoft to create the Lumia 800 in an effort to defibrillate its flatlining smartphone business.
In the process, Nokia has created something that is somehow greater than the sum of its parts, a feat that I have only seen matched by one other smartphone recently, the iPhone.
By reading the review alone, I was honestly tempted to give this phone, this OS a try. The hardware engineering and design looks very good, something very rare these days in the smartphone market.
Nonetheless, if I had to choose a phone apart from the iPhone, I’d go for Nokia’s WP7 smartphones.
RIM is still delusional. Where shall I begin?
Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said that there would be several devices “within rapid succession” in the next month.
Clearly, at the rate and quality that they are delivering their new products, I can tell that they are stretched to the limit in terms of engineering (and possibly design, if any) resources. 7 within a couple of months? That is just insane.
RIM would really do better if they’d just focus all their resources in perfecting a single, or a few products. 7 is way too many, not to mention the various carrier variants.
In terms of long-term strategy, RIM reasserted that they’re doing awesome but are “not perfect” and that they’re poised to leap a whole generation thanks to the time they’re investing in development now.
Really? I think they are a good three generations behind and being poised to leap a whole generation isn’t enough.
The leadership structure is staying the same despite threats to the contrary, and from the sounds of the investors, they’d rather have it that way. There’s been a lot of talk about internal ire from staff, but Balsillie seriously doubted the legitimacy of the anonymous letters criticizing RIM, and thought that most employees would not condone that format as a way of delivering feedback.
Do they ever listen to feedback from anyone at all? The management still isn’t fired yet?
Let’s see, if RIM can’t cough up a QNX-powered device “in the next month”, I honestly doubt their prolonged existence. Even with QNX, it is far from the holy grail, but it re-positions them with a fighting chance.
The iPhone’s retail debut was on June 29, 2007 — four years ago today. Its large touch screen isn’t novel anymore, but was revolutionary then.
Ever wondered how “smart phones” looked before the launch of the iPhone? Check out the blog post for a trip down memory lane.
