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BLACKBERRY MAKER RESEARCH In Motion will launch a new operating system and seven new smartphones in the coming months with technology that ‘jumps a generation’ according to co-CEO Jim Balsillie.
Balsillie told shareholders yesterday that the company is facing challenges as it moves toward what it calls its biggest product launch yet. At RIM’s annual meeting he cited delays in releasing the company’s new operating system.
But he said seven new BlackBerry smartphones will run the advanced system in the coming months, enabling RIM to stay on track to meet its financial guidance for the year.
Mike Lazaridis, who shares the title of co-CEO with Balsillie, said the delays were due to company’s efforts to get its smartphones to meet market expectations, adding that the technology in the new BlackBerry Bold jumps a generation.
“It may have delayed us, but we are going to come out ahead,” Lazaridis said of the company’s decision to hold off on the rollout of the new BlackBerry Bold in order to bolster it to face what he called an “arms race” brewing among its smartphone competitors.
The annual meeting comes after RIM’s share price has fallen more than 50 per cent this year.
The company, based in Waterloo, Ontario, once dominated the corporate smartphone market but has been struggling to come up with a device to compete with Apple’s iPhone and smartphones running Google”s Android operating system.
RIM also got poor reviews for its tablet, called the PlayBook, launched in April, and about 1,000 of the devices had to be recalled because of defective software.
The company’s inability to stay on top of innovation and create a product that consumers find as sexy as the iPhone has disgruntled some shareholders who are anxious to see what’s next in its device roster.
Some at the meeting were critical of RIM’s lack of marketing efforts in the face of rivals such as Apple — including one shareholder who brought pictures of the RIM’s PlayBook tablet display at a Best Buy store that he said fell short of the rival offerings.
Lazaridis said the company is continuing to build on RIM’s reputation for security when it comes to email and added that trials of its PlayBook tablet were under way at more than 1,500 companies.
“This includes multiple government agencies and groups from both the public and private sectors,” he said.
The falloff in RIM’s share price has prompted takeover rumors. One shareholder asked on Tuesday about a “poison pill” rights plan to block a hostile bid.
Balsillie said a rights plan could be put in place in a “blink of an eye” if a hostile offer was made for the company.
As it struggles to regain its market position, the BlackBerry maker’s management structure has also come under criticism.
Balsillie and Lazaridis currently serve as both co-CEOs and co-chairmen of the company. Some analysts and shareholders have called for an independent chairman to push the company back on an upswing.
- AP
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“People are slowing down at the go system cameras because they know where they are”. Erm isn’t that the point? Saving lives?! Think the lament is on lost revenue or am I being too cynical?!
That’s how it reads.
Personally I think it it wasn’t about revenue they would have made local speed limit sensitive (dynamic) speed limiters a mandatory condition of sale of vehicles long ago. The technology is there.
There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport, In all my years working at the airport I’ve never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.
It is nothing more than revenue generating ,As for the go safe company didn’t a well known business man get the contract who was a friend of Bertie.
I’d love to see the stats on what speeds people were caught at.
“There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport, In all my years working at the airport I’ve never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.”
Probably because there is “There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport” and everyone obeys the speed limit so “In all (your) years working at the airport (you’ve) never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.”
I take it you are not familiar with the stretch of road that I mentioned, It starts at the major roundabout at the airport and finishes about 1 km when you come to another roundabout for the M1.
Three lanes all going in the same direction revenue generating if you ask me.
I know the road, but you are failing to link the lack of accidents with the presence of the speed van.
No speed van, people will speed and there will be accidents.
The reason you don’t see accidents is, as you say yourself, there is normally a speed van there.
speed cameras have had no effect on saving lives, cause all speed camera are on dual carridgeways and main roads, most deaths occur in the country on secondary roads.
speed cameras just as you come out of airport. N11, N4, N3, . they list these as blackspots, and maybe they were many years ago before they improved the roads, but now they are just easy targeting areas. speed limits are too low for the type of road, you spend more time looking at yer speedo than the road
If speed cameras weren’t about raising revenue then the system would be changed to average speed cameras. Instead of people speeding along the road then slowing down where they know there is usually a van the speeding back up, people would actually have to obey the speed limit on the entire stretch of road.
Also the fact that fpc notices are not sent by registered post is a joke. You can simply say when summonsed that you never received the original charge notice and had no way of knowing you needed to pay and take the 2 points. Judges are copping onto this now and not taking it as a defence, but what if you actually didn’t receive the notice?!! I know people that have appealed to high court after district court didn’t take the above as a defence and it was overturned on appeal
Surely the judges have to take denial of receipt as a defence. The burden of proof is on the state, no? “Prove I received it. You can’t? Ok – see you later.” Shouldn’t have to appeal it at all.
You’d think that wouldn’t you?! But just in the same way a guard can pull you over if he thinks he saw you hold your phone, if it goes to court you pretty much have no defence. A judge will always take the gards word over the member of the publics.
Sending penalty charges by registered post would solve the problem over night. But it’s a broken system from the ground up.
Ignoring lots of this government theft (aka taxes and fines) works. Try it. I’ve stood up to many solicitors and guards ad they back off.
Oh not a popular point of view I see. It is however true that if you go to court for some of these offences they are struck out because a lot of people are being fined because they accept & admit to it. Due process has been replaced in these cases until you stand up for yourself. If you go on youtube you will see how many ways its possible to overturn these offences unless you are doing stupid kmh.
So give people ways to endanger lives without fear of penalty, well done
Endangering lives, don’t talk such manure. Speeding does not kill, bad driving does. You could drive past a ‘gosafe’ van in a with no tax, no insurance, no driving licence, no nct, no brakes, bald tyres, off your tits on coke, speed and LSD, with a boot full of explosives and corpses and as long as you’re watching your speed, you’re safe???
Half tempted to try that out
LIES AND LET ME TE YOU WHY….if speed checks and cameras were about safety they would be highly visible and also people should be given well advanced warnings of where they are like in other countries example on the raidio etc. At the end of the day it is should be about getting people to slow down rather than given points and a fine.
The ultimate aim is to get gossfe to be allowed ti setup anywhere. This will ensure max revenue generation as it basically will be shooting fish in a barrwll hiding and been around corners where speef changes suddenly.
This whole Gosafe as so many know are usually where there is max revenue generation but no crashes etc.
Or you could just follow the speed limits.
Or the yellow. Rick road
How come I don’t see the guards at obvious black spots. There’s a stretch of road near where I live that has a sign saying black spot on it that’s totally dangerous. I’ve never seen a guard there yet on a slip road coming off a motorway nearby which is a three laned mile long downhill bit where they always are. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.it just doesn’t seem to make sense.
Because we have enough Gardai to pull them away from all duties to stand at a Black Spot sign
another money grabing exercise from a pack of no hopers come trhe next election
I honestly dont think speed cameras are having much of an impact on road deaths.They are placed in areas where the roads are 3 and 4 lanes wide with ridiculously low speed limits.its entrapment at best.The M4 at liffey valley being a prime example.Its four lanes wide with a speed limit of 80km/h (think it used to be 60!!) as you come up off the M50 and I for one in all my years driving into work have never seen anything other than a brushing of bumpers on this stretch of road.Id be very surprised if theres ever been a death there since it was upgraded.Its absolutely crazy that such a stretch of road should be subject to the same speed limits you can find down most country lanes where alot of these fatalities happen.How often do you hear of road deaths in the capital at all?im sure they happen but Id love to see the figures of where these accidents actually happen.Its easy to say the cameras are having an impact on road deaths when they’re placed on the widest,best lit and generally safest sections of our roads.
have your say