BB - BlackBerry

[Guest valueInv]

Good read on QNX:

 

http://forums.crackberry.com/blackberry-10-os-f269/its-all-about-qnx-changes-everything-essay-774931/

 

Did Txlaw write the article? :D ;D :D

[Guest wellmont]

Good read on QNX:

 

http://forums.crackberry.com/blackberry-10-os-f269/its-all-about-qnx-changes-everything-essay-774931/

 

imagine! a positive article on Crackberry! :)

[zenith]

with short interest at 164 million, it is interesting to see the comments on this forum. The stock is essentially the inverse ytd of what AAPL is. I would think since we all like Fairfax at some level, we should be happy to see thier investment doing better? While I believe that BBRY is significantly undervalued, and aggre with Prem Watsa, the negative feelings on BBRY from this forum and others shows they have quite a bit to prove.  So stay tuned........

 

In any case what is everyone's fair value on BBRY?  bears and bulls please reply!

Is it worth $8 like Merrill Lynch says? Note he has increased his target price from 6 to 7 and now to 8 all in the past 9 months. We know Prem thinks it is at least $40 or so.

 

 

I personally love the Blackberry BB10 software. Having been a long term Palm user (last phone was a Palm Pre 2) I missed the multitasking of the current phones. Having used my wifes iphone 4s to check email through the good for enterprises application, I found my old palm pre 2 to be faster in most ways. Granted the camera and graphics, etc were obviously better on the newer iphone, but switching to another app, or just closing one was better on the pre. 

Being the value investor that I am, I bought 4 playbooks for about $125 each and my 2 young kids (less than age 4) love them and use them daily. My wife who loves her iphone 4s, tried the Z10 at Verizon (with a recently trained salesperson) and was convinced in about 5 minutes to switch, and she will be a Z10 user shortly, as will my dad (had a samsung galaxy S3), as soon as my contract is up in about a month.

[kevin4u2]

Came from an Iphone 4s to the Z10 and I can honestly say that this phone rocks. The multitasking and hub have been huge for me... time savers. If you use this phone for a week you would never look back... and that's the problem. BlackBerry needs to find a way to get this phone into more users hands. I think user experience is key to selling the Z while loyalists will buy the Q. The store model with the zip tie around the demo does not do this thing justice. Regardless, bbry is filthy cheap at these levels with BES 10 on the horizon.

 

lots of people would look back. the people that need apps. IOS has them. bb10 does not. So you would not look back. but lots and lots of people certainly would, if they even made the switch at all. we don't always do things for rational reasons "Fairfaxnut". lol

 

I hear this argument about "apps" all the time.  I would like to ask a serious question regarding this.  How many of these millions of "apps" are actually useful?  I have friends of all different devices and most of them actually use only a handful of these "apps".  I know people with ipads who think many of the apps suck because they are set up for iphone.  Many of the banking apps lack full functionality.  So how important are all these "apps" in reality?  How many people have an ipad chalk full of apps but use maybe one or two on a regular basis?  The majority of the usage would be the for the browser and email. 

 

With most websites now offering mobile, desktop, and tablet versions, are the millions of "apps" even necessary?  Why not just use the browser?  A buddy last night said he uses a link in the browser to check the weather, instead of one of the hundreds of weather apps on the iphone.  I was shocked

 

Now for full disclosure, I have a Z10 for work I find it to be a great device, really fast and good multitasking.  I put a bunch of apps on there when I got it but now find I couldn't be bothered with many of them.  I use the device as a communications device (phone, email, text, bbm, etc.) and don't have time to play games on it.  I use a weather app on a regular basis but 95% of the time I use the browser for anything else (including banking).  Cloud storage (Dropbox and Box) are integrated into the device storage system.  Maybe I'm an anomoly because I don't play angrybirds or I'm missing some killer "app" that's not available. 

[rmitz]

Came from an Iphone 4s to the Z10 and I can honestly say that this phone rocks. The multitasking and hub have been huge for me... time savers. If you use this phone for a week you would never look back... and that's the problem. BlackBerry needs to find a way to get this phone into more users hands. I think user experience is key to selling the Z while loyalists will buy the Q. The store model with the zip tie around the demo does not do this thing justice. Regardless, bbry is filthy cheap at these levels with BES 10 on the horizon.

 

lots of people would look back. the people that need apps. IOS has them. bb10 does not. So you would not look back. but lots and lots of people certainly would, if they even made the switch at all. we don't always do things for rational reasons "Fairfaxnut". lol

 

I hear this argument about "apps" all the time.  I would like to ask a serious question regarding this.  How many of these millions of "apps" are actually useful?  I have friends of all different devices and most of them actually use only a handful of these "apps".  I know people with ipads who think many of the apps suck because they are set up for iphone.  Many of the banking apps lack full functionality.  So how important are all these "apps" in reality?  How many people have an ipad chalk full of apps but use maybe one or two on a regular basis?  The majority of the usage would be the for the browser and email. 

 

With most websites now offering mobile, desktop, and tablet versions, are the millions of "apps" even necessary?  Why not just use the browser?  A buddy last night said he uses a link in the browser to check the weather, instead of one of the hundreds of weather apps on the iphone.  I was shocked

 

Now for full disclosure, I have a Z10 for work I find it to be a great device, really fast and good multitasking.  I put a bunch of apps on there when I got it but now find I couldn't be bothered with many of them.  I use the device as a communications device (phone, email, text, bbm, etc.) and don't have time to play games on it.  I use a weather app on a regular basis but 95% of the time I use the browser for anything else (including banking).  Cloud storage (Dropbox and Box) are integrated into the device storage system.  Maybe I'm an anomoly because I don't play angrybirds or I'm missing some killer "app" that's not available.

 

You know, this is almost exactly the same argument that Apple fans used when talking about how all the Windows applications were crap back in the day.  Yes, there is crap, but there are a lot of apps that fill some small niche for a set of users, and in that is power for a platform (in the number of niches). 

 

Personally, I use about 15-20 distinct apps per day.  None of those are games.  There are also apps used rarely but which provide a more pleasant experience than the web.

 

It only takes one critical app per person for someone to deal with the rest of the interface being "good enough".

[Fairfaxnut]

Came from an Iphone 4s to the Z10 and I can honestly say that this phone rocks. The multitasking and hub have been huge for me... time savers. If you use this phone for a week you would never look back... and that's the problem. BlackBerry needs to find a way to get this phone into more users hands. I think user experience is key to selling the Z while loyalists will buy the Q. The store model with the zip tie around the demo does not do this thing justice. Regardless, bbry is filthy cheap at these levels with BES 10 on the horizon.

 

lots of people would look back. the people that need apps. IOS has them. bb10 does not. So you would not look back. but lots and lots of people certainly would, if they even made the switch at all. we don't always do things for rational reasons "Fairfaxnut". lol

 

I hear this argument about "apps" all the time.  I would like to ask a serious question regarding this.  How many of these millions of "apps" are actually useful?  I have friends of all different devices and most of them actually use only a handful of these "apps".  I know people with ipads who think many of the apps suck because they are set up for iphone.  Many of the banking apps lack full functionality.  So how important are all these "apps" in reality?  How many people have an ipad chalk full of apps but use maybe one or two on a regular basis?  The majority of the usage would be the for the browser and email. 

 

With most websites now offering mobile, desktop, and tablet versions, are the millions of "apps" even necessary?  Why not just use the browser?  A buddy last night said he uses a link in the browser to check the weather, instead of one of the hundreds of weather apps on the iphone.  I was shocked

 

Now for full disclosure, I have a Z10 for work I find it to be a great device, really fast and good multitasking.  I put a bunch of apps on there when I got it but now find I couldn't be bothered with many of them.  I use the device as a communications device (phone, email, text, bbm, etc.) and don't have time to play games on it.  I use a weather app on a regular basis but 95% of the time I use the browser for anything else (including banking).  Cloud storage (Dropbox and Box) are integrated into the device storage system.  Maybe I'm an anomoly because I don't play angrybirds or I'm missing some killer "app" that's not available.

 

Looks like Box and Dropbox won't even be needed in the BB10 10.1 update as full seamless file integration has been enabled.  Now you can access your files from your PC's at home through the mobile and wifi networks without the need of virtual desktop or vpn.  Nice feature.

[tombgrt]

Came from an Iphone 4s to the Z10 and I can honestly say that this phone rocks. The multitasking and hub have been huge for me... time savers. If you use this phone for a week you would never look back... and that's the problem. BlackBerry needs to find a way to get this phone into more users hands. I think user experience is key to selling the Z while loyalists will buy the Q. The store model with the zip tie around the demo does not do this thing justice. Regardless, bbry is filthy cheap at these levels with BES 10 on the horizon.

 

lots of people would look back. the people that need apps. IOS has them. bb10 does not. So you would not look back. but lots and lots of people certainly would, if they even made the switch at all. we don't always do things for rational reasons "Fairfaxnut". lol

 

I hear this argument about "apps" all the time.  I would like to ask a serious question regarding this.  How many of these millions of "apps" are actually useful?  I have friends of all different devices and most of them actually use only a handful of these "apps".  I know people with ipads who think many of the apps suck because they are set up for iphone.  Many of the banking apps lack full functionality.  So how important are all these "apps" in reality?  How many people have an ipad chalk full of apps but use maybe one or two on a regular basis?  The majority of the usage would be the for the browser and email. 

 

With most websites now offering mobile, desktop, and tablet versions, are the millions of "apps" even necessary?  Why not just use the browser?  A buddy last night said he uses a link in the browser to check the weather, instead of one of the hundreds of weather apps on the iphone.  I was shocked

 

Now for full disclosure, I have a Z10 for work I find it to be a great device, really fast and good multitasking.  I put a bunch of apps on there when I got it but now find I couldn't be bothered with many of them.  I use the device as a communications device (phone, email, text, bbm, etc.) and don't have time to play games on it.  I use a weather app on a regular basis but 95% of the time I use the browser for anything else (including banking).  Cloud storage (Dropbox and Box) are integrated into the device storage system.  Maybe I'm an anomoly because I don't play angrybirds or I'm missing some killer "app" that's not available. 

 

Agreed. I don't see the huge value in all those apps and for most people, they shouldn't matter all that much. There will always be niches of people that need certain apps, but most simply won't care enough to stay with a certain ecosystem. Imo the same can really be said about Apple's ecosystem. I just don't believe it's as valuable as some people believe it is. It's nice and will keep a certain and fairly large niche hooked with all their iOS devices, but most won't see the switch to say android as something insurmountable.

 

A side remark: Take Android. It's so dynamic compared to iOS. iOS is aesthetically appealing and has plenty of apps and the whole ecosystem that tries to lock you in. I don't think that this adds a lot of value to customers. Android however let's you tweak the whole thing to your personal preferences which gives you a lot more freedom as a customer.

 

Anyway, I think the whole discussion about the current availability of apps etc is largely irrelevant for most customers looking at new devices.

[Guest wellmont]

many of the apps are useful. that's why android and ios are winning. people who choose z10 try to rationalize the purchase in the their own minds by saying apps don't matter. it softens the blow of using a platform that does not have the offerings of the others. the biggest complaint over on crackberry is the lack of quality apps. the apps bb10 does have are simply ported android apps that offer a poor experience. its quite interesting that PW thinks bbry, the Canadian company founded by one his dear friends, and that currently is not making a dime, is worth more than Heinz, which generates around 1b of fcf per annum. :)

[tombgrt]

I don't choose Z10, nor do I own BBRY or am bullish. My last comment is just how I look at the value of the apps and why I think BBRY may stand a chance.

 

Android and iOS are winning because both have many other qualities that others have lacked so far. For example, Android's tweakability and iOS's exellent looks and overal functionality in combination with the whole ecosystem. Apps are overrated for 95% of users and most realize that after the first few weeks of usage. IMO.

[Guest wellmont]

 

Looks like Box and Dropbox won't even be needed in the BB10 10.1 update as full seamless file integration has been enabled.  Now you can access your files from your PC's at home through the mobile and wifi networks without the need of virtual desktop or vpn.  Nice feature.

 

that's hardly a unique feature. box dropbox and skydrive are all available on Android with a simple 1 minute install process from the play store. but most Android users will simply use the ubiquitous google drive to store and CREATE files that can be accessed from anywhere, simply because it has a fantastic web interface for storing and creating files. but I can understand celebrating Any useful, albeit commonplace, feature that actually shows up on the z10.

[Guest wellmont]

I don't choose Z10, nor do I own BBRY or am bullish. My last comment is just how I look at the value of the apps and why I think BBRY may stand a chance.

 

Android and iOS are winning because both have many other qualities that others have lacked so far. For example, Android's tweakability and iOS's exellent looks and overal functionality in combination with the whole ecosystem. Apps are overrated for 95% of users and most realize that after the first few weeks of usage. IMO.

 

I think you've got it backwards. 95% of people like apps. 5% like to tweak the os.

[Guest valueInv]

 

Looks like Box and Dropbox won't even be needed in the BB10 10.1 update as full seamless file integration has been enabled.  Now you can access your files from your PC's at home through the mobile and wifi networks without the need of virtual desktop or vpn.  Nice feature.

 

that's hardly a unique feature. box dropbox and skydrive are all available on Android with a simple 1 minute install process from the play store. but most Android users will simply use the ubiquitous google drive to store and CREATE files that can be accessed from anywhere. but I can understand celebrating Any useful, albeit commonplace, feature that actually shows up on the z10.

 

Question:

 

There are about 100K apps in the BB10, most of them Android apps.

 

1, Was there are porting/integration/testing work involved to have it run on the BB10 Android virtual environment?

2, Who did the work? RIM or the app developer?

[Guest wellmont]

 

Looks like Box and Dropbox won't even be needed in the BB10 10.1 update as full seamless file integration has been enabled.  Now you can access your files from your PC's at home through the mobile and wifi networks without the need of virtual desktop or vpn.  Nice feature.

 

that's hardly a unique feature. box dropbox and skydrive are all available on Android with a simple 1 minute install process from the play store. but most Android users will simply use the ubiquitous google drive to store and CREATE files that can be accessed from anywhere. but I can understand celebrating Any useful, albeit commonplace, feature that actually shows up on the z10.

 

Question:

 

There are about 100K apps in the BB10, most of them Android apps.

 

1, Was there are porting/integration/testing work involved to have it run on the BB10 Android virtual environment?

2, Who did the work? RIM or the app developer?

 

most of them were submitted by the app developers to win a silly contest prior to z10 launch. iow, they were paid to develop apps for bb10. the android emulation environment on bb10 is based on version 2.1 of Android, which is 2 generations behind. i would assume the app developers do some rudimentary testing to make sure the app at least has minimum functionality. It would not surprise me if bbry developers do some work to make sure important apps like skype work on bb10. but they are still not native to bb10, and thus are poor imitations of what's available on ios, android, and w.

[Guest valueInv]

 

Looks like Box and Dropbox won't even be needed in the BB10 10.1 update as full seamless file integration has been enabled.  Now you can access your files from your PC's at home through the mobile and wifi networks without the need of virtual desktop or vpn.  Nice feature.

 

that's hardly a unique feature. box dropbox and skydrive are all available on Android with a simple 1 minute install process from the play store. but most Android users will simply use the ubiquitous google drive to store and CREATE files that can be accessed from anywhere. but I can understand celebrating Any useful, albeit commonplace, feature that actually shows up on the z10.

The Android apps are designed for 4-5inch touch screens. How will they work on 3 inch Q10 screen with a keyboard?

 

Question:

 

There are about 100K apps in the BB10, most of them Android apps.

 

1, Was there are porting/integration/testing work involved to have it run on the BB10 Android virtual environment?

2, Who did the work? RIM or the app developer?

 

most of them were submitted by the app developers to win a silly contest prior to z10 launch. iow, they were paid to develop apps for bb10. the android emulation environment on bb10 is based on version 2.1 of Android, which is 2 generations behind. i would assume the app developers do some rudimentary testing to make sure the app at least has minimum functionality. It would not surprise me if bbry developers do some work to make sure important apps like skype work on bb10. but they are still not native to bb10, and thus are poor imitations of what's available on ios, android, and w.

[Fairfaxnut]

 

Looks like Box and Dropbox won't even be needed in the BB10 10.1 update as full seamless file integration has been enabled.  Now you can access your files from your PC's at home through the mobile and wifi networks without the need of virtual desktop or vpn.  Nice feature.

 

that's hardly a unique feature. box dropbox and skydrive are all available on Android with a simple 1 minute install process from the play store. but most Android users will simply use the ubiquitous google drive to store and CREATE files that can be accessed from anywhere. but I can understand celebrating Any useful, albeit commonplace, feature that actually shows up on the z10.

 

Question:

 

There are about 100K apps in the BB10, most of them Android apps.

 

1, Was there are porting/integration/testing work involved to have it run on the BB10 Android virtual environment?

2, Who did the work? RIM or the app developer?

 

most of them were submitted by the app developers to win a silly contest prior to z10 launch. iow, they were paid to develop apps for bb10. the android emulation environment on bb10 is based on version 2.1 of Android, which is 2 generations behind. i would assume the app developers do some rudimentary testing to make sure the app at least has minimum functionality. It would not surprise me if bbry developers do some work to make sure important apps like skype work on bb10. but they are still not native to bb10, and thus are poor imitations of what's available on ios, android, and w.

 

Android apps that are in blackberry world are ports that have been converted using BB's SDK conversion tool.  There is very little tweaking involved.  Jelly Bean 4.x will be supported in coming updates as well as "sandbox" improvements.  Skype is available as a port now on all BB devices and comes with 10.1....if the app isn't available on blackberry world, a user can port which requires a pc program to upload the app to your phone (not all ports work).  Major apps will be handheld into Blackberry world to make sure  they have proper integration into BB10.  File sharing as part of the integration of 10.1 gives users the ability to access their own network on the go instead of the cloud.  This is an advantage to those who require security and privacy and don't care for the IOS/Google/ echo system.  Videos, pictures and other media can be accessed and played through ones PS3, Xbox, media player without the need for drivers or changing settings.

[Guest valueInv]

 

Looks like Box and Dropbox won't even be needed in the BB10 10.1 update as full seamless file integration has been enabled.  Now you can access your files from your PC's at home through the mobile and wifi networks without the need of virtual desktop or vpn.  Nice feature.

 

that's hardly a unique feature. box dropbox and skydrive are all available on Android with a simple 1 minute install process from the play store. but most Android users will simply use the ubiquitous google drive to store and CREATE files that can be accessed from anywhere. but I can understand celebrating Any useful, albeit commonplace, feature that actually shows up on the z10.

 

Question:

 

There are about 100K apps in the BB10, most of them Android apps.

 

1, Was there are porting/integration/testing work involved to have it run on the BB10 Android virtual environment?

2, Who did the work? RIM or the app developer?

 

most of them were submitted by the app developers to win a silly contest prior to z10 launch. iow, they were paid to develop apps for bb10. the android emulation environment on bb10 is based on version 2.1 of Android, which is 2 generations behind. i would assume the app developers do some rudimentary testing to make sure the app at least has minimum functionality. It would not surprise me if bbry developers do some work to make sure important apps like skype work on bb10. but they are still not native to bb10, and thus are poor imitations of what's available on ios, android, and w.

 

Android apps that are in blackberry world are ports that have been converted using BB's SDK conversion tool.  There is very little tweaking involved.  Jelly Bean 4.x will be supported in coming updates as well as "sandbox" improvements.  Skype is available as a port now on all BB devices and comes with 10.1....if the app isn't available on blackberry world, a user can port which requires a pc program to upload the app to your phone (not all ports work).  Major apps will be handheld into Blackberry world to make sure  they have proper integration into BB10.  File sharing as part of the integration of 10.1 gives users the ability to access their own network on the go instead of the cloud.  This is an advantage to those who require security and privacy and don't care for the IOS/Google/ echo system.  Videos, pictures and other media can be accessed and played through ones PS3, Xbox, media player without the need for drivers or changing settings.

 

Is this a cut and paste from somewhere?

[Guest wellmont]

 

Android apps that are in blackberry world are ports that have been converted using BB's SDK conversion tool.  There is very little tweaking involved.  Jelly Bean 4.x will be supported in coming updates as well as "sandbox" improvements.  Skype is available as a port now on all BB devices and comes with 10.1....if the app isn't available on blackberry world, a user can port which requires a pc program to upload the app to your phone (not all ports work).  Major apps will be handheld into Blackberry world to make sure  they have proper integration into BB10.  File sharing as part of the integration of 10.1 gives users the ability to access their own network on the go instead of the cloud.  This is an advantage to those who require security and privacy and don't care for the IOS/Google/ echo system.  Videos, pictures and other media can be accessed and played through ones PS3, Xbox, media player without the need for drivers or changing settings.

 

the only way bb10 is getting new apps is from android ports. very little native development is going on for bb10. yes eventually the porting environment will move to jb. but by then KLP will be out. The result is that the android emulation environment for bb10 will always be at least 1 major generation behind android proper. that's going to mean very poor apps relative to the competition. Now the bbry faithful can live with that for a while, as they attempt to convince themselves that they have something as good as IOS Android and even wp. But over time, it's simply a matter of how long bbry core customers will tolerate and rationalize a weak, deficient ecosystem. My guess is that the bloom will come off the rose very soon. For example, there is going to come a time when something is included free in either Android and or IOS that is going to make the bbry users upset that they don't have it. Siri and Google Now are but two possibilities. It's inevitable that something is going to come along for the major platforms that will be a game changer.

[txlaw]

Conversation with Thorsten Heins at the Milken Institute:

 

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/gcprogram.taf?function=detail&EvID=4468&eventid=GC13

 

I haven't watched the video yet.

[Guest valueInv]

Conversation with Thorsten Heins at the Milken Institute:

 

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/gcprogram.taf?function=detail&EvID=4468&eventid=GC13

 

I haven't watched the video yet.

 

He sounds just like you. I can see why you like RIM:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/30/blackberry-ceo-thorsten-heins-says-tablets-not-a-good-business-model-evidently-forgetting-about-ipad/

 

[txlaw]

Conversation with Thorsten Heins at the Milken Institute:

 

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/gcprogram.taf?function=detail&EvID=4468&eventid=GC13

 

I haven't watched the video yet.

 

He sounds just like you. I can see why you like RIM:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/30/blackberry-ceo-thorsten-heins-says-tablets-not-a-good-business-model-evidently-forgetting-about-ipad/

 

I saw a similar comment by Heins on a Bloomberg interview this morning.

 

What he's saying is actually very forward thinking.  At some point, all of the computing power you need locally will simply reside on your phone, and the tablet will just be a big touch screen that displays what's happening on your phone.  The physical tablet, then, will be true commodity hardware like an LCD monitor. 

 

That's what Heins is talking about.  And I'm assuming that BBRY is working on something in that vein as we speak.

 

Guess who else thinks the same way as Heins?  Jeff Bezos.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/jeff-bezos-new-patent-envisions-tablets-without-processors-batteries/

[Guest valueInv]

Conversation with Thorsten Heins at the Milken Institute:

 

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/gcprogram.taf?function=detail&EvID=4468&eventid=GC13

 

I haven't watched the video yet.

 

He sounds just like you. I can see why you like RIM:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/30/blackberry-ceo-thorsten-heins-says-tablets-not-a-good-business-model-evidently-forgetting-about-ipad/

 

I saw a similar comment by Heins on a Bloomberg interview this morning.

 

What he's saying is actually very forward thinking.  At some point, all of the computing power you need locally will simply reside on your phone, and the tablet will just be a big touch screen that displays what's happening on your phone.  The physical tablet, then, will be true commodity hardware like an LCD monitor. 

 

That's what Heins is talking about.  And I'm assuming that BBRY is working on something in that vein as we speak.

 

Guess who else thinks the same way as Heins?  Jeff Bezos.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/jeff-bezos-new-patent-envisions-tablets-without-processors-batteries/

 

Distract and reframe again , huh? Doesn't matter where the computing power resides, Apple will still make money. Not so sure about Amazon and RIM.

 

By the way, he is saying tablets are not a good business model, not that they "will not" be a good business model. That is certainly true for RIM.  :)

[txlaw]

I watched that Milken Institute video.  Best interview I've seen so far with Heins.  Definitely worth watching if you're interested at all in BBRY.

 

As I suspected, some of Heins' comments about tablets have been misconstrued by the media.  In response to a question about what Heins means by mobile computing, he said the following:

 

When Mike [Lazaridis] and I decided to build Blackberry 10, the vision was, this [holding up a Q10] is your computing power.  I mean, think about that statement, right, this is your one and only computing power that you will carry with you.

 

. . .

 

So this is where we are headed.  40, 50% of all mobile workers will use this one single device as their mobile computing power -- there is no more laptop.  I doubt whether there is a laptop in a few years from now . . . uh, whether there is a tablet a few years from now.  'Cause you can just connect it to a big screen, and off you go.

 

And then again in response to a question about Heins' view that the tablet will become obsolete five years from now and whether Blackberry would still consider getting into production of a tablet:

 

I think that if the vision of mobile computing based on one computing power at your hip or wherever you carry it comes through, then there's no reason to have a tablet.  There might be a reason to have a big screen . . .  Tablets themselves at the moment -- from a pure hardware perspective -- are not a good business model.  It's a crowded place, and there is one company that disrupted the entire profit pool because they're running a different business model -- they're using it as an e-commerce window, right, so they're not interested in making money with a tablet.  They have a business model which is a pretty savvy one -- making money from the e-commerce transactions that they're doing on that tablet, right?  So I don't see a lot of good reason to just get into this hardware battle again, and if I don't come up with a meaningful, valuable service proposition on a tablet that people are willing to pay for, then I won't do it.

 

So he appears to be expressing the view that Amazon (and others, presumably) are disrupting the tablet space such that you really need to make money off of tablets by providing a software or service offering.  He doesn't really address Apple's ability to make good money on tablets (at least at the moment), which is what he's being criticized for in the tech press.

 

The five years prediction may be a bit on the wild side, but I can see why he put that out there. 

[Uccmal]

I watched that Milken Institute video.  Best interview I've seen so far with Heins.  Definitely worth watching if you're interested at all in BBRY.

 

As I suspected, some of Heins' comments about tablets have been misconstrued by the media.  In response to a question about what Heins means by mobile computing, he said the following:

 

When Mike [Lazaridis] and I decided to build Blackberry 10, the vision was, this [holding up a Q10] is your computing power.  I mean, think about that statement, right, this is your one and only computing power that you will carry with you.

 

. . .

 

So this is where we are headed.  40, 50% of all mobile workers will use this one single device as their mobile computing power -- there is no more laptop.  I doubt whether there is a laptop in a few years from now . . . uh, whether there is a tablet a few years from now.  'Cause you can just connect it to a big screen, and off you go.

 

And then again in response to a question about Heins' view that the tablet will become obsolete five years from now and whether Blackberry would still consider getting into production of a tablet:

 

I think that if the vision of mobile computing based on one computing power at your hip or wherever you carry it comes through, then there's no reason to have a tablet.  There might be a reason to have a big screen . . .  Tablets themselves at the moment -- from a pure hardware perspective -- are not a good business model.  It's a crowded place, and there is one company that disrupted the entire profit pool because they're running a different business model -- they're using it as an e-commerce window, right, so they're not interested in making money with a tablet.  They have a business model which is a pretty savvy one -- making money from the e-commerce transactions that they're doing on that tablet, right?  So I don't see a lot of good reason to just get into this hardware battle again, and if I don't come up with a meaningful, valuable service proposition on a tablet that people are willing to pay for, then I won't do it.

 

So he appears to be expressing the view that Amazon (and others, presumably) are disrupting the tablet space such that you really need to make money off of tablets by providing a software or service offering.  He doesn't really address Apple's ability to make good money on tablets (at least at the moment), which is what he's being criticized for in the tech press.

 

The five years prediction may be a bit on the wild side, but I can see why he put that out there. 

 

Smart man... These guys are constantly pressed by the media to make predictions in an inherently unpredictable business.  I agree with his synopsis.  As much as I like my pad, a fold out screen with no on board computer is a more likely outcome.  The computer would sit elsewhere. 

 

I also think the keyboard is headed for obsolesence in favour of voice and virtual keyboards.  BBRY is working on integration beyond the phone device itself, and is well positioned to execute. 

[Guest valueInv]

Amazon is probably working on a smartphone and come out with a similar model there too. Wonder what he'll have to say about that?

[txlaw]

Amazon is probably working on a smartphone and come out with a similar model there too. Wonder what he'll have to say about that?

 

The question is what is everybody in the market gonna do about AMZN. 

 

Heins' answer will probably be to focus on software and services.  Direct result of commoditization of the OS layer.