1. What BlackBerry Should Learn From the Competition
There was a time when Research In Motion was at the top of the smartphone
world. However, in the same way that the Madden video game series has been
stagnating because only EA has the rights to publish games featuring the NFL
license (i.e. Madden has no competition), RIM has seen the BlackBerry’s market
share steadily decline ever since Apple entered the fray with the release of the
iPhone half a decade ago. RIM was content to rest on its laurels, and now it’s
paying for that big time, with more and more consumers driven to sell their
BlackBerrys and replace them with other smartphone brands.
You would think that RIM had learned its lesson; and maybe they have, but they
certainly haven’t learned much, it seems. Case in point: RIM has recently
launched an aggressive ad campaign which aims to draw in the younger
demographic towards their products. While the intentions are there, the
execution is lacking, because they decided to go with the theme of “young
people with business-like attitudes;” hardly a good sell if you want to target the
(supposedly) still parent-mooching 18-and-below crowd, or the majority of the
still-relishing-the-fun-spirit early twenties crowd.
Source: TechnoFab
http://emdhie.onsugar.com/What-BlackBerry-Should-Learn-From-Competition-23747945

2. Another blunder case for RIM is in what went down at last month’s BlackBerry
World convention. The company is pinning their hopes of resurgence on the
promise of the BlackBerry 10, their latest mobile operating system. While the BB
10 certainly has enough worthwhile features to make it a viable counter choice
to the two other more popular mobile OSes, RIM is banking on the virtual
keyboard being the BB 10’s major selling point. While a focus on the keyboard
has worked well for the company in the past (the keyboard being a defining
characteristic of Berrys), that was when the keyboards were still physical. Now
that they are virtual, they’re no different from the keyboards of every other
smartphone out there.
Apple, on the other hand, gave an impressive presentation of theiriOS 6 at the
recently concluded World Wide Developers Convention (WWDC) 2012, giving
consumers more and more reasons to sell their old BlackBerrys and make the
switch to the iPhone (if they haven’t already). Two of the more notable features
of its new mobile OS are the Maps app and a vastly improved Siri. With Maps,
Apple goes beyond what other navigation programs have to offer by featuring
the so-called “turn-by-turn” navigation, which has the onscreen map turn
accordingly relative to the direction a user is facing. Maps also has the Flyover
mode, which is a 3D rendering of a city in which a user can zoom in and out of,
and fly through and over to get a better idea of how his destination looks.
And then there’s Siri. Apart from the expected upgrade in accent and
language recognition, she is now more integrated than ever with the iGadgets’
apps, further expanding her role as a virtual assistant. Moreover, if Apple’s plans
go through, expect to see portable iDevices hooked up to cars to give drivers
an “eyes free” experience. That is, the iDevice, via Siri, will handle everything
that a driver needs done without him having to take his eyes off the road.
It is outward-thinking innovation like this that gives a company like Apple a
consistent leg up over the competition. RIM would do well to emulate the
former’s strategy, if they wish to put a stop to people selling BlackBerrys for the
competitions’ smartphones.
Source: TechnoFab
http://emdhie.onsugar.com/What-BlackBerry-Should-Learn-From-Competition-23747945