New BlackBerry Lands in a Sweet Spot

BlackBerry Storm has a touchscreen keyboard but doesn't push iPhone

(NEWSER) - The BlackBerry Storm hits the US tomorrow, with the iPhone squarely in its sights. The new smartphone is an interesting mix of traditional BlackBerry and the hugely popular Apple gadget, with a few twists, Walt Mossberg writes for the Wall Street Journal. The keyboard is the Storm's calling card: "The entire glass display is one large button, mounted on a mechanical substructure that allows it to be depressed when pressure is applied." More»

RIM aiming to take on iTunes

(NEWSER) - Blackberry maker Research in Motion is aiming to give itself an edge in the smartphone market with a new music service designed to run on its instant messaging system. The new service, to be called BBM Music, will allow users to access and share up to 50 songs at a time through their smartphones, and could be launched as soon as next week, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . RIM has signed a deal with at least one of the four major record companies and is closing in on deals with two more, according to CNET . More»

But will it be enough to save Research in Motion?

(NEWSER) - Research in Motion rolled out three long-delayed new BlackBerry devices today that it hopes will stem its slide toward irrelevancy. All three devices run on the BlackBerry 7 OS, and all sport touch screens. The flashiest offering may be the Torch 9850/9860, RIM’s first all-touch screen BlackBerry, but there’s also the Torch 9810, which features a slide-out keyboard, and the Bold 9900 Series, which is the slimmest phone yet to boast BlackBerry’s trademark keyboard, ZDNET reports. More»

RIM dominates in sales, but the iPhone has big advantages

(NEWSER) - The iPhone has become a cultural phenomenon, but RIM sells way more units than Apple does. Why, then, does the BlackBerry have such obvious flaws? Wired lists five improvements RIM needs to make:

1. Browser. The web looks much the same on an iPhone or Palm Pre as it does on a PC. But the BlackBerry presents a bare-bones mobile version of most websites—and is slow, to boot.
2. Touchscreen. The BlackBerry Storm's "clickable" screen was supposed to feel like a real keypad, but it just made typing slower.

BlackBerry zooms past iPhone with giveaways

(NEWSER) - The Blackberry Curve has overtaken the iPhone to become America's best-selling smartphone, Ars Technica reports. First-quarter figures from research firm NPD reveal that the iPhone fell into second place for the first time since the iPhone 3G was launched last summer, according to first-quarter figures from research firm NRD. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion's phones also took the third and fourth spot, and T-mobile's G came in fifth. More»