With RIM's stock now hitting a 52 week low, new information is suggesting that RIM may have cut short buyout talks that were happening earlier this summer. The ones to come knocking, and showing interest? Amazon. As reported by Reuters, Amazon allegedly hired an investment bank to get the negotiations started, but how far along they got during those discussions remains a mystery. The talks were called off by RIM CoCEOS, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, who seem more open to licensing out QNX and BlackBerry services than selling to any one company. One source for Reuters noted:

”Selling the company or an economic joint venture is probably not in the cards right now,”

One shining piece of information to come out of this news is that while others seem to be showing interest in a RIM purchase, the RIM board of directors would rather have the company complete the transition they started by ensuring the release of new BlackBerry 10 smartphones, better use of assets such as BlackBerry Messaging, and restructuring. These were all things were mentioned on the last RIM earnings call, that in retreospect -- seems to match up with the information, but more importantly, shows the board still has faith in the company and that they will see this time of doom and gloom pass.

While both RIM and Amazon have thus far declined to comment on the information, it was also noted that the two companies are continuing talks regarding how they may better help each other. With Amazon being a content provider of digital media such as movies, TV shows and music -- there is ample room there to work together. Such a partnership would not only be great for RIM, but Amazon as well, given the fact RIM currently has a fragmented ecosystem for such things.

Source: Reuters

Been eyeing a new BlackBerry device for your Verizon contract, but your pockets don't quite allow for a new phone as of right now? Well, Amazon has dropped the price of Verizon devices down to only one penny -- yes those golden things you usually throw on the street -- and it includes all the new devices. So whether you want to snag a new 9930, or you would like a back up 9330, 9650, or even 9550, they are all available for purchase through Amazon.

Of course you will need to be elligible for an upgrade, or adding a new line, but a small restriction for such a great deal. Unfortunately the BlackBerry Torch 9850 (or the Torch 9930 as Amazon seems to think it is) is not included in this deal, probably because they show it on back-order with up to a two week delay. Thanks, Raginv!

For more information / purchase on Amazon

Earlier this week Amazon announced their new Kindle Fire, a media-consumption oriented tablet that looks basically identical to a BlackBerry PlayBook. I think a lot of us BlackBerry PlayBook owners and BlackBerry fans we're a little surprised to see just how blatantly Amazon ripped off the PlayBook's hardware design. Turns out we shouldn't be **that** surprised, as it seems Amazon has a history of taking inspiration from Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices. Yesterday the WSJ posted a story on Amazon's kindle history, which had a quote from a hardware designer who worked on the first generation Amazon Kindle who told WSJ:

"Jeff Bezos would come into our design meetings and say he loved his BlackBerry and the ease with which he could find e-mails and respond to people," the former Amazon designer explained. "That's why the first Kindle was so boxy, had the funky square keyboard and that strange scroll wheel on the side; it was all inspired by Jeff's BlackBerry."

Pretty interesting, and it definitely explains the look and design of those old Kindles, which we're sort of like an old BlackBerry flattened out like a pancake. The WSJ took the stance that the new Kindle Fire takes after the iPad in design, but I think the author of that story never saw a BlackBerry PlayBook before, as the Kindle Fire's hardware is basically a carbon copy of the PlayBook. Heck, with the Kindle Fire reportedly being made by the same company who makes the PlayBook for RIM, it's more like the same device than a copy even.

So is it inspiration? Or plagiarism? Check out the images above and you be the judge. You have a BlackBerry 8700 on the far left, next to the original Kindle. Then you have a BlackBerry PlayBook and Kindle Fire on the far right. Whether inspiration or plagiarism, it's kind of funny though. Don't they say that imitation is the highest form of flattery?

Amazon made a big splash this week in the tech world with their announcement of the Kindle Fire.  The hardware looks practically identical to a BlackBerry PlayBook, running an Android OS that's been dumbed down to deliver a "content consumption" experience with a dirt cheap starting price of $199 (I preordered a Kindle Fire - will do a PlayBook head to head as soon as it arrives). 

The week isn't over, and again Amazon is making headlines, this time via a VentureBeat rumor that Amazon is in talks to pick up the webOS platform from HP, who is looking to do something with it (they already stopped making webOS devices).

Earlier in the week I saw some reader comments/forum posts here on CrackBerry following the Kindle Fire announcement saying that Amazon should just buy RIM already. I'm not going to put together a 10 Reasons why Amazon should buy Research In Motion post on this (I almost got shot by you guys when I suggested Google buy RIM), so this time around I figured I would toss the idea out there to see what the CrackBerry community thinks.

Obviously I want to see the RIMPIRE Strike Back on their own, but I can definitely see a few reasons why that sort of an acquisition by Amazon could mean good things for both companies.  I can also see some big reasons why it wouldn't work so well. Of course, webOS would be cheaper for Amazon to acquire than RIM, and over on our sibling site PreCentral.net, Derek pointed out the reasons as to why an Amazon acquistion of webOS could make sense. So that brings us to the...

Question of the Week: Assuming Amazon is going to acquire a mobile platform, should it be webOS or BlackBerry? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts and reasoning. Should be a fun one (and please, keep the commentary civil!).

Amazon Kindle Fire or BlackBerry PlayBook - Which would you rather?

A new entry into the tablet space has just been unveiled by Amazon. The Amazon Kindle Fire, as it is known, has quite a few people interested in it already given its low buy in cost which is set for only $199. When looking at the specs, and the device one could almost mistake them for the BlackBerry PlayBook and we're guessing that some folks in Waterloo might be a little upset right now for quite a few reasons aside from the price point Amazon is able to offer the Kindle Fire at.

Lets start from the beginning -- Amazon has been working on building their eco-system for quite some time now. They've come to agreements with content providers to offer music, movies, tv shows and most recently Android apps. It was rumored long ago this was all in an effort to strike up their Kindle brand by eventually offering a tablet to the masses and all this effort is what we saw unleashed today.

If you're looking at the Amazon Kindle Fire and thinking to yourself that it looks like a BlackBerry PlayBook -- there is good reason for it. It's been suggested that Quanta has made the Amazon Kindle Fire for Amazon and they are also the original design manufacturer (ODM) that built the BlackBerry PlayBook. When it comes to specs those are pretty similar to the BlackBerry PlayBook as well. The Amazon Kindle Fire comes with a 1GHz TI OMAP4 dual-core processor, 1024 x 600 multitouch-capable IPS display made of Gorilla Glass, 8GB of built-in storage and is rated for 8 hrs of usage for reading -- 7.5 hrs for video playback. You'll not find any 3G connectivity here either, only WiFi is on board for connection options. When it comes to the OS the Amazon Kindle Fire is running a forked version of Android which has been customized and is of course capable of running Android Apps from the Amazon App Store but not from the Android Market though, there has been talk that apps may be able to be sideloaded.

Taking everything into account here, how do you all feel about the Amazon Kindle Fire vs. BlackBerry PlayBook? I love my BlackBerry PlayBook, it's a beautiful piece of hardware but for now it feels unfinished. That may change when BlackBerry Tablet OS v2.0 comes out but, I can't help but think RIM just got played by Amazon pretty much with their own equipment. Amazon has a huge eco-system which includes plenty of movies, music, apps, books and it's all packaged up and ready to go in similar looking hardware for $199 with a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime. Even with price cuts, RIM isn't matching that and I didn't even mention, it has email built in.

Click here for more info and to pre-order the Amazon Kindle Fire

Last week Amazon introduced a cloud reader solution for the Amazon Kindle. The motivation for this development was specifically for the Apple iPad due to Apple's new money hungry in-app purchase rules, Amazon need to find a solution outside the Apple App Store. Since Apple has a hate-on for Flash and directing all of their effort to move the world to HTML5, Amazon took advantage of this and developed the HTML5 Kindle Cloud Reader.  The big news for us BlackBerry people is that the PlayBook fully supports the HTML5, therefore the Kindle Cloud Reader works quite nicely with the BlackBerry Playbook.

Continue reading article

Although the BlackBerry PlayBook has popped up on Amazon before, that was through third part retailers -- often times charging a pretty high markup cost on the total price. Now though, Amazon themselves are taking pre-orders for all currently available models with an expected shipment date of June 1. This is the first time online sales have taken place aside from your local brick and mortar stores so it'll be interesting to see how many people opt to go with Amazon. As expected, pricing remains the same across the board but you'll get free shipping, which is always a bonus. Thanks, rbenjamin!

Pre-order your BlackBerry PlayBook On Amazon

 

The BlackBerry PlayBook is just out the gates and already, many folks are laying out there plans to bring applications to the device. One of the first, with a press release is Amazon. Kindle services will be brought to the BlackBerry Playbook and I'm sure this is just the beginning of developers who will be stepping up. As the press release states:

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that it will launch a Kindle app for the new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer. Customers can already enjoy the free Kindle app on their BlackBerry today. Like all Kindle apps, the Kindle app for the new BlackBerry PlayBook will let customers Buy Once, Read Everywhere—on Kindle, Kindle 3G, Kindle DX, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry, Android-based devices, and in the coming months, the new BlackBerry PlayBook. Amazon's Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. For more information about the free Kindle apps, go to www.amazon.com/kindleapps.

“When you buy a Kindle book, you can already read it on iPhone, iPad, Android, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, and of course on your Kindle, Kindle 3G, and Kindle DX," said Dorothy Nicholls, Director, Amazon Kindle. "We're very excited to add the new BlackBerry PlayBook to that list. As with our other Kindle apps, the BlackBerry PlayBook app will be free and will incorporate our WhisperSync technology so you can seamlessly switch between devices. Our vision is 'Buy Once, Read Everywhere.'"

Exciting times, can't wait to see who else will be joining in on the action once things start rolling out for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Source: Business Wire

Since WES a lot of places have been tossing up BlackBerry Pearl 3G information. Now, we see that Amazon.de has placed the BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 up for pre ordering. No shipment date was noted in the ordering process but, the fact it's available may make a few people happy. Having used the 9105 while at WES I can say it's not for me, the 20 key 9100 I found much easier to type on. But, if you'e interested in the 9105 and can use Amazon.de you can get ahead of the rest. It'll only set you back $499.50 EUR with no carrier lock in.

• Head On Over To Amazon.de To Place Your Order For The BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105>> 

Source: BESMgmt

Been waiting for the Kindle for BlackBerry app? Sure you have. Now, provided you live in the US you can now head on over to the Amazon website and download Kindle For BlackBerry for free. The feature breakdown looks like this:

• Search and browse more than 400,000 books, including 101 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers.
• Find New York Times Best Sellers and new releases for $9.99, unless marked otherwise
• Get free book samples - read the first chapter for free before you decide to buy
• Books you purchase can also be read on a Kindle, computer, or other Kindle-compatible mobile device
• Kindle newspapers, magazines, and blogs are not currently available for Kindle for BlackBerry
• Kindle for BlackBerry is available to U.S. customers only 

Have to admit that I am disappointed that it's only currently available for the US. But, that said glad to see it arrive for those that can use it and surely, it won't be long until we see a Canadian release as well. Go grab it, check it out and let us know what you think in the comments folks. Can't wait to see hear what you all think.

• More Information And Downloads Available Via The Amazon Kindle Website>>
• Download Direct The Kindle For BlackBerry App To Your BlackBerry OTA>>

A few days ago Amazon posted some details of their big sellers over the holidays. The biggest news to come from that press release was the fact Amazon's Kindle and Kindle books were the biggest sellers, wherein Kindle books sold more on Christmas day than their physical counterparts - which honestly makes a whole lot more sense then people are giving credit for. Of course they sold more, what else would you do with a Kindle that you just got? Go out an buy a physical book? Not very likely.

However, if you looked further down the list of the highest selling items for the holidays you would have noticed that the AT&T BlackBerry Bold 9700 was the hottest selling device in the "Wireless" category with cellular service. The only item ahead of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 when speaking of devices was the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic which was sold sans contract and unlocked. Not too shabby if you ask me, I bet AT&T and RIM were glad to see that happen - I just wish Amazon would have released some numbers to go along with it to give us a better sense of volume.

• View The Full Press Release Via The Amazon Website >>

The news itself really isn't that new. As good friend of CrackBerry, Al Sacco mentions in his article the news of Kindle on BlackBerry is rather old now having first shown up on CrunchGear back in October. What is new however, is the fact Amazon has now updated their webpage to show that it is indeed "coming soon". Not exactly sure when that means it will be released but we know it's closer now then it was back in October. As Al points out, there is other apps out there such as eReader and MobiPocket but the Kindle services are more widely used then those offerings and they do not support the Kindle format. Will be exciting to see how Kindle on BlackBerry will be, as we know it has really taken off on the iPhone platform.

[ CIO ]