“RIM, the troubled maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, is in talks to hire a financial adviser to help it weigh strategic options, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. A decision to work with at least one bank could come in the next few days, said one of the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the deliberations are private. RIM would prefer an agreement to license its mobile-phone software, and its next choice is a strategic investment, one person said. RIM doesn’t plan to sell itself, the person said.” So, anyone interested in licensing BlackBerry OS? Anyone…? What if they throw in a free beer…?
*crickets*
*even here in the comments*
Even if they open-sourced it, I wonder if anybody would want it.
I think it Could be picked up by a few if the price was right. Dont forget a number of companies are being forced to Pay for android already because of the Microsoft licencing agreements ($15 if memory serves). Licence BBOS and your tiny (or large) company has a foot in the door of the enterprise market. To my mind this would kill RIM’s low end offerings dead though.
It’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to license BB OS right now. While I agree that it is quite a bit more secure than iOS and Android, it still feels a generation behind — BB OS 6 notwithstanding.
Does any of this remind anyone of when Apple tried to license MacOS back in the Power Computing days?
The only market that could find BlackBerry OS an upgrade is the featurephone (aka dumbphone).
I still miss BlackBerry, but only because of the hardware. No Android device has come close to the battery life I got out of my BlackBerrys and don’t get me started on keyboards – I hate the iPhone-induced touch-only model, but hardware keyboards only land on crappy low-end Android devices and on Windows Phone, a hardware keyboard is an afterthought of an afterthought. *sigh*
Well, I can’t live without an hardware keyboard myself, and I have to say that I disagree about Android. I sure took a deep breath before giving it a try, but my new SE Xperia Mini Pro is not what I would call crappy low-end so far. It works well, and at a nice price.
The small screen may not be for everybody though, considering how much size seems to matter in this comment section
Edited 2012-04-17 17:31 UTC
As an iPhone user since the 3G and before that a Nokia user, I have to say that although I would not touch a current-gen BB phone with a barge pole if looking for a smartphone, I absolutely would (and will) consider a BB10 device when they become available.
Why? Because having bought a PlayBook when they came down in price (and got another one free for developing an app), I can wholeheartedly say that the interface on the PB is quite superb. My iPhone’s and iPad’s interfaces now feel decidedly clunky by comparison.
The main thing that might make me stay on iOS for now is that 1Password mobile is not available for Blackberry phones as yet.
Also I want to see what Apple do with iOS 5.
Considering who, if anybody, would want to license BBOS, it would have to be a consumer electronics company with a penchant for going in its own proprietary direction, a company which feels the need for a game-change and might be tempted into a knee-jerk reaction. Does this sound like anybody we know…?
If they have a penchant for going in their own proprietary direction then it would be stupid to license a competitors (or any 3rd party) platform. The whole point of having your own proprietary platform is exclusivity. Then there are the obvious concerns about RIM’s phones being superior to all other BBOS devices.
If anything such a company would out right buy the company or just all the IP rights for the platform.
Where’s your customary “Keep your stinking berries and give us QNX!!” line, Thom?
Edited 2012-04-17 16:08 UTC
I was looking at smart phones this week, considering an upgrade. One of my requirements is a physical keyboard as opposed to a touch screen. The only phones my provider offers with a keyboard are Blackberries. It makes my choice pretty streamlined. I would probably prefer a move to Android, but until they have some models with keyboards in my area, my money is going to RIM.