Head of BlackBerry's PlayBook Tablet Is Leaving

A senior BlackBerry Ltd. executive who was in charge of the largely unsuccessful PlayBook tablet is leaving the company.

David J. Smith, an executive vice president in charge of mobile computing, has resigned for personal reasons, a BlackBerry spokesman said. The move happened within the past few weeks, said a person familiar with the matter.

The spokesman added that Mr. Smith "continues to come into work every day and is committed to working with BlackBerry through a proper transition."

Mr. Smith couldn't immediately be reached.

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BlackBerry to Gartner: Not Dead Yet!

BlackBerry might be in trouble - ugly, worst-case-scenario trouble - but it's not yet in terminal decline, and the company has taken exception with a report claiming it is.

In a recent note to clients, research outfit Gartner advised those who use BlackBerry's smartphones and its enterprise server solution to develop contingency plans to replace them should the company perish. "All clients should immediately ensure that they have backup mobile data management plans and are at least testing alternative devices," Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney wrote. "Clients have three to six months to build a strategy."

Among Dulaney's suggested courses of action: Discontinue BlackBerry support for any employees except in cases explicitly approved by management; "Move completely away from BlackBerry devices."

Given BlackBerry's sad collapse and its decidedly uncertain future, that's not unreasonable advice. It's hard to imagine anyone who uses the company's products looking at its massive second-quarter loss and its now piddling share of the smartphone market and not concluding that some sort of action needs to be taken.

But BlackBerry feels it's all a bit hysterical. In a statement to AllThingsD, the company dismissed Gartner's recommendation as premature.

"We recognize and respect external parties' opinions on BlackBerry's recent news," a BlackBerry spokesman said. "However, many of the conclusions by Gartner about the potential impact of a sale or other strategic alternatives are purely speculative. BlackBerry is restructuring and pursing strategic alternatives to increase its focus on its core enterprise business. We remain steadfast in our mission to deliver the most secure and powerful mobile management solutions and smartphones to our customers."

That's great to hear, but hardly reassuring. BlackBerry's commitment to its mission and the resuscitation of its business isn't really in question. It's the viability of that business and the market's interest in its products that are concerning.

BlackBerry 10 Boasts Some Key Apps, but Many Big Names Missing

The big day for BlackBerry has finally arrived. The world now knows what the company’s newest entrant in the smartphone race looks like.

But what about apps?

For starters, a few key apps were already known, like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Foursquare. Several more were announced or shown onstage during the event: Skype, Amazon Kindle, WhatsApp, Angry Birds, Where’s My Water?, Where’s My Perry?, Box, MLB.com, Rdio, Songza, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, to name a few.

RIM — pardon me, BlackBerry — also showed how video chatting and screen sharing are now integrated into the popular BlackBerry Messenger application, as well as built-in photo-editing and music-video-making apps.

But right now it’s still unclear when apps like Instagram, Spotify and Pandora, or streaming video apps like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, will make their way onto BlackBerry 10. And notably absent was Google Maps.

Update: A spokesman for BlackBerry says the company is “in talks” with Instagram and Netflix, but could not confirm when those apps will make their way into the store. Also, there is not a dedicated YouTube app, as we suspected, but he was quick to point out that YouTube can be watched on a mobile browser.

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has been quoted as saying that the company’s app store, still called BlackBerry World, would have more than 70,000 apps at the time of this launch. BlackBerry’s Martyn Mallick reaffirmed during today’s event that this is the case.

Just a couple weeks ago, RIM hosted a “Portathon,” enticing developers to create submissions for 15,000 new apps in a single weekend, as AllThingsD’s John Paczkowski reported.

To hear BlackBerry talk about it, developers are excited to take advantage of some of the new features that BlackBerry 10 offers, like “BlackBerry Flow,” or real-time multitasking between apps.

But keep in mind the competition. Apple currently has 800,000 apps in its App Store, with 300,000 optimized for iPad. The total number of apps in Google’s app store, Google Play, isn’t totally clear, but, by some estimates, Google is nipping at Apple’s heels.

Let’s not even get into apps for the Microsoft Windows Phone operating system. Okay, to be fair, let’s talk about it: Microsoft said in a recent blog post that it had “more than doubled” its Windows Phone app library with the addition of 75,000 new apps in 2012. Which means even Windows Phone boasts more apps than BlackBerry 10.

Of course, some will argue that it really doesn’t matter how many apps are available — it’s whether the important ones are there. Many smartphone owners download a bunch of apps, only to have them sit there taking up space on their phones.

Are BlackBerry’s apps enough to sway current iPhone and Android users?

The BlackBerry 10 event is still taking place. Click here for our live coverage.

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• Most - But Maybe Not All - U.S. Carriers Will Have BlackBerry 10 Device by March
• BlackBerry 10 Boasts Some Key Apps, but Many Big Names Missing
• BlackBerry to Launch in U.S. in Mid-March
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Most -- But Maybe Not All -- U.S. Carriers Will Have BlackBerry 10 Device by March

It has long been known that Research In Motion would show the first BlackBerry 10 devices today. One key question is just when you will be able to buy one.

And the news was not exactly promising, especially for those in the United States. First came word via The Wall Street Journal that it would be March before the first customers in the U.S. could buy a device.

Onstage, things actually got a bit worse, as Heins said “most” of the big four U.S. carriers would have it by March. Verizon announced that it would carry both the touchscreen Z10 and keyboard-equipped Q10 handhelds, but did not give availability.

The Z10 will cost $199.99 with a two-year contract. Pricing for the Q10 was not revealed at this time. Both devices will support the carrier’s 4G LTE network, and will come in black or white. The white Z10 will be an exclusive to Verizon Wireless.

AT&T is also set to offer both smartphones, but no word on pricing or release date. T-Mobile has a landing page up for the Z10, and it’s worth noting that it looks like the handset will support its upcoming 4G LTE network.

Sprint also said it would carry a device “later this year,” but it is carrying the keyboard-equipped Q10, which is expected to arrive later than the Z10.

Heins said the company’s main priority is getting the Z10 out the door. As for the keyboard-equipped Q10, “I think we will expect to see it in the April timeframe,” he said.

The device is going on sale in Canada and some other countries as soon as next week.

Speaking with reporters, Heins said Wednesday that a longer testing period at U.S. carriers is why it will take longer to hit the market here.

“The reason is that the testing process in the U.S. with those carrier partners is a rather lengthy one,” Heins said.

The BlackBerry Z10 features a 4.2-inch touchscreen displaying 356 pixels per inch. It has an eight-megapixel camera on back, and only comes in a 16 gigabyte model, though there is a memory-expansion slot. Meanwhile, the BlackBerry Q10 features a full physical keyboard with a 3.1-inch, 720 by 720-pixel touch display.

In his review of the BlackBerry Z10, AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg found the hardware decent and the user interface easy to use, but said that it will need to continue to add more apps if it’s going to succeed.

The BlackBerry 10 event is still taking place. Click here for our live coverage.

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• BlackBerry CEO: PlayBook Update Coming, Vague on Future Tablet Plans
• Most - But Maybe Not All - U.S. Carriers Will Have BlackBerry 10 Device by March
• BlackBerry 10 Boasts Some Key Apps, but Many Big Names Missing
• BlackBerry to Launch in U.S. in Mid-March
• RIM Changes Name to BlackBerry
• RIM Aims for Reinvention With BlackBerry 10 Launch
• Walt Mossberg: BlackBerry Reinvents Itself to Compete With All-Touch Smartphones

RIM Changes Name to BlackBerry

At its BlackBerry 10 launch event Wednesday morning, Research In Motion unveiled not only the new operating system and devices with which it hopes to reinvent itself, but a rebranding on the company itself. RIM is taking the name of its marquee product: It will be known as BlackBerry, and will trade under the BBRY ticker on Nasdaq, and BB on TSX.

“We have reinvented the company, and we want to show that in our brand,” CEO Thorsten Heins said. “One brand. One promise. Our customers use BlackBerry, our employees work for BlackBerry, and our shareholders are owners of BlackBerry. From today on, we are BlackBerry everywhere in the world.”

RELATED POSTS:

• BlackBerry CEO: PlayBook Update Coming, Vague on Future Tablet Plans
• Most - But Maybe Not All - U.S. Carriers Will Have BlackBerry 10 Device by March
• BlackBerry 10 Boasts Some Key Apps, but Many Big Names Missing
• BlackBerry to Launch in U.S. in Mid-March
• RIM Changes Name to BlackBerry
• RIM Aims for Reinvention With BlackBerry 10 Launch
• Walt Mossberg: BlackBerry Reinvents Itself to Compete With All-Touch Smartphones