Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Welcome back to this week’s Who’s on Crack, the Interwebs only column brave enough to suggest illegal narcotics fuel many of the moves in the tech world.  It’s either that or Gadgetell is nuts for giving me a platform to spout off about stuff that bugs me or is just outright dumb.  This week, I am focusing on RIM, the little company from Canada that could.

• Is this BlackBerry OS 6?  Ack!
• RIM to buy Palm
• RIM name devices after Will Ferrell movies
• 40% ready to bail on BlackBerry

OS help, aisle 4

Purported images of BlackBerry OS 6 have popped up from “trusted, reliable connects”.  Oh dear, this isn’t pretty.  Can we hope this is just some Photoshop stunt?  RIM still has a good hold on the business market, but the gang could use an infusion of elegance and cool with trying so hard.  Ryan Hamrick, over at Know Your Cell, has limited hope for BlackBerry saying “by the time the OS finally reaches market, the concepts outlined could already be very dated. Some forward thinking would be nice, rather than a simple game of catch up.”

And that is where BlackBerry starts to lose it’s edge.  Was BlackBerry ever sexy? Like a 40’s pin up model, once worthy of being painted on the nose of bomber, now walking around her eighties trying to get men to light a cigarette from her aged, cracked but still puckered lips, BlackBerrys just are not sexy anymore.  They need to find some sex.

Palm’s got what RIM needs.

PalmBerry.  Say it loud, say it proud.  That is what the mobile device world needs and it sounds better than the erotic-inspired BlackPalm.  Palm isn’t swimming, it’s sinking; fast.  Our Robert Nelson reported, “Palm has recently posted their Q3 results, and I hate to say that many people would be surprised by this, but those results were not all that great. In fact, Palm posted a net loss of $22 million dollars.”

Ouch. But what if the boys and girls from up north (that’s Canada to you and me) got ahold of Palm.  A consumer-focused device that most will agree is the best mobile OS out there, would be RIMs to mold.  RIM can rebuild the clumsy QWERTY on the Pre, add some flair to the Pixi and maybe user in a well overdue touchscreen model.  Looking at just how many devices RIM has on the market, you know they’ve got hardware down.

Palm could bring some passion to design and inspire the hardware RIM puts out.

The BlackBerry Ron Burgundy.  The BlackBerry Blade(s of Glory).  The BlackBerry Old School.

I am not sure RIMs marketing is clear about what a Will Ferrell movie title brings to the consumers mind.  It isn’t all about good times and high fives.  It’s quite often, “look what they are making that poor man do this time.”  And I am sure I use the word “poor” loosely here.

Our Robert Nelson again reports, “Up until now we have seen a decent amount of images of the BlackBerry slider, as well as a rumor that it was going to become available with Sprint. And now the latest in the BlackBerry Slider story is suggesting that it will be available as of next month. Oh, and it also seems as if has been given a codename—Talladega.”

Ricky Bobby?  Really?  Is this the best we can do?  Now, from what we’ve seen the BlackBerry slider is no looker, but to slag it with a B-grade movie at best?  It just seems mean.

40% are leaving BlackBerry

Earlier this week, I posted on a study that levied 40% of BlackBerry owners are going to leave the OS for an iPhone.  I broke the study down into simple numbers (cause I am just not that smart) and found this, “if my math is right, of the people surveyed, 171 of them used a BlackBerry and 69 of those said they’d leave the BlackBerry platform for an iPhone.  The question becomes, RIMs had a few years to dream up something that draws users away from the iPhone - where is it?”

Indeed, where is it?  Reminiscent of that 80s “where’s the beef” commercial, what gives?  Was Storm and Storm 2 (the action packed sequel) all the company had up it’s collective sleeve?  Can we expect something bold (haha) and new?  Or is it tweaks on existing and more of the same?

I can’t image the study is accurate, but if it is, and they are seeing 40% drops in user base support, that doesn’t give it long.  Maybe it’s time for a variation on the theme, a veritable BlueBerry if you like.  A device that is as fun as it is serious, easy to use and of course, a dream to type on.  In short a webOS BlackBerry.  Long live the dream, crack heads.