BlackBerry is not giving up. At Tuesday's kick-off to its annual developers conference, Canada's embattled mobile brand unveiled the BlackBerry Q5, a lower-priced, more youthful smartphone to broaden its appeal to the mobile market. 

The new device, which will be available in select markets in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America starting in July, actually brings back old technology with its QWERTY keyboard, a feature that may very well attract users who are averse to touchscreens as well as heavy texters. 

"The BlackBerry Q5 gives you the best of everything with its cutting-edge BlackBerry 10 functionality and a physical QWERTY keyboard. It is for youthful fans that are passionate, confident and bold, and it makes it easy for them to have fun, create, share and stay connected," according to a press release.

The brand is hoping to capture young, emerging markets in order to shore up losses from Apple's iPhone and Android devices.Continue reading...

BlackBerry CMO Frank Boulben explains why Research in Motion is no more and the company is rebranding in a video taped during Wednesday's BlackBerry 10 launch in New York.

Also at the event, as you can watch below, Grammy Award winning singer Alicia Keys explained in an on-stage chat with CEO Thorsten Heins why a self-described "iPhone junky" is taking on the global creative director title at the company.Continue reading...

Any doubt that the BlackBerry 10 is central to the survival of Research In Motion was likely erased on Wednesday as the company not only unveiled its new operating system and phones, but changed its corporate name to "BlackBerry," too. "We have a fantastic brand, BlackBerry, and we are known as such all over the world, except in North America," CMO Frank Boulben commented in a video interview at the launch. "We wanted to take full advantage of that global, iconic brand."

"We have redefined ourselves inside and out," said CEO Thorsten Heins, speaking from New York to launch events held across the globe, including one held at the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, in its $650-a-night Armani Hotel. "RIM becomes BlackBerry. It is one brand, it is one promise." He declined to specify the company's marketing spend for the corporate rebrand and a global launch of BlackBerry 10 that includes Sunday's Super Bowl ad buy, but characterized it as in the "hundreds of million dollars."

That was partially evident at the New York launch with the introduction of Grammy Award winning singer Alicia Keys as the company's "global creative director." It's a trend that follows Lady Gaga's arrangement with Polaroid, will.i.am with Intel, Victoria Beckham with Range Rover, and Keys' husband Swizz Beatz with Reebok — and no doubt annoys creative directors.Continue reading...

Slightly more than a decade ago, the BlackBerry ruled the American corporate landscape and acquired the nickname CrackBerry. Every executive seemed to have one in tow so they could covertly send messages while they were in meetings in exotic locales, multitasking thumbs trained to text at blinding speed.

Times have changed. Most executives aren’t traveling to exotic locales anymore and everybody and their second cousin (twice removed) has a Smartphone. And most of those people touting Smartphones around town don’t own BB devices.

Research in Motion currently only owns 9.5 percent of the market, according to Boy Genius Report, but the company would love to return to its old days of dominance. RIM will make its attempt at such a feat on Jan. 30 when it will show off its new BlackBerry 10 platform and the first devices to run the operating system to consumers, following months of meetings with carriers (and influentials such as the gentlemen above) to firm up distribution deals.Continue reading...

This video shown by RIM CEO Thorsten Heins during the BlackBerry World 2012 keynote general session today offers a first look at the BlackBerry 10 platform, released today to developers and partners at the BlackBerry World conference in Orlando.