Speculation is mounting that Research In Motion (RIM) will announce the opening of its highly anticipated Blackberry App World next week at CTIA Wireless 2009 in Las Vegas. There’s also speculation that RIM will announce a BlackBerry TV service as part of the store.
NewTeeVee cited multiple sources in a report that outlined the TV service. The report said that the new service will be a monthly unlimited subscription-based service which will download programs in the background over Wi-Fi instead of the carrier line.
The report went on to say that “multiple broadcast and cable networks have licensed content for the device.”
RIM, whose co-CEO Mike Lazaridis will be a keynote speaker at the CTIA trade show on Wednesday, joins a growing number of platforms and handsets that have opened or will be opening mobile application stores. Nokia, Android, Samsung and, of course, Apple are just a few that have stores either up and running or in the works.
To date, Apple is seen as having set the bar in the applications world. Generally attributed to the ease of access and integration with the Apple OS, the success of Apple’s App Store is creating followers of its formula.
There’s good reason for others to take note; Apple reported 500 million downloads in its first six months.
On March 11, Microsoft announced the release of an SDK and developer guidelines for Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Microsoft’s plans were almost identical to those offered at the Apple App Store, including a 70/30 profit sharing equation – the developer gets 70 percent of profits, the store gets 30 – that is quickly becoming the industry standard.
Perhaps all the buzz around RIM is being seen as a positive for investors in the company.
Shares of RIM rose Thursday after a Goldman Sachs analyst said she would buy the stock in advance of its fiscal fourth-quarter report, which is scheduled for April 2.
RIM shares rose $1.89, or 4.6 percent, to $44.87 in afternoon trading yesterday.
In a note to clients, Goldman analyst Simona Jankowski kept her “Buy” rating and $57 price target for the stock, predicting RIM will meet fourth-quarter and first-quarter guidance – something she thinks will help its shares.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
