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Jan 17, 2014
Waterloo, ON - BlackBerry® Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a world leader in mobile communications, today announced the completion of the purchase by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, of an additional U.S. $250 million principal amount of 6% unsecured subordinated convertible debentures of BlackBerry (the "Debentures"). The additional Debentures were purchased pursuant to the exercise of a previously-announced option that was granted in connection with BlackBerry's private placement of U.S. $1 billion principal amount of Debentures on November 13, 2013.
- See more at: http://www.noodls.com/view/13D8BF8C029C2...cYT2B.dpuf

Starting January 31st, the Pentagon will be hooking up 80,000 new and old BlackBerry devices as well as 1,800 iOS and Android devices as part of their plan to move information access to mobile devices. The $16 million project, which began in 2012, aims to give users secure access to information when mobile and don't compromise military data or corrupt defense networks when on the go.

"The new year will bring new mobile capabilities to as many as 100,000 DoD users," Pentagon officials said in a statement. "DoD will begin deploying version 1.0 of the unclassified mobility capability Jan. 31 and will build out capacity to support up to 100,000 users by the end of the fiscal year."

At the end of January, users will have access to the app store, support for Defense encryption keys, and several other services, including Defense Connect Online.

This is a huge win for BlackBerry and something that will hopefully spread to other agencies as well, allowing users with company-issued devices as well as BYOD programs to use BlackBerry phones as secure devices in the corporate environment.

Source: Nextgov

http://m.crackberry.com/pentagon-will-ho...january-31

(20-01-2014, 03:46 PM)specuvestor Wrote: [ -> ]Personally I don't think they can make it alone with their exisitng technology and platform beyond 2015... best exit plan is to be acquired by Google, Microsoft or maybe Samsung

Dear Specuvestor, I don't need Blackberry to return to its former heyday market cap or even reach a quarter of its peak market cap. I just need current management to stem the loss and right the ship. If Blackberry can get acquired by Google, Samsung, or Microsoft i am already extremely happy...

Moving to look more like a service-base company, with asset-light strategy. It is a good move, IMO...

BlackBerry to divest majority of its Canadian real estate

[TORONTO] BlackBerry Ltd said on Tuesday it intends to divest the majority of its real estate holdings in Canada, as it works to bolster its balance sheet and turnaround its fortunes.

In partnership with commercial real estate services company CBRE, BlackBerry said it intends to strategically divest the majority of its real estate assets via a combination of sale-leaseback and vacant asset sales.

The company did not disclose how much it expects to raise from the process.

The properties being put on sale comprise over 3 million square feet of office space, the company said.

Ref: Reuters, Business Times Breaking News

Jan 13/14
Chen, John
Direct Ownership
Common Shares
10 - Acquisition in the public market
25,000
$8.25
USD

http://canadianinsider.com/node/7?ticker=bb

This is a key position. It is not a good sign IMO...

BlackBerry's head of BBM business leaves company

[TORONTO] BlackBerry Ltd said on Monday that Andrew Bocking, the executive in charge of its BBM instant messaging business, has left the company.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company did not disclose whether Bocking's departure was part of an internal management shuffle or whether he left to pursue other interests.

The technology company, which is seeking to rebuild itself under the leadership of new Chief Executive John Chen, said only that Bocking "made the decision to leave BlackBerry".
...
Ref: Business Times Breaking News

(11-02-2014, 03:16 PM)CityFarmer Wrote: [ -> ]This is a key position. It is not a good sign IMO...

BlackBerry's head of BBM business leaves company

[TORONTO] BlackBerry Ltd said on Monday that Andrew Bocking, the executive in charge of its BBM instant messaging business, has left the company.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company did not disclose whether Bocking's departure was part of an internal management shuffle or whether he left to pursue other interests.

The technology company, which is seeking to rebuild itself under the leadership of new Chief Executive John Chen, said only that Bocking "made the decision to leave BlackBerry".
...
Ref: Business Times Breaking News

Somewhat similar to appl executives left. Perhaps it would be easier to work with John's team for the turn around.

It would be a good opportunity to average up on dips IMO around $9

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaar...rry/print/

John Chen Speaks On Saving Blackberry (BBRY)

STEVE JOBS DID IT at Apple. Lou Gerstner and Sam Palmisano did it at IBM. But tech turnarounds are rare. John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry since November, is trying again. BlackBerry is Chen’s second major turnaround attempt. His first was Sybase, a database pioneer that had been crushed by Oracle. Chen came in, found a niche in mobile data and sold Sybase to SAP in 2010 for $5.8 billion.

I had lunch with Chen in January to talk about his plans to fix BlackBerry.

Why attempt this? I thought the world would be better off with a strong BlackBerry. You know, the company has 44,000 patents. And I thought it might be a fixable thing. It will be a difficult challenge, but if it were going to be easy, why do it?

Android and Apple own the mobile market. Even mighty Microsoft struggles. Can a small player survive? Sure. Take the automotive industry; it’s not all about volume. What do you call Porsche? What do you call Lamborghini? Porsche is doing extremely well. Now, Porsche serves a particular segment of the market, doing well for its shareholders and owners. It always serves the market for a purpose, which is the whole point.

In the short term there are enough users of serious computing–meaning this is what they do for their living, this is how they operate–that want a keyboard. You have CEOs of major companies who whip out their BlackBerrys because of the keyboard. They don’t care about apps. And, by the way, from a security point of view I’m starting to worry about where these apps are actually coming from.

How many potential customers fit that profile–wanting a keyboard but not wanting apps? There’s a huge market segment out there for any regulated industry. Governments, financial services, health care. I think we can go capture those and become a winner. I have two companies in Europe now that have reversed their policies on letting people bring their own devices to work. It presents too much of a security risk. After Angela Merkel was hacked she moved straight to a BlackBerry.

Assuming BlackBerry survives the short term, what are your long-term plans? The devices will change, but the need for security, productivity and communication will continue to grow. These are the three building blocks of all things Internet and all things “connected.” Security is more than an exercise in avoiding snooping or being listened to or copied. It’s also about data security. You can’t afford to have somebody steal or change your data.

How big is the market for users who put productivity and security ahead of communication? Regulated industries’ share of IT spending is 30%. I assume the same percentage for telecom spending–30%.

Why are tech turnarounds so hard? Because the amount of time you have to execute your plan can be dramatically changed by your competitors. There’s no time to recover from mistakes. You have to be right most of the time.

Do you need a strategy, or are fast reflexes enough? You must have short-, medium- and long-term strategies. And a lot of time you have to put the medium-term strategy in play. I had to do that at Sybase many times. We’d go down these paths, and some would work and some wouldn’t. But we had laid out a long-term plan, a medium-term plan and a short-term plan. However, if the short-term plan wasn’t working, the medium-term plan would kick in. A lot of companies have only one plan. That’s great if things go perfectly, not so great if things blow up.

What makes a great turnaround team? Urgency. And an obsessive focus on the things that matter. You build a team by picking the right people–it all comes down to the right people–who understand this. Then you make those people accountable. The CEO and the team need to know the details. You can’t know the minute details about everything, but you need to know the details. In an emergency room the doctor is hands on, whereas in a teaching hospital the doctor could just, you know, act like a professor and talk someone else through the procedure. Turnarounds are different; they’re like an emergency room, and you can’t be afraid of blood.

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2014/02/bbm-2-update/
All-New Ways to BBM Me: BBM 2.0 is Here!
02.13.14 / Jeff Gadway

Earlier, we wrote about some of the features we’re working on for BBM in 2014. Today, we’re excited to be adding those great new features and more to BBM that users on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry** can enjoy. When the update becomes available later today, these new features will give you more ways to chat and share than ever before on BBM. Here are some of the highlights:

BBM Voice

One of the things we’re most excited about is bringing BBM Voice to iPhone and Android users. With BBM Voice you can make free calls* to BBM contacts anywhere in the world using your Wi-Fi® or data connection. When a BBM contact is available for a BBM Voice call you’ll see a green icon in the top right hand corner of your chat. To call them, simply touch the green icon and your call will be connected.

BBM Channels

BBM Channels lets users chat with other BBM users about topics that interest them. Customers can join channels about a range of topics from products, hobbies and sports to entertainment, fashion, cars and more. Channels can be created by brands, businesses and BBM users alike and are a great way to communicate directly and immediately with people who share common interests in the broader BBM community. By posting to their channel, channel owners immediately reach their subscribers with a message that can spark discussions.

Location Sharing powered by Glympse

We’ve all been in situations where we’re running late, meeting up with friends, or trying to find someone at a concert. Location sharing powered by Glympse is a great way to share your live location for a specific amount of time. Choose how long you want to share your location for by setting the timer – when the timer runs out your location is private again. Now you see me…now you don’t!

Pictures, Voice notes, attachments and more

With this new version of BBM there’s more to chat about because you can quickly share a pic, voice note or file with your contacts. Snap a photo or pick one from your gallery; touch and hold to send a voice note; send a calendar event or contact.

Dropbox Integration

With Dropbox built in to BBM, you can send a file from your personal cloud directly to a BBM contact. On the receiving end, save the file directly to your smartphone or add it to your Dropbox account.

New Emoticons

This new release of BBM also includes 100 great new emoticons that you can use to bring some fun to your chats. With so many new emoticons, we’ve decided to dedicate a post to helping you discover them all. Check that out here.

Larger BBM Groups

You’ve been asking for larger BBM Groups and we’ve heard you loud and clear. This new version of BBM now includes 50-person BBM Groups so you can get more of your friends, family or team in on the action.

Check out this video for a peak at all the action in the new BBM.
[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Be sure to check you’ve got the latest version of BBM for BlackBerry 10 (v10.3), BlackBerry OS, iPhone (v2.0) and Android (v2.0). If you want to know more about these new features, head on over to the new BBM.com to read more and check out some short how-to videos.

* BBM customers and their contacts will need to have BBM Voice, a data plan and Wi-Fi coverage to make calls to each other. Data charges may apply.

**The new version of BBM on BlackBerry (BBM v.10.3) will be available on BlackBerry 10. BlackBerry OS5 and above will also be updated but will not include location sharing or Dropbox integration. For a full list of the new features of BBM, please visit www.bbm.com.

Dropbox and the Dropbox logo are trademarks of Dropbox, Inc.

About Jeff Gadway
I'm the head of product and brand marketing for BBM. This means I work with our engineers, product managers, growth hackers and marketing communications team to create and communicate the magic of BBM. Off the clock, I'm a dog lover, coffee enthusiast and love helping start-ups with marketing stuff.

http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email...MjExNDIyWj

Samsung Push Into U.S. Government Sector Threatens BlackBerry
By WILL CONNORS
Feb. 12, 2014 2:00 p.m. ET

TORONTO—Samsung Electronics Co. is revamping its push into the U.S. enterprise and government sector, adding further pressure to the new leadership at the company that once dominated that space, BlackBerry Ltd.

Samsung recently won an order for roughly 7,000 smartphones from the U.S. Army and is close to an order for several thousand devices from the U.S. National Security Agency, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Army order is for the company's Nett Warrior system, which outfits soldiers with a chest-mounted Samsung Note II smartphone to use while on the battlefield. While Samsung already had an initial contract to supply devices for the Nett Warrior system, the new order expands the number of Samsung devices in use there. The NSA order would be for the agency's Fishbowl Project, an initiative it started several years ago to update the devices used by NSA personnel. Both the Army and the NSA equip the devices with their own, secure software.

A spokesman for the Army didn't respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the NSA declined to comment.

A Samsung spokesman declined to comment on the specific orders but in a statement said: "We are working very closely with many customers and we're seeing great progress with adoption of our devices and solutions."

While those orders pale in comparison to overall phone sales at Samsung, they signal to other companies—especially in highly regulated industries like banking and health care—that Samsung phones can work in sensitive environments, long the bread and butter of BlackBerry.

Cisco Systems Inc., for example, is readying a new product, referred to internally as "Spaghetti Western," for its government and business customers that aims to monitor employees' mobile-phone usage, according to Cisco executives. Its exclusive partner on the project: Samsung.

This momentum could spell trouble for new BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen. Shortly after taking the helm at BlackBerry in November, Mr. Chen said he would focus on winning back enterprise customers.

But his predecessor, Thorsten Heins, said this too, in September. The problem then, as now, is that many of BlackBerry's enterprise customers have already moved on—and deeper-pocketed competitors like Samsung are encroaching on BlackBerry's territory. In 2010, BlackBerry had a market share of nearly 70% among business customers in North America, according to IDC. In 2013, that figure had dropped to around 5%, IDC said. Globally, BlackBerry's business-market share has slipped to around 8% from 31% in 2010, according to IDC.

Mr. Chen has been on the road for the past three months making his pitch to banks and government agencies, but so far there have been few signs of progress.

BlackBerry has announced a handful of clients for its new software in Europe and India. In India, the conglomerate ITC Ltd. said it would deploy BlackBerry's new enterprise software for its employees. And in Germany, information-technology company DATEV, an existing BlackBerry customer, said it would upgrade to BlackBerry's new server and order 1,000 BlackBerry phones.

In response to questions about customers in the U.S., BlackBerry said that several companies, including law firm Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom LLP and insurer MetLife Inc. have signed up for its new server.

BlackBerry said it has more than 80,000 enterprise customers globally, but 50,000 of those customers are on the company's older network. And of the 30,000 customers on the new network, many are only testing the service. BlackBerry hasn't said how many customers have actually installed the new service.

"We have sharpened our enterprise focus to government, regulated industries and other large organizations," and "have developed a broad vision of how we will serve these companies," John Sims, BlackBerry's president in charge of the enterprise, said in an emailed statement. "Customers are listening and we believe they will respond positively to our strategy."

The company built its reputation and won thousands of customers largely on the strength of its proprietary network, called BlackBerry Enterprise Server. When the company shifted to a new operating system last year, BlackBerry 10, it also tried to shift companies to a new version of its network, called BES 10. Mr. Chen's job is to convince more customers to make that shift.

The BlackBerry CEO is working on several fronts. He wants to make BlackBerry Messenger a video and chat service for enterprises. But he concedes that this might not be profitable until 2016, and companies like Cisco have been offering enterprise video chat tools for years—and have billions more in cash than BlackBerry that enables them to invest more easily in new bells and whistles or make acquisitions.

Mr. Chen said he wants to ramp up his mobile-device management offerings for companies that use Apple Inc. 's iPhones and Samsung phones. But bigger companies like Microsoft Corp. and VMware Inc. are also in this line of business. VMware recently announced a deal to acquire mobile-device management company AirWatch for $1.5 billion, and just this week Microsoft's new chief executive, Satya Nadella, said mobile-device management would be a key area of focus for him.

In the meantime, Mr. Chen has his work cut out for him dealing with Samsung, which is hiring former BlackBerry executives to help.

Samsung recently hired BlackBerry's former chief information officer, Robin Bienfait, to work at its IT services subsidiary Samsung SDS, according to people familiar with the matter. Ms. Bienfait stepped down from her post at BlackBerry in late 2012, just before the launch of the company's new line of phones.

Samsung also recently hired Carl Nerup, from Washington, D.C., contractor General Dynamics Corp. , to lead sales of its enterprise software, according to a person close to the company.

A Samsung spokesman confirmed the new hires.

Samsung had already hired away dozens of executives and employees from BlackBerry and other Washington, D.C., contractors.

(11-02-2014, 05:22 PM)orangetea Wrote: [ -> ]

(11-02-2014, 03:16 PM)CityFarmer Wrote: [ -> ]This is a key position. It is not a good sign IMO...

BlackBerry's head of BBM business leaves company

[TORONTO] BlackBerry Ltd said on Monday that Andrew Bocking, the executive in charge of its BBM instant messaging business, has left the company.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company did not disclose whether Bocking's departure was part of an internal management shuffle or whether he left to pursue other interests.

The technology company, which is seeking to rebuild itself under the leadership of new Chief Executive John Chen, said only that Bocking "made the decision to leave BlackBerry".
...
Ref: Business Times Breaking News

Somewhat similar to appl executives left. Perhaps it would be easier to work with John's team for the turn around.

It would be a good opportunity to average up on dips IMO around $9

It did dip slightly below $9 again. Then this news came...

================

Dan Loeb Bought 10 Million Shares Of BlackBerry (BBRY)
Julia La Roche, provided by
Published 2:28 pm, Friday, February 14, 2014

Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, who runs $14 billion Third Point LLC, disclosed a huge stake in Blackberry Ltd.

In his fund's latest 13F filing, Third Point held 10 million shares of BlackBerry during the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013.

BBRY shares closed at $8.98 today, but are up 3% in after-hours trading.

Hedge funds only have to disclose their long equity holdings in these securities filings. Also, keep in mind 13Fs are filed 45 days after the end of each quarter.