• Wednesday, May 23, 6:29 PM Research in Motion (RIMM) announces that Patrick Spence, its head of global sales, is leaving. Comment! [Tech]
• Monday, May 21, 5:57 PM Leveraging the patents the companies acquired last year from Nortel, AAPL, MSFT, RIMM, SNE, and ERIC have officially entered the patent-trolling business via the Rockstar Consortium. Funded by the aforementioned companies and owning 4,000 ex-Nortel patents, Rockstar examines tech products for evidence of infringement, and demands licensing fees when it's found. Since Rockstar, unlike its owners, doesn't make anything, it can't be countersued. 2 Comments [Tech]
• Monday, May 21, 4:26 PM An ITC administrative law judge rules against Eastman Kodak (EKDKQ.PK) in its patent infringement suit against Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM). The ruling (.pdf), subject to review by the commission, declares Apple and RIM to be infringing only one claim within Kodak's image-preview patent, and calls that claim invalid due to "obviousness." (previous) 3 Comments [Tech]
• Thursday, May 17, 7:10 PM Nokia's (NOK) Lumia launches have allowed Windows Phone (MSFT) to claim 6% of the German smartphone market and 3%-4% of the U.S., British, French, and Italian markets, reports Kantar Comtech. Meanwhile, Android's (GOOG) share has surged 72% in Spain, 49% in Italy, and 62% in Germany, though its lead relative to the iPhone (AAPL) has narrowed in the U.S. and U.K. Symbian and the BlackBerry (RIMM) continue to bleed share. 7 Comments [Tech]
• Wednesday, May 16, 1:37 PM Gartner estimates mobile phone sales fell 2% Y/Y in Q1 - that's a bit worse than the 1.5% drop estimated by IDC, and leads the firm to think its 2012 estimates will have to come down. However, Gartner believes smartphone shipments grew 44.7% Y/Y (IDC is at 42.5%), with Android (GOOG) and the iPhone (AAPL) accounting for 56.1% and 22.9% of sales, respectively. NOK's Symbian saw its smartphone share fall by over 2/3 to 8.9%, while RIMM's fell by nearly half to 6.9%. (also) 2 Comments [Tech]
• Tuesday, May 15, 5:17 PM David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital established new positions in Computer Sciences (CSC) and Expedia (EXPE) in Q1. Assuming Einhorn maintained his position through April 27, the Expedia bet was a smart one. Einhorn also liquidated his positions in TRV, FSLR, OVTI, and YHOO, and significantly cut his positions in MSFT, GM, and RIMM. EXPE +0.9% AH. (13-F) 2 Comments [Tech]
• Tuesday, May 15, 1:32 PM AT&T's (T) wireless customer satisfaction score rose 5 points to 69 in the ACSI's annual survey. That puts it nearly on par with Verizon Wireless (VZ, VOD), whose score of 70 represents a 3-point drop, and Sprint (S), which dropped a point to 71. Apple (AAPL) posted the highest score among cell phone vendors at 83, while Research In Motion (RIMM) had the lowest at 69. 3 Comments [Tech]
• Tuesday, May 15, 10:31 AM Bankrupt Eastman Kodak (EKDKQ.PK) is seeking expressions of interest for its patent portfolio ahead of a sale that some think could fetch over $2B. Major tech companies are expected to be among the bidders. However, the final price could depend heavily on the outcome of Kodak's ITC complaints against Apple (AAPL) and Research In Motion (RIMM); a ruling is due on May 21. 7 Comments [Tech]
• Tuesday, May 8, 9:05 AM Research In Motion (RIMM) has named Sony Mobile VP Kristian Tear its COO, and LightSquared strategy VP Frank Boulben its CMO. The moves come 5 weeks after ex-COO Jim Rowan resigned as part of a management shakeup. (PR) 7 Comments [Tech]
• Friday, May 4, 5:06 PM Not only are many enterprise users abandoning their BlackBerrys (RIMM), government workers are increasingly following suit. The NOAA plans to switch from a BlackBerry-only environment to a "platform-agnostic" one, partly due to BlackBerry management costs. Likewise, the ATF is replacing 3,800 BlackBerrys, and the DoD plans to release security guidelines for using iOS (AAPL) and Android (GOOG) devices in August. (also) 9 Comments [Tech]
• Thursday, May 3, 2:05 PM Research In Motion (RIMM -5.8%) is making 8-year lows on the final day of its panned BlackBerry World conference; shares are now down 16% since the conference began. Network World reports attending enterprise customers had mixed feelings about RIM, expressing concerns about the cost of deploying its Mobile Fusion device management solution, and about strong employee interest in using rival devices. Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
• Wednesday, May 2, 12:31 PM Research In Motion (RIMM -5.5%) sees more pain on the second day of its BlackBerry World conference - reviews for the first day were largely downbeat. Among today's critics are Wedge Partners, which thinks BlackBerry 10 is arriving 3 years too late to matter, and Jefferies, which expects a collapse in BB7 sales ahead of BB10's launch. Meanwhile, RIM is touting the BlackBerry's strength in emerging markets such as Nigeria and Indonesia. (also) 3 Comments [Tech, On the Move, Quick Ideas]
• Wednesday, May 2, 9:52 AM Nokia (NOK -3%) announces it's suing HTC, Research In Motion (RIMM -3%), and Viewsonic for patent infringement in (where else?) the U.S. and Germany. Though it's possible these battles will drag on indefinitely in a manner similar to Apple's (AAPL) disputes with Android OEMs, it's worth noting Nokia settled its suits against Apple last year in exchange for a $600M licensing fee and ongoing royalties. Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
• Tuesday, May 1, 6:55 PM Analyst reactions to Research In Motion's (RIMM -5.7%) BlackBerry World conference aren't enthusiastic. RBC (previous) likes some of the BlackBerry 10 features and apps that were demoed, but expects the huge edge held by iOS and Android in available apps to remain a problem. JMP is disappointed by the absence of new commercial hardware. Pac Crest thinks RIM is further behind the competition than Palm was when it released webOS in '09 (and that didn't end well). 15 Comments [Tech, Quick Ideas]
• Tuesday, May 1, 12:38 PM Research In Motion (RIMM -4.6%) heads south as its BlackBerry World developer's conference fails to impress. RIM has been handing out a BlackBerry 10 prototype phone with software almost identical to that of the PlayBook, and has talked up the brilliance of its virtual keypad and camera software. IDC believes RIM's global smartphone share fell over 50% Y/Y in Q1 to 6.7%. 13 Comments [Tech, On the Move]
• Tuesday, May 1, 9:19 AM Research In Motion's (RIMM)  BlackBerry World developer's conference, which has gotten underway with a keynote from CEO Thorsten Heins (live blog), could represent RIM's last chance to save itself, suggests John Paczkowski. RIM needs to convince developers its BlackBerry 10 OS, which represents a major departure from BB7, is worth getting behind in spite of the dominance of iOS and Android, and the emerging presence of Windows Phone. 1 Comment [Tech]