Exclusive: Microsoft tie-up, network sale among RIM options: sources

Research In Motion Ltd's board is under mounting pressure to consider unpalatable options such as selling its network business or forming an alliance with Microsoft Corp after the Blackberry maker again ...

NEW YORK — Research In Motion Ltd. is dead — long live BlackBerry. At a splashy press event in Manhattan on Wednesday, chief executive Thorsten Heins introduced as expected the next generation of BlackBerry smartphones. But it came out of the blue when he dropped the news that Canada’s most famous technology company will officially rebrand itself as simply “BlackBerry.”

SAN FRANCISCO/SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp is set to make a splash Tuesday with the eagerly awaited unveiling of its new Xbox game console, eight years after the last version, as it seeks a larger share of the US$65-billion a year global computer gaming industry. But the small device faces some big competition from the PlayStation 4 by Sony Corp and the Wii U by Nintendo Co Ltd in a shifting market.

Trefis submits: Research in Motion (RIMM), which operates the popular BlackBerry Messenger service, has been facing mounting pressure to open its secured data network for scrutiny by the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Until last week the company had refused, maintaining that its business depends on maintaining the confidentiality of its data.

By Takeover Analyst:The struggling BlackBerry-maker, Research in Motion (RIMM) has recently been targeted by Canadian activist investor Jaguar Financial Corp. Jaguar, which owns a little less than 5% of RIM, joins NEI Investments in reforming the company that has lost nearly half of its value.

Wall Street Cheat Sheet submits: If you are an investor in Research in Motion (RIMM), you must be worried management is making the same mistakes Microsoft (MSFT) made: rely on the success of one or two major products, watch competitors dominate emerging product lines, then watch market share of the flagships wane.

Wall Street Cheat Sheet submits: By Damien HoffmanBy now you’ve heard Research in Motion (RIMM) unveiled their much anticipated tablet, Blackberry Playbook. Here are two key reasons the playbook for Playbook seems to be second-rate at best: