RUMOR: Beleaguered RIM working on Apple TV killer for fall release

“We have confirmed with one of our source’s RIM is working on.. a media hub,” NerdBerry reports. “The media hub’s codename is BlackBerry Cyclone!”

The BlackBerry Cyclone will include the following functions and features:

• Connect to your TV via HDMI
• WiFI enabled
• Netflix
• YouTube
• Access to media devices on the WiFI network

Advertisement: The new AppleTV. If it’s on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, it’s on Apple TV. Just $99.

NerdBerry reports, “BlackBerry Cyclone looks like a larger version of BlackBerry Presenter. We are hearing the release of the BlackBerry Cyclone will be later this fall.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: If true, DCW is on a mission. Unfortunately for them, it’s a death march. Becoming an extremely poor man’s Apple (in mobile, forget about the Macs, OS X, iPods, etc.) and trying to create everything that Apple offers its mobile users isn’t going to work. Good luck replicating iCloud, for example. If poor mimicry is the best two half-CEOs can come up with, hang out the “For Sale” sign and get on with it.

Related articles:
Analyst: 2nd-gen Apple TV unit sales top 2 million, 820K sold last quarter – April 19, 2011
iOS 4.3 beta code strongly points to Apple TV support for App Store, online gaming – February 10, 2011
Rush Limbaugh: Apple TV and AirPlay are cool – January 07, 2011
Gartenberg: Apple TV quickly going from hobby to serious business – December 27, 2010
Frommer: Get ready for the Apple TV App Store – December 21, 2010
Apple sells one million Apple TV units in first 90 days – December 21, 2010
Gear Live reviews Apple TV: Small, fast, inexpensive; AirPlay will make people sit up and notice – October 12, 2010
Computerworld reviews Apple TV: Well-executed, cost-effective, and easy to recommend – October 08, 2010
Businessweek reviews Apple TV: Apple gets serious about TV – October 08, 2010
MacNewsWorld reviews Apple TV: Priced to sell at just $99 – October 07, 2010
Hobby turns hit: Apple TV on pace to sell 1 million units per quarter – October 06, 2010
Ars Technica reviews Apple TV: ‘The potential for AirPlay is huge’ – October 04, 2010
Apps are coming to Apple TV one way or another – October 01, 2010
CNET reviews Apple TV: Pitch-perfect design and user interface; AirPlay has game-changing potential – October 01, 2010
Engadget reviews new Apple TV: Video clarity is impressive; audio quality is also superb – September 29, 2010
TIME’s Techland reviews Apple TV: ‘Incredibly convenient’ – September 29, 2010
PC Magazine reviews new Apple TV: ‘Our new Editors’ Choice media hub’ – September 29, 2010
Gartenberg: Google overshoots for input 1 on your TV while Apple TV smartly targets input 2 – September 07, 2010
Wired hands-on with Apple’s new $99 Apple TV: It’s a cool device; snappy and fast – September 01, 2010
Apple gets aggressive with new tiny, low-priced Apple TV – September 01, 2010
Apple premieres all-new Apple TV for just $99; commercial-free HD TV show rentals for only 99-cents – September 01, 2010

51 Comments

    1. The RIM battery charger will charge both AA AND AAA batteries. People are tired of Apple telling them what type of batteries to charge. Those of us who live outside the reality distortion field know that users want the full battery charging experience.

    1. I assume that is DDCW and I like it. Many companies are suffering from it and it could be an allergic reaction to Apple entering their market place. What market does Apple want next?

  1. MDN, I want you to pay for the hot StarBucks coffee I just spilled when I read your headline.

    Well I read the best joke of today and it is just 9AM.

    Rim anything an Apple Killer?

    LOL

    1. Just because it is not legal should not stop them.

      Suicide is illegal in most jurisdictions yet that does not stop those who want to take their own life. What is the government going to do? Sentence them the Community Service?

  2. NerdBerry reports, “BlackBerry Cyclone looks like a larger version of BlackBerry Presenter. ”

    Look at Amazon.com and BlackBerry Presenter ($99).
    http://goo.gl/czPxg

    Compare that with Apple TV ($98)
    http://goo.gl/eQ6N0

    Only two had anything to say about this sluggish device from RIM, less than 2 stars.

    584 weighed in on Apple TV 2 which averaged 4 stars.

    What does that indicate for Rim’s larger BlackBerry Cyclon verses an improved Apple TV this fall?

  3. Who fscking cares? This field is becoming awfully crowded with every new Blu-ray player and TV set supporting some form of widgets that can stream from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. As far as I can see, even Apple TV is getting left behind as access to digital download services becomes an ubiquitous, zero cost commodity. I was going to get an Apple TV, but my new TV supports Amazon out of the box. I just don’t see there’s any money to be made here, unless you want to give the box away and try to make it up selling content. Figures RIM would jump in just when things start sliding down the back side of the curve.

    1. the point and main purpose of the AppleTV has always been iTunes. If you’re not an iTunes user and don’t have a huge library of iTunes content, then the AppleTV is not the device for you… Never has been,never was designed for you.

      For people like me, who like the convenience of iTunes and have been using it for over ten years, the AppleTV is a perfect way to get that content wirelessly to a TV.

      1. True! Especially when people ask about building in a DVR, then they don’t get it. Why record something when you can just download/stream it?

        Yes, it’s not perfect yet. The main problem is the content providers holding back. I actually think that’s why it’s still a “hobby”. Movies are just as easily pirated as music now, so I’d say it’s time for the movie industry to go the way of the iPod or risk getting in some serious trouble.

  4. Wow, if this is true they are in some serious trouble. Who would buy that from RIM??

    It’s easy to analyze Apple’s “Playbook” and see what they are setting up… That doesn’t mean it’s easy to do it.

    Apple came up with the strategy over the last decade. That’s why Apple always stands out from the crowd. RIM could hold a meeting about how they “need to be more consumer focused, and get some content to provide”. That doesn’t mean they can do it.

    I think a great example of this thought process is that open letter the RIM executive put online. I read a lot of comments on that letter saying “he should be CEO!”, and “wow, he know what he’s doing!”. NO, he shouldn’t and no he doesn’t. He watched some videos on YouTube and did a little research about Steve Jobs.

    They can find out WHAT Apple has done and WHY they did it (after the fact). But what they’ll never understand is HOW they did it. You can’t learn that from watching YouTube videos. It’s something you’re born with.

  5. Apple TV Killer…………WTF. The term started with “iPod killer” and none of them did. It than became the “iPhone Killer” and it hasn’t happened yet……. we then had the “iPad Killers” which hasn’t happened yet. Simple question……. when in the last 10 years has anybody created anything that killed an Apple product……never . Therefore anyone who uses the term is a DH 🙂

  6. DCW? Who or what are you talking about MDN? Not everyone knows your inside references. If you don’t spell out an uncommon abbreviation or reference once in your own article, don’t include it!

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