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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
love_u2_adam
Blue Crack Addict
I was just minding my own business looking for lovely U2-looking skins for my blackberry and i found this gem out. So if we are berry-addicts does this mean we get special treatment for playing 400$ for a phone and 60-80$ phone bills?!?!?
pudgie_child
War Child
Because they have become whores.
randhail
Rock n' Roll Doggie
I'd become a whore too if they paid me enough.
love_u2_adam
Blue Crack Addict
It's a tough economical time, maybe they want there fans to get the most out of it
. So they got a sponsor to help them out, rock stars can go broke too.
. So they got a sponsor to help them out, rock stars can go broke too.
U2forBoys
The Fly
Restrictions drove U2 to switch sides from Apple to RIM - report
Apple's penchant for keeping its partners out of the loop reportedly cost the company its relationship with alternative rock band U2, which recently drew sponsorship from rival smartphone market Research in Motion.
According to a report in the GlobeAndMail, Toronto-based radio DJ Alan Cross recently came face-to-face with Bono following a secret concert in Boston where he struck up a conversation with the U2 frontman about the band's new partnership with RIM.
"I'm very excited about this," Bono is reported to have said. "Research In Motion is going to give us what Apple wouldn't -- access to their labs and their people so we can do something really spectacular."
Asked whether this had something to do with a new application U2 wanted to create to allow fans to interact with the band as part of its "U2 360" tour, Bono reportedly said, "You're not far off," before disappearing into a crowd of people.
Last month, U2 announced that the new tour -- expected to be its biggest yet -- would be sponsored by Research In Motion's BlackBerry line of smartphones, distancing itself from its one-time ally in the iPod maker.
"This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans," said U2's manager Paul McGuinness. "We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds."
In October 2004 Apple and the band hosted a special event together to introduce the new black and red iPod U2 Special Edition.
"U2 is one of the greatest bands in the world and we are floored to be working with them," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said at the time. "We just want to make some innovative products together, and we hope U2 fans will love having their very own special edition iPod."
The partnership continued to blossom the following year when U2 helped launch the new iPod video with an ad campaign featuring a live music video for the track "Original of the Species." In June 2006, yet another product emerged as a result of the partnership: a U2 branded video iPod.
U2's Bono was also believed to be instrumental in compelling Apple to release several (Product) Red-braned iPods (1, 2, 3, 4), a portion of the sales of which went to help benefit the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
appleinsider.com
Apple's penchant for keeping its partners out of the loop reportedly cost the company its relationship with alternative rock band U2, which recently drew sponsorship from rival smartphone market Research in Motion.
According to a report in the GlobeAndMail, Toronto-based radio DJ Alan Cross recently came face-to-face with Bono following a secret concert in Boston where he struck up a conversation with the U2 frontman about the band's new partnership with RIM.
"I'm very excited about this," Bono is reported to have said. "Research In Motion is going to give us what Apple wouldn't -- access to their labs and their people so we can do something really spectacular."
Asked whether this had something to do with a new application U2 wanted to create to allow fans to interact with the band as part of its "U2 360" tour, Bono reportedly said, "You're not far off," before disappearing into a crowd of people.
Last month, U2 announced that the new tour -- expected to be its biggest yet -- would be sponsored by Research In Motion's BlackBerry line of smartphones, distancing itself from its one-time ally in the iPod maker.
"This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans," said U2's manager Paul McGuinness. "We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds."
In October 2004 Apple and the band hosted a special event together to introduce the new black and red iPod U2 Special Edition.
"U2 is one of the greatest bands in the world and we are floored to be working with them," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said at the time. "We just want to make some innovative products together, and we hope U2 fans will love having their very own special edition iPod."
The partnership continued to blossom the following year when U2 helped launch the new iPod video with an ad campaign featuring a live music video for the track "Original of the Species." In June 2006, yet another product emerged as a result of the partnership: a U2 branded video iPod.
U2's Bono was also believed to be instrumental in compelling Apple to release several (Product) Red-braned iPods (1, 2, 3, 4), a portion of the sales of which went to help benefit the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
appleinsider.com
U2forBoys
The Fly
RIM rocks a new tune
SIMON AVERY AND MATT HARTLEY
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
April 3, 2009 at 9:18 PM EDT
Toronto-based radio DJ Alan Cross flew to Boston last month with a plan to find a way into a secret U2 concert at an old vaudeville-era theatre. What he ended up with was an exclusive peek at a landmark business deal between the iconic Irish rockers and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. After Bono and his band wrapped up their gig at the intimate Somerville Theater, Mr. Cross ended up at a crowded reception at a nearby pub in Harvard Square and came face to face with the U2 front man. To strike up a conversation, he told Bono he had friends who worked for RIM. Then he asked Bono about the new partnership between RIM and one of the biggest rock acts on the planet, which the Waterloo, Ont.-based company announced in a routine press release just two days earlier.
"I'm very excited about this," Bono told Mr. Cross about the RIM deal. "Research In Motion is going to give us what Apple wouldn't — access to their labs and their people so we can do something really spectacular."
Mr. Cross couldn't believe his ears. Was RIM working on a special U2 application that would help the band interact with fans as part of its "U2 360" tour?
"You're not far off," Bono said, before slipping away into the crowd.
And why was Mr. Cross getting the real story — that U2 was tapping RIM's engineers — from the music icon himself rather than the company that stands to benefit the most from the deal?
Therein lies the latest challenge for RIM as it weathers the recession and looks to its next phase of growth. An engineering and design wunderkind, the BlackBerry now needs a brand image and strategy that reach the masses. Or to use co-founder Jim Balsillie's baseball analogy for RIM — "there's two down in the second" — it's time to think about the middle innings.
IT'S ABOUT THE BRAND
RIM realizes its future hinges on winning consumers over to the BlackBerry. The company has taken several leads from Apple, the king of consumer technology, that go beyond winning the affections of one of the world's greatest rock stars. RIM has recently introduced touch-screen technology with the BlackBerry Storm and an online store for games and software known as App World, similar to what Apple has already perfected for using with the iPhone. But RIM has yet to attempt what Apple does best: sell its brand to consumers.
Experts warn that if RIM doesn't quickly fire up a global marketing machine of its own, the company will be pushed to the wayside by bigger brands such as Apple, Google and Microsoft and will be forgotten by the fickle consumer.
"RIM has every right and ability to take on Apple. It's not the same as Apple, nor should it be. But RIM should have greater confidence," said Geoffrey Roche, chief creative officer of Toronto ad agency Lowe Roche, who has done some work for the company. "They have every right to be seen as sexy."
RIM has ridden the coattails of U.S. President Barack Obama, a self-confessed Berry addict, and is spending big dollars to back U2's global concert tour. But for the most part, even as it expanded its reach from CEOs to soccer moms, RIM has left marketing responsibilities to the phone companies that sell its devices. The result is a "schizophrenic message" that will not survive the overwhelming marketing forces of the Apple brand, or those of other emerging competitors, Mr. Roche said.
"The thinking needs to change. They have an immense opportunity. RIM has not made any mistakes. They have never positioned themselves poorly. We're not sitting here with General Motors," he said.
RIM's marketing expenses have rocketed in recent quarters, as the company begins to emerge from the shadows. To broaden its consumer appeal it is running a TV ad campaign dubbed "Life on BlackBerry," which features a handset constructed of everyday items such as a soccer ball, vacation photos and music speakers, to suggest how BlackBerry touches all aspects of people's lives. The company was a major sponsor of the Major League Baseball playoffs in the United States last year. And it has expanded product distribution beyond phone companies to major retailers such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.
THE CONSUMER SPACE
RIM initially created the BlackBerry to serve customers in business and government. But over the past decade, as those markets became saturated and competitors crashed the scene, it has made a radical shift to the consumer space.
Two and a half years ago, it began its march down Main Street with the BlackBerry Pearl, a sleek, candy bar-shaped phone with camera and music player.
Analysts were initially concerned that the company's new emphasis on consumers would erode the fat profit margins it enjoys with its corporate clients, since the consumer market is typically characterized by lower profitability, higher marketing costs and pressure to respond to rapidly shifting tastes.
This week, co-chief executive officer Jim Balsillie revealed that RIM's assault on the consumer market is in full force, telling analysts that consumers now comprise half of its customer base, which more than doubled last year to about 25 million. On Thursday, RIM reported record profits and growth in subscribers, 70 per cent of which came from the consumer market. The stock climbed 19.4 per cent, regaining much of what it had lost since it was hit by the recession.
It's hard to argue with that kind of success, which generated $11.1-billion (U.S.) of global sales last year, up from $3-billion just two years ago. Marketing experts say RIM is in the enviable position of "product-driven" success. But long-term viability demands that it dramatically increase its global scale, something that will require better branding and marketing.
Apple, which has a much broader product line than RIM, is outspending its Canadian rival on marketing by as much as five to one, said Rob Enderle, president of the Enderle Group, a technology advisory firm in San Jose, Calif.
What will happen if RIM doesn't change its thinking? "They will get left behind," Mr. Roche said. "I think there is a window, but it's not a monstrous window. Look at all the great companies gone by the wayside because they didn't get their message to consumers."
STEALTH MARKETING
The significance of RIM's partnership with U2 should not be underestimated. Not only does it strike a direct blow at Apple, but brings one of the most business-savvy entertainers to RIM's team.
Mr. Cross, the disc jockey, remembers having a long conversation with Bono five years ago shortly after the band made a pact with Apple. Bono's image was used on iPod packaging and advertising while Apple built a U2 iPod.
"He gave me this long and very eloquent answer about how launching an album and launching a tour was very expensive and that a band or a record label can't necessarily do it on their own," said Mr. Cross, who is also a senior program director for Corus Interactive and Integrated Solutions. "He said, 'We need to find partners who will help us get the word out about what we're doing and we will work with partners who will create objects or devices or offer services that we really believe in.'" But there is more to building a global brand than building great partnerships, and RIM's approach to communications is still more stealth than storefront.
On its website, for example, the company plainly states that information about its marketing plan "cannot be disclosed to the public." RIM's marketing executives could not be reached for comment for this story.
Ann Nurock, president and CEO of Grey Canada, RIM's ad agency, politely declined to discuss her work with RIM. "Only RIM themselves can comment."
In contrast, Apple is known for creating and managing its own image of coolness. The company is secretive, but its marketing is not. It is well-known, for example, that for years, chief executive officer Steve Jobs has included creative agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, and the firm's global director, Lee Clow, in Apple's critical business decisions.
In the long term, the key to winning this smart-phone market will be about more than simply branding and adding consumers. Buyers are fickle and the day's trendy device can be outdated in a matter of months, Mr. Enderle said.
Instead, the race will be won by the company that can build scale fastest — and that favours Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. over either Apple or RIM, he said.
"The quality gap between devices will eventually close," Mr. Enderle said. "The more people you have building, marketing and selling your product the more successful you will be. Then it just becomes a matter of resources."
Google has five manufacturers lined up to build phones for its Android software platform, and both Google and Microsoft have the resources to buy the loyalty of the phone companies, the kingmakers who provide access to the market. Developers always follow the money, Mr. Enderle noted.
So far, more than 100,000 developers have downloaded the necessary software to build applications that run on BlackBerry devices. But RIM is playing catch-up in this field and until it opened the online app store this week it lacked a cohesive strategy for third-party BlackBerry software.
Although Mr. Balsillie was fond of trumpeting various corporate applications coming from partner companies such as Facebook or Slacker Radio, it wasn't until Apple created a consumer sensation with its own App Store that RIM recognized the need to create a single destination where users could purchase and download their own software to customize their devices.
CASHING IN ON A NAME
Research shows that when people buy a car, they pay more attention to ads after the purchase to justify their expense and make themselves feel good. RIM might need to think along those lines, too.
"There's a wonderful coolness quotient to Apple's work," Mr. Roche said. "There's a need for RIM to be there as well. There's a need for people to feel a great sense of confidence that they got the coolest product out there, and that they are a master of the universe by virtue of the fact."
The question remains whether RIM can cash in on U2's rock star cachet, and whether BlackBerry can emerge as more than the consummate mobile business tool to capture the attention of a generation of potential customers who grew up on cellphones, MySpace and iTunes.
"We used to hold up lighters [at rock concerts]. Now we hold up cellphones," Mr. Cross said. "What's going to happen if U2 can, from the stage, instantaneously communicate to each individual person? What form is that interactivity going to take? Are you going to give them a song, are you going to give them a code, are you going to give them an opportunity to text to a screen or meet each other?"
RIM engineers are probably working on some of those questions right now. Once they work it out, the company may need to borrow a line from Bono and elevate itself yet again.
SIMON AVERY AND MATT HARTLEY
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
April 3, 2009 at 9:18 PM EDT
Toronto-based radio DJ Alan Cross flew to Boston last month with a plan to find a way into a secret U2 concert at an old vaudeville-era theatre. What he ended up with was an exclusive peek at a landmark business deal between the iconic Irish rockers and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. After Bono and his band wrapped up their gig at the intimate Somerville Theater, Mr. Cross ended up at a crowded reception at a nearby pub in Harvard Square and came face to face with the U2 front man. To strike up a conversation, he told Bono he had friends who worked for RIM. Then he asked Bono about the new partnership between RIM and one of the biggest rock acts on the planet, which the Waterloo, Ont.-based company announced in a routine press release just two days earlier.
"I'm very excited about this," Bono told Mr. Cross about the RIM deal. "Research In Motion is going to give us what Apple wouldn't — access to their labs and their people so we can do something really spectacular."
Mr. Cross couldn't believe his ears. Was RIM working on a special U2 application that would help the band interact with fans as part of its "U2 360" tour?
"You're not far off," Bono said, before slipping away into the crowd.
And why was Mr. Cross getting the real story — that U2 was tapping RIM's engineers — from the music icon himself rather than the company that stands to benefit the most from the deal?
Therein lies the latest challenge for RIM as it weathers the recession and looks to its next phase of growth. An engineering and design wunderkind, the BlackBerry now needs a brand image and strategy that reach the masses. Or to use co-founder Jim Balsillie's baseball analogy for RIM — "there's two down in the second" — it's time to think about the middle innings.
IT'S ABOUT THE BRAND
RIM realizes its future hinges on winning consumers over to the BlackBerry. The company has taken several leads from Apple, the king of consumer technology, that go beyond winning the affections of one of the world's greatest rock stars. RIM has recently introduced touch-screen technology with the BlackBerry Storm and an online store for games and software known as App World, similar to what Apple has already perfected for using with the iPhone. But RIM has yet to attempt what Apple does best: sell its brand to consumers.
Experts warn that if RIM doesn't quickly fire up a global marketing machine of its own, the company will be pushed to the wayside by bigger brands such as Apple, Google and Microsoft and will be forgotten by the fickle consumer.
"RIM has every right and ability to take on Apple. It's not the same as Apple, nor should it be. But RIM should have greater confidence," said Geoffrey Roche, chief creative officer of Toronto ad agency Lowe Roche, who has done some work for the company. "They have every right to be seen as sexy."
RIM has ridden the coattails of U.S. President Barack Obama, a self-confessed Berry addict, and is spending big dollars to back U2's global concert tour. But for the most part, even as it expanded its reach from CEOs to soccer moms, RIM has left marketing responsibilities to the phone companies that sell its devices. The result is a "schizophrenic message" that will not survive the overwhelming marketing forces of the Apple brand, or those of other emerging competitors, Mr. Roche said.
"The thinking needs to change. They have an immense opportunity. RIM has not made any mistakes. They have never positioned themselves poorly. We're not sitting here with General Motors," he said.
RIM's marketing expenses have rocketed in recent quarters, as the company begins to emerge from the shadows. To broaden its consumer appeal it is running a TV ad campaign dubbed "Life on BlackBerry," which features a handset constructed of everyday items such as a soccer ball, vacation photos and music speakers, to suggest how BlackBerry touches all aspects of people's lives. The company was a major sponsor of the Major League Baseball playoffs in the United States last year. And it has expanded product distribution beyond phone companies to major retailers such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.
THE CONSUMER SPACE
RIM initially created the BlackBerry to serve customers in business and government. But over the past decade, as those markets became saturated and competitors crashed the scene, it has made a radical shift to the consumer space.
Two and a half years ago, it began its march down Main Street with the BlackBerry Pearl, a sleek, candy bar-shaped phone with camera and music player.
Analysts were initially concerned that the company's new emphasis on consumers would erode the fat profit margins it enjoys with its corporate clients, since the consumer market is typically characterized by lower profitability, higher marketing costs and pressure to respond to rapidly shifting tastes.
This week, co-chief executive officer Jim Balsillie revealed that RIM's assault on the consumer market is in full force, telling analysts that consumers now comprise half of its customer base, which more than doubled last year to about 25 million. On Thursday, RIM reported record profits and growth in subscribers, 70 per cent of which came from the consumer market. The stock climbed 19.4 per cent, regaining much of what it had lost since it was hit by the recession.
It's hard to argue with that kind of success, which generated $11.1-billion (U.S.) of global sales last year, up from $3-billion just two years ago. Marketing experts say RIM is in the enviable position of "product-driven" success. But long-term viability demands that it dramatically increase its global scale, something that will require better branding and marketing.
Apple, which has a much broader product line than RIM, is outspending its Canadian rival on marketing by as much as five to one, said Rob Enderle, president of the Enderle Group, a technology advisory firm in San Jose, Calif.
What will happen if RIM doesn't change its thinking? "They will get left behind," Mr. Roche said. "I think there is a window, but it's not a monstrous window. Look at all the great companies gone by the wayside because they didn't get their message to consumers."
STEALTH MARKETING
The significance of RIM's partnership with U2 should not be underestimated. Not only does it strike a direct blow at Apple, but brings one of the most business-savvy entertainers to RIM's team.
Mr. Cross, the disc jockey, remembers having a long conversation with Bono five years ago shortly after the band made a pact with Apple. Bono's image was used on iPod packaging and advertising while Apple built a U2 iPod.
"He gave me this long and very eloquent answer about how launching an album and launching a tour was very expensive and that a band or a record label can't necessarily do it on their own," said Mr. Cross, who is also a senior program director for Corus Interactive and Integrated Solutions. "He said, 'We need to find partners who will help us get the word out about what we're doing and we will work with partners who will create objects or devices or offer services that we really believe in.'" But there is more to building a global brand than building great partnerships, and RIM's approach to communications is still more stealth than storefront.
On its website, for example, the company plainly states that information about its marketing plan "cannot be disclosed to the public." RIM's marketing executives could not be reached for comment for this story.
Ann Nurock, president and CEO of Grey Canada, RIM's ad agency, politely declined to discuss her work with RIM. "Only RIM themselves can comment."
In contrast, Apple is known for creating and managing its own image of coolness. The company is secretive, but its marketing is not. It is well-known, for example, that for years, chief executive officer Steve Jobs has included creative agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, and the firm's global director, Lee Clow, in Apple's critical business decisions.
In the long term, the key to winning this smart-phone market will be about more than simply branding and adding consumers. Buyers are fickle and the day's trendy device can be outdated in a matter of months, Mr. Enderle said.
Instead, the race will be won by the company that can build scale fastest — and that favours Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. over either Apple or RIM, he said.
"The quality gap between devices will eventually close," Mr. Enderle said. "The more people you have building, marketing and selling your product the more successful you will be. Then it just becomes a matter of resources."
Google has five manufacturers lined up to build phones for its Android software platform, and both Google and Microsoft have the resources to buy the loyalty of the phone companies, the kingmakers who provide access to the market. Developers always follow the money, Mr. Enderle noted.
So far, more than 100,000 developers have downloaded the necessary software to build applications that run on BlackBerry devices. But RIM is playing catch-up in this field and until it opened the online app store this week it lacked a cohesive strategy for third-party BlackBerry software.
Although Mr. Balsillie was fond of trumpeting various corporate applications coming from partner companies such as Facebook or Slacker Radio, it wasn't until Apple created a consumer sensation with its own App Store that RIM recognized the need to create a single destination where users could purchase and download their own software to customize their devices.
CASHING IN ON A NAME
Research shows that when people buy a car, they pay more attention to ads after the purchase to justify their expense and make themselves feel good. RIM might need to think along those lines, too.
"There's a wonderful coolness quotient to Apple's work," Mr. Roche said. "There's a need for RIM to be there as well. There's a need for people to feel a great sense of confidence that they got the coolest product out there, and that they are a master of the universe by virtue of the fact."
The question remains whether RIM can cash in on U2's rock star cachet, and whether BlackBerry can emerge as more than the consummate mobile business tool to capture the attention of a generation of potential customers who grew up on cellphones, MySpace and iTunes.
"We used to hold up lighters [at rock concerts]. Now we hold up cellphones," Mr. Cross said. "What's going to happen if U2 can, from the stage, instantaneously communicate to each individual person? What form is that interactivity going to take? Are you going to give them a song, are you going to give them a code, are you going to give them an opportunity to text to a screen or meet each other?"
RIM engineers are probably working on some of those questions right now. Once they work it out, the company may need to borrow a line from Bono and elevate itself yet again.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
The two of you are like two peas in a pod...
Both Popmart and Elevation were sponsored by MTV and Vh1... go read your tickets.
RIM isn't going anywhere... blackberry shits on the iPhone
thehomecomingsort
The Fly
Insane
This.list.is.nuts.
Note to RIM -- don't forget your R&D department while you're jizzing over your partnership with U2.
Even if you get your foot in the door with a new demographic (which you may with this tour)....
1. Your app store, started last week, sucks. Nowhere close to Apple app store on launch.
2. You open your platform to U2 but not developers?!!!!!
Until you open more of your OS to developers (as Apple has), you're just going to have prettier icons. For the sake of argument, let's say that Apple goofed in their relationship with U2. Having U2 in your corner doesn't bring you better apps (outside of some potentially unique in-concert SMS/MMS/BBM treat to 360 tour attendees). No good apps = lower quality user experience = less brand loyalty.
3. Ummmm... how often do you see a BB owner listening to fav. podcast or downloading a new audio/video release? It's a tedious process. You could argue... "well that's Apple's turf, RIM's focus is on quality of service and corporate communications." To which I ask... then why is RIM forging a partnership with U2?
BOTTOM LINE: RIM, don't get too comfy in bed with U2. Elevation Partners' infusion of cash into Palm Pre development may have given them an edge over your currently clunky java-os. If you stray too far from your current core strengths, Apple and Palm will be the jackals making rounds around your tribe. Being hyper-cautious about your IP rights in your relationship with U2 (as evidenced by your domain name purchases) won't protect the herd from predators when they're hungry.
I wish BB luck and applaud the foray into a new demographic. You, RIM, are a long way from being remotely competitive with Apple in the mobile media world. Bonne Chance, though! Your efforts will foster competition and keep Apple watching their backs.
This.list.is.nuts.
Note to RIM -- don't forget your R&D department while you're jizzing over your partnership with U2.
Even if you get your foot in the door with a new demographic (which you may with this tour)....
1. Your app store, started last week, sucks. Nowhere close to Apple app store on launch.
2. You open your platform to U2 but not developers?!!!!!
Until you open more of your OS to developers (as Apple has), you're just going to have prettier icons. For the sake of argument, let's say that Apple goofed in their relationship with U2. Having U2 in your corner doesn't bring you better apps (outside of some potentially unique in-concert SMS/MMS/BBM treat to 360 tour attendees). No good apps = lower quality user experience = less brand loyalty.3. Ummmm... how often do you see a BB owner listening to fav. podcast or downloading a new audio/video release? It's a tedious process. You could argue... "well that's Apple's turf, RIM's focus is on quality of service and corporate communications." To which I ask... then why is RIM forging a partnership with U2?
BOTTOM LINE: RIM, don't get too comfy in bed with U2. Elevation Partners' infusion of cash into Palm Pre development may have given them an edge over your currently clunky java-os. If you stray too far from your current core strengths, Apple and Palm will be the jackals making rounds around your tribe. Being hyper-cautious about your IP rights in your relationship with U2 (as evidenced by your domain name purchases) won't protect the herd from predators when they're hungry.
I wish BB luck and applaud the foray into a new demographic. You, RIM, are a long way from being remotely competitive with Apple in the mobile media world. Bonne Chance, though! Your efforts will foster competition and keep Apple watching their backs.
VintagePunk
Blue Crack Distributor
My daughter literally lives across the street from RIM, when she's at school. I took her back there today, and told her that while I was there, I should go over to the RIM offices and demand that they tell me wtf happened to all the Tor1 GAs. She was all "um, okay...but could you drop me off at my place first?" 
U2Fanatic4ever
Blue Crack Addict
Hallucination
Refugee
That would be absolute bullshit if those who owned a Blackberry got preferential treatment on the lottery. Worst idea ever.
I think the other stuff you mentioend is pretty cool like having your tickets on there and stuff but there is no way in hell anyone should get concert perks based on the choices they make in their personal life. What phone I choose to use is my business and my seat at a U2 conecrt should not be effected by it in any way shape or form.
I find it interesting though that for last album U2 had their big deal with Apple and the ipod and now they're with Blackberry. weird.
bonoishot
Protecting my eyes ARRRR!!!
I have an iPhone.
I love my iPhone
I would never switch to a BB no matter what you will get on this tour out of it.
Go VP. 
They'd ever do that. There would be alot of very angry, unhappy fans if they did.I will admit having the concert ticket n the BB is a good idea. I wouldn't even have one if it was offered to me though. Just doesn't appeal to me.
This.list.is.nuts.
Note to RIM -- don't forget your R&D department while you're jizzing over your partnership with U2.
Even if you get your foot in the door with a new demographic (which you may with this tour)....
1. Your app store, started last week, sucks. Nowhere close to Apple app store on launch.
2. You open your platform to U2 but not developers?!!!!!
3. Ummmm... how often do you see a BB owner listening to fav. podcast or downloading a new audio/video release? It's a tedious process. You could argue... "well that's Apple's turf, RIM's focus is on quality of service and corporate communications." To which I ask... then why is RIM forging a partnership with U2?
BOTTOM LINE: RIM, don't get too comfy in bed with U2. Elevation Partners' infusion of cash into Palm Pre development may have given them an edge over your currently clunky java-os. If you stray too far from your current core strengths, Apple and Palm will be the jackals making rounds around your tribe. Being hyper-cautious about your IP rights in your relationship with U2 (as evidenced by your domain name purchases) won't protect the herd from predators when they're hungry.
I wish BB luck and applaud the foray into a new demographic. You, RIM, are a long way from being remotely competitive with Apple in the mobile media world. Bonne Chance, though! Your efforts will foster competition and keep Apple watching their backs.
what, like everything apple did worked wonderfuly when the iPhone first launched? the apple's ap store is great because it's been around for a while... BB's ap world isn't very good right now, agreed 100%. but it's been open for a week... give it some time.
also... the multimedia capabilities of the bold and the storm are much easier as compared to previous models, and will be even easier on future models.
will the blackberry every top apple as far as music and movies go? no. never.
but the iPhone will never completely take over BB's market, and the two will compete for years... which is great for us, because the more competition there is, the better products we'll get and the better deals will be available.
frankly... a good friend of mine has the iPhone, and has a ton of aps, and the battery dies on that shit twice as fast as it does on my blackberry
thehomecomingsort
The Fly
true dat
BWU2Buffs
War Child
BlackBerry MIA?
Since this is the first time U2's had an official, commercial sponsor, I certainly expected a bit more on the marketing front from BlackBerry. Just a few days before the tour starts and not even a peep, or so it seems, at least in the USA / Midwest?
What gives?
Did you expect more?
Is this the calm before the storm?
Even the BlackBerry site is quiet, not that I did a lot of digging, but I was expecting at least a reference to the tour on their home page.
The only thing that makes sense: I thought their latest device was the "Storm" -- the website features, at the top of the product list, the new BlackBerry Tour -- which, duh, fits with a concert tour sponsorship.
BlackBerry - Tour – BlackBerry 9630 Smartphones – RIM Tour
Discuss.
Since this is the first time U2's had an official, commercial sponsor, I certainly expected a bit more on the marketing front from BlackBerry. Just a few days before the tour starts and not even a peep, or so it seems, at least in the USA / Midwest?
What gives?
Did you expect more?
Is this the calm before the storm?
Even the BlackBerry site is quiet, not that I did a lot of digging, but I was expecting at least a reference to the tour on their home page.
The only thing that makes sense: I thought their latest device was the "Storm" -- the website features, at the top of the product list, the new BlackBerry Tour -- which, duh, fits with a concert tour sponsorship.
BlackBerry - Tour – BlackBerry 9630 Smartphones – RIM Tour
Discuss.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Have any of your previous tour tickets read "Presented by MTV/Vh1"? Because mine have, how is this not having commercial sponsorship? And I don't think they did anything much differently than what I'm seeing now...
BWU2Buffs
War Child
No such mentions on any of my hard ticket stubs from 3 Vertigo shows.
And, I could be imagining, I thought there was some discussion on these boards about how it felt different and BlackBerry seemed a bit more dominant out of the gate in the early publicity / ticket sales.
Dunno -- just seems like either BB did not pay much, or they paid a lot and are waiting to pounce -- hard to tell.
And, I could be imagining, I thought there was some discussion on these boards about how it felt different and BlackBerry seemed a bit more dominant out of the gate in the early publicity / ticket sales.
Dunno -- just seems like either BB did not pay much, or they paid a lot and are waiting to pounce -- hard to tell.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
My tickets since PopMart have all been "sponsored by MTV"...
phommel
Refugee
they just got more money from them compared to iPod
ouizy
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Has anyone here herd of money laundering?
Bono makes money selling albums.
Bono invests said money in Elevation partners.
Elevation partners pumps said money into RIM (of which they are a partial owner.)
RIM reports said money as substantial liquidity filling its coffers.
RIM stock price goes up.
RIM announces sponsorship of 360 tour.
RIM pumps said money, plus interest, plus gain in market into 360 tour.
Money n+1 is back in Bono's pocket.
They might as well have said 360 tour sponsored by Ali.
Bono makes money selling albums.
Bono invests said money in Elevation partners.
Elevation partners pumps said money into RIM (of which they are a partial owner.)
RIM reports said money as substantial liquidity filling its coffers.
RIM stock price goes up.
RIM announces sponsorship of 360 tour.
RIM pumps said money, plus interest, plus gain in market into 360 tour.
Money n+1 is back in Bono's pocket.
They might as well have said 360 tour sponsored by Ali.
U2dork
Rock n' Roll Doggie
So, what's a mobile album? Live album? eta: ok, so maybe not so much "album" as live stuff...?
BlackBerry - BlackBerry Loves U2
BlackBerry - BlackBerry Loves U2
jon_lemire
Acrobat
I just saw the commercial too. Looked very cool. Hopefully it gets lots of play in the coming weeks. You can also see it here:
BlackBerry - BlackBerry Loves U2
BlackBerry - BlackBerry Loves U2
gvox
Ghost of Love
That scenario, even if 100% accurate, does not constitute money laundering and it's a bit oversimplified. There's nothing wrong with increasing stock value by forming lucrative alliances.
It's not even a conflict of interest, as Bono's not an elected official.
discothequeLP
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
i saw this commercial in a movie theater the other day. "blackberry loves u2" or some bs like that.
