RIM shares dive as fee changes catch market off guard

Shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd plunged more than 20 percent on Friday on fears that a new fee structure for its high-margin services segment could put pressure on the business that has set the company apart from its competitors.
It was the stock's biggest, single-day, percentage price drop since September 2008. But shares were still nearly 80 percent above the year's low, which was reached in September. They started to rally in November as investors began to bet that RIM's long-awaited new BlackBerry 10 phones, which will be unveiled in January, would turn the company around.
The services segment has long been RIM's most profitable and accounts for about a third of total revenue. Some analysts said there was a risk that the fee changes could endanger its service ecosystem and leave the Canadian company as just another handset maker.
The fee changes, which RIM announced on Thursday after market close, overshadowed stronger-than-expected quarterly results. The company said the new pricing structure would be introduced with the BlackBerry 10 launch, expected on January 30.
RIM said some subscribers would continue to pay for enhanced services such as advanced security. But under the new structure, some other services would account for less revenue, or even none at all.
Chief Executive Thorsten Heins tried to reassure investors in a television interview with CNBC on Friday, saying RIM's "service revenue isn't going away".
He added: "We're not stopping. We're not halting. We're transitioning."
Since taking over at RIM in January, Heins has focused on shrinking the company and getting it ready to introduce its new BB10 devices, which RIM says will help it claw back ground it has lost to competitors such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.
But the new services pricing strategy came as a shock to markets, and some analysts cut their price targets on RIM stock.
RIM will not be able to sustain profitability by relying on its hardware business alone, said National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson, whom Thomson Reuters StarMine has rated the top RIM analyst based on the accuracy of his estimates of the company's earnings.
Thompson downgraded RIM's stock to "underperform" from "sector perform" and cut his price target to $10 from $15.
Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said the move was likely about stabilizing market share: "At the moment, they need to stem the bleeding."
He said the tiered pricing might line up better with RIM's subscriber base as it expands in emerging economies.
RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares closed down 22.7 percent at $10.91 on Friday. The stock fell 22.2 percent to C$10.86 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH
The success of the BB10 will be crucial to the future of RIM, which on Thursday posted its first-ever decline in total subscribers. Heins said on CNBC that the company expected to ship millions of the new devices.
He cautioned that this will require heavy investment, which will reduce RIM's cash position in its fourth and first quarters from $2.9 billion in its fiscal third quarter. He said, however, it would not go below $2 billion.
Still, doubts remain about whether RIM can pull off the transformation. Needham analyst Charlie Wolf said the BB10 would have to look meaningfully superior to its competitors for RIM to stage a comeback.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said it was highly unlikely that the market would support RIM's new mobile computing ecosystem, and he remained skeptical about the company's ability to survive on its own.
"We believe RIM will eventually need to sell the company," said Walkley, who cut his price target on RIM shares to $9 from $10.
Baird Equity Research analysts said BB10 faced a daunting uphill battle against products from Apple, as well as those using Google Inc's Android operating system, and, increasingly, phones with Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 operating system.
Baird maintained its "underperform" rating on the stock, while Paradigm Capital downgraded the shares to "hold" from "buy" on uncertainty around the services revenue model.
"RIM has gone from having one major aspect of uncertainty - BlackBerry 10 adoption - to two, given an uncertain floor on services revenue," William Blair analyst Anil Doradla said.
RIM will have to discount BB10 devices significantly to maintain demand, Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said.
The BlackBerry, however, still offers the security features that helped it build its reputation with big business and government, a selling point with some key customers.
Credit Suisse maintained its "neutral" rating on the stock, but not because it expected BB10 to be a big success.
"Only the potential for an outright sale of the company or a breakup keeps us at a neutral," Credit Suisse analysts said.
Separately on Friday, ailing Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia said it had settled its patent dispute with RIM in return for payments.

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TSX ends flat as RIM buckles, gold miners bounce

 Canada's main stock index ended little changed on Friday as gold miners gained on safe-haven buying amid U.S. budget uncertainty, while BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd plunged more than 20 percent.
The index's materials sector, which includes miners, rose 0.4 percent. Even though the price of gold was near its lowest level in four months, the gold-mining sub-sector added 0.9 percent as investors fretted over stalled U.S. budget talks that could throw Canada's largest trading partner back into recession.
"As our tiptoes are over the (U.S.) fiscal cliff and we're looking over the abyss, the markets are upset obviously, and this is sort of putting a damper on the stocks," said John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada.
"But we've had a mixed reaction in Canada, mainly because the resources have been much better, like gold for example, which is hedging into the uncertainty (around the budget talks)," he said, noting gold miners had been under pressure for the last two weeks.
Miner Barrick Gold Corp edged up 0.2 percent to C$33.29. Centerra Gold Inc jumped more than 3 percent to C$9.10.
Gold miners are playing catch-up after underperforming throughout the year and could rise further in 2013, said Gavin Graham, president at Graham Investment Strategy.
Shares of RIM dropped 22.2 percent to C$10.86 on fears that a new fee structure for its high-margin services segment could put pressure on the business that has set the company apart from its competitors.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> fell 3.01 points, or 0.02 percent, to end at 12,385.70. It gained 0.7 percent for the week.
Efforts to avoid the looming U.S. "fiscal cliff" were thrown into disarray on Friday with finger-pointing lawmakers fleeing Washington for Christmas vacations even as the year-end deadline for action edged ever closer.
Graham said that until a deal is reached in the U.S. budget talks, investors will avoid economically sensitive Canadian stocks and those most closely tied to the U.S. economy: auto parts manufacturers, forestry companies and resource stocks generally.
"The resource sectors in Canada, which is half of the index, is going to be adversely affected, correctly or not," he said.

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First photos of BlackBerry 10 ‘N-Series’ QWERTY smartphone leak

As Research In Motion (RIMM) begins its attempt to mount a comeback for the ages in 2013, it will place its early hopes on two high-end smartphones. The first is the BlackBerry Z10, and we’ve already seen it in a number of leaks. The second is a QWERTY-equipped touchscreen phone similar to the current BlackBerry Bold 9900, and it has just been pictured for the first time in photos published by Chinese blog cnBeta.com. No additional information accompanied the photos, however earlier reports stated that the smartphone will include a 720 x 720-pixel display with a pixel density of 330 ppi. Another image of the BlackBerry 10-powered N-Series phone follows below.

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Fifth-gen iPad reportedly due in March along with Retina iPad mini

Rumors that a second-generation iPad mini with a Retina display is set to launch ahead of Apple’s typical annual schedule next year have been swirling, and now it appears Apple’s (AAPL) full-size iPad may be sticking to its new semiannual release schedule. According to a report from Japanese blog Makotakra that cites an anonymous “inside source,” Apple plans to launch a new thinner, lighter 9.7-inch iPad as soon as March 2013. The fourth iPad model was just released last month alongside the iPad mini, but March was also suggested in recent Retina iPad mini rumors. Makotakra states that the new iPad will adopt styling queues from the current iPad mini model, unifying the look of Apple’s larger tablet with the iPad mini and iPhone 5.

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Find room for God in fast-paced world, pope says on Christmas eve

Pope Benedict, leading the world's Roman Catholics into Christmas, on Monday urged people to find room for God in their fast-paced lives filled with the latest technological gadgets.
The 85-year-old pope, marking the eighth Christmas season of his pontificate, celebrated a solemn Christmas Eve mass in St Peter's Basilica, during which he appealed for a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and an end to the civil war in Syria.
At the mass for some 10,000 people in the basilica and broadcast to millions of others on television, the pope wove his homily around the theme of God's place in today's modern world.
"Do we have time and space for him? Do we not actually turn away God himself? We begin to do so when we have no time for him," said the pope, wearing gold and white vestments.
"The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent. Our time is already completely full," he said.
The leader of the world's some 1.2 billion Roman Catholics said societies had reached the point where many people's thinking processes did not leave any room even for the existence of God.
"Even if he seems to knock at the door of our thinking, he has to be explained away. If thinking is to be taken seriously, it must be structured in such a way that the 'God hypothesis' becomes superfluous," he said.
"There is no room for him. Not even in our feelings and desires is there any room for him. We want ourselves. We want what we can seize hold of, we want happiness that is within our reach, we want our plans and purposes to succeed. We are so 'full' of ourselves that there is no room left for God."
PEACE CANDLE
Bells inside and outside the basilica chimed when the pope said "Glory to God in the Highest," the words the gospels say the angels sang at the moment of Jesus' birth.
Earlier on Monday the pope appeared at the window of his apartments in the apostolic palace and lit a peace candle, as a larger-than-life nativity scene was unveiled in St Peter's Square below.
Reflecting on the gospel account of Jesus born in a stable because there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn, he said when people find no room for God in their lives, they will soon find no room for others.
"Let us ask the Lord that we may become vigilant for his presence, that we may hear how softly yet insistently he knocks at the door of our being and willing.
"Let us ask that we may make room for him within ourselves, that we may recognise him also in those through whom he speaks to us: children, the suffering, the abandoned, those who are excluded and the poor of this world," he said.
He asked for prayers for the people who "live and suffer" in the Holy Land today.
The pope called for peace among Israelis and Palestinians and for the people of Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and prayed that "Christians in those lands where our faith was born may be able to continue living there, that Christians and Muslims may build up their countries side-by-side in God's peace."
The Vatican is concerned about the exodus from the Middle East of Christians, many of whom leave because they fear for their safety. Christians now comprise five percent of the population of the region, down from 20 percent a century ago.
According to some estimates, the current population of 12 million Christians in the Middle East could halve by 2020 if security and birth rates continue to decline.
At noon (1100 GMT/6 AM ET) the pope will deliver his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing and message from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica.

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The arduous art of the chocolate taster

First study the colour, then the nose, the structure and taste: as for any good wine, tasting chocolate is both a treat and a serious art, requiring regular practice to fine-tune the senses.
And who better to offer a lesson in chocolate tasting than Pierre Herme, the French master pastry chef?
"You start by looking at the texture," he explained at a recent tasting organised in Paris by the "Chocolate Crunchers' Club" -- a 150-strong fellowship created three decades ago to celebrate a common passion for the cocoa bean.
"I rough it up a bit first -- crushing it to test its resistance," Herme said, pressing a blade onto various parts of the chocolate bonbon on his plate.
Then comes the time to taste, paying close heed to "intensity, acidity, the lightness of the texture, the finish" -- how the flavour lingers after each mouthful -- "and for flavoured chocolates the balance between the chosen aroma and the chocolate itself."
Without forgetting the most important of all: "pleasure."
Five times a year the club's members gather around some of France's top artisans to taste all manner of cocoa-based treats -- from truffle bars to mousses, biscuits, patisseries and ice creams.
The ritual is always the same: each taster needs a small knife, a glass of water and some bread to cleanse the palate.
"The knife is essential, especially for chocolate bonbons," explained Claude Lebey, the doyen of French food critics and one of the founders of the club, gathered for the occasion in a Paris mansion.
"You have to slice the sweets in two, to see the thickness of the coating. It should offer resistance, but should not be too thick either, or it stops you from tasting what is inside."
Lebey confesses to keeping chocolate stashed away in various corners of his apartment so he can indulge in a quick nibble at any moment.
"Hmm, the coffee in this one is dosed just right," he mused approvingly, sucking on a bonbon named "Brasilia", created by Jean-Paul Hevin -- a star Parisian chocolatier with his own stores in Japan and Hong Kong.
"It's a dark chocolate ganache, but I added a bit of milk to bring out the scent of the coffee," explained Hevin, who uses ground coffee from Colombia and Brazil -- rather than instant as is often the case.
The club's expert crunchers sample another bonbon, this one flavoured with Earl Grey tea.
"The bergamot could be a little more pronounced," reckoned one taster. "Yes -- but that's risky, bergamot will easily crush any other flavour," tempered another.
For Hevin, "getting the right dose between different flavours is particularly difficult, it takes months of work."
"Most often I will put the accent on the chocolate, above any other flavour."
But sometimes, on a smoked tea bonbon for instance, he does the opposite: "I am a big tea fan, so on this one I pulled out the stops so you can really taste it. I wanted something more powerful, more virile.

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One Big Reason Not to Rush into Early Retirement

You might want to think twice about retiring early.  That’s because, new research has shown a link between early retirement and premature death.
Research by Andreas Kuhn, Jean-Philippe Wuellrich and Josef Zweimüller found that men, in particular, had an increased risk of death before age 67 when they retired early. To prove this, the researchers looked at a group of blue-collar workers from Austria, born between 1929 and 1941.
"We find that a reduction in the retirement age causes a significant increase in the risk of premature death for males, but not for females," the research said. "The effect for males is not only statistically significant but also quantitatively important. According to our estimates, one additional year of early retirement causes an increase in the risk of premature death of 2.4 percentage points (a relative increase of about 13.4 percent, or 1.8 months in terms of years of life lost)."
[10 Easy Paths to Self Destruction]
According to the research, this can be attributed to negative health habits of people during retirement.  These habits, which include smoking, drinking, unhealthy diet and limited exercise, contribute to 78 percent of casual retirement deaths, while smoking and drinking alone result in 32 percent of casual retirement deaths.
"Our results also suggest that preventive health policies should be targeted to (early) retirees," the research said. "Policies that induce individuals to adopt healthy (or avoid unhealthy) behaviors may have disproportionately positive health consequences for workers who (are about to) permanently withdraw from the labor market.

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Spring/Summer hair trends: five new looks to try

Spring/Summer hair doesn't just have to mean tousled waves or blonde highlights, so take inspiration from the Spring/Summer 2012 catwalk shows and experiment with candy color or victory rolls.
Slicked back
Get the hair gel at the ready because slicked-back styles were all over the Spring/Summer 2012 runways, with everyone from Victoria Beckham to Mugler embracing the mullet-influenced style. Labels including Giambattista Valli, Rebecca Taylor, BCBG Max Azria and Viktor & Rolf also kept tresses smoothed off the forehead for a streamlined and almost futuristic look.
Candy color
Hair color has got bold for this season, with candy colors including purple and pink replacing classic springtime looks such as ombré tresses or beachy blondes. During the Spring/Summer 2012 shows labels including Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez and Thakoon showcased the trend, with the latter painting models locks blue, orange, purple or pink. Models at DSquared2 had pink streaks in their hair, while Peter Som livened up blonde locks with orange strands. Celebrities have taken to the trend too, with Katy Perry and January Jones just some of the big names reaching for the dye.
Retro quiffs
Having already made an impact during the Fall/Winter season, the quiff has confirmed its staying power and will be back for Spring/Summer 2012 after showing up at shows from the likes of Limi Feu and Rochas. While a retro aesthetic dominated at many presentations, Haider Ackerman showcased punkier varieties and Ohne Titel worked the trend for shorter styles. Meanwhile, Jean Paul Gaultier championed the victory roll for a perfect pin-up look.
Futuristic up dos
Cone-shaped chignons offered an interesting new silhouette at the Spring/Summer 2012 shows, with Rochas, Narciso Rodriguez and Issey Miyake all sculpting long locks into the most streamlined of shapes which had a science fiction feel. Meanwhile, exaggerated silhouettes were seen at Fendi with its "fobs" (faux bobs), and Diane von Furstenberg embraced dramatic beehives. Be warned: these styles require plenty of hairspray and close attention to detail.
Experimental braids
Braids were one of the most popular up-do styles on the Spring/Summer 2012 runways, whether in messy fishtail form at Michael Kors or sleek at Peter Pilotto and Danielle Scutt. Low slung braids were seen at Ashish, while romantic plaits were wrapped around the head at Moschino and Valentino. Stars including Dianna Agron have been seen working the fishtail headband trend on the red carpet recently, while Jennifer Lawrence's The Hunger Games alter ego Katniss Everdeen's side French braid has become the subject of numerous YouTube tutorials.

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US late-night host Conan O'Brien shares his workout playlist

This week, famed American late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien shared his favorite music for staying motivated in the gym.
While not known for his rock-hard gym body, O'Brien is a fitness fan and music lover, and he released his top 16 playlist of gym-friendly tunes as part of his weekly series for streaming service Rdio's Guest DJ.

Here is Conan's playlist or in certain countries, stream it here at Rdio.

1. Vampire Weekend, "A-Punk"
2. The Dovells, "You Can't Sit Down"
3. Cheap Trick, "Dream Police"
4. The Raconteurs, "Steady, As She Goes"
5. Jay-Z, "99 Problems"
6. The Police, "So Lonely"
7. Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
8. Ronnie Hawkins, "Forty Days"
9. The Who, "The Real Me"
10. Naughty by Nature, "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"
11. Thin Lizzy, "The Boys Are Back in Town"
12. The Brian Setzer Orchestra, "Jump Jive An' Wail"
13. Electric Six, "Danger! High Voltage (Soulchild Radio Mix)"
14. Green Day, "Basket Case"
15. Boz Scaggs, "Lido Shuffle"
16. Elvis Presley, "Promised Land"

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The Challenges of Launching an Encore Career

Many people dream about launching a second career in a field they have always wanted to try. But the transition into an encore career can be a long and costly process.
Most people earn a significantly lower amount of money (43 percent) or no money at all (24 percent) during the transition from one job to the next, according to a recent MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures survey conducted by Penn Schoen Berland. The online survey of 253 adults between ages 44 and 70 who are currently in encore careers found that over half (57 percent) of these older workers had to tap their personal savings to make ends meet during the transition.
"That transition is not necessarily a very easy or a sure thing," says Jim Emerman, executive vice president of Civic Ventures. "The financial hardship of the transition, while not really surprising, really jumped out at us as one of the big challenges."
It often takes a significant amount of time for older workers to launch second careers. Three quarters of the survey respondents currently in encore careers experienced an employment gap of longer than 6 months. And a third (34 percent) of these older workers were unemployed for two or more years before they found another job. Some people used that time to volunteer (23 percent) or retrain by taking college courses (20 percent).
When Lisa Roger, 53, a former software engineering project director, was laid off in 2009, she faced a substantial reduction in income for about 14 months. She had to use her savings, collect unemployment benefits, and sign up for COBRA continuing health coverage to make ends meet. During the transition she participated in the Encore Hartford program in Storrs, Conn., a fellowship that helps experienced professionals transition to the nonprofit sector. She eventually found a new job as a family self-sufficiency services manager for the Norwalk Housing Authority. "Today I don't make nearly the salary that I did as a software engineer and I am ok with that," Roger says. "The work is incredibility rewarding. I know I am making a difference." The new job has caused her to reevaluate her retirement plans. "I used to feel that I was going to retire at a really early age, before 65," Roger says. "The career that I am in now, I see myself going beyond that because it is so rewarding."
Older workers are motivated to make a career change by a variety of financial and personal reasons. Insufficient income (28 percent) and inadequate savings (25 percent) were among the top reasons for making the switch. But realizing that some lifetime goals have yet to be fulfilled (28 percent) and a desire to make a bigger difference in the world (21 percent) also play a large role in decisions to move on to something new. Sometimes the transition is sparked by health problems (15 percent), an empty nest (11 percent), or hitting a specific age such as 50 (12 percent). Some people also speak of a spiritual calling into a new line of work (12 percent).
Most people switched into new jobs at for-profit businesses (22 percent) or nonprofit organizations (20 percent). Education (19 Percent), health care (15 percent), and government agencies (6 percent) are also popular second career choices. "Some people will work longer in their current jobs, whatever they are, and other people will want a change," says Emerman. Often the new job comes with shorter hours and a more flexible schedule. People in encore careers work an average of 30.5 hours per week, the Civic Ventures survey found.
Almost half of people who made a career change (47 percent) did so between ages 50 and 59. Only 3 percent of those surveyed changed careers at age 60 or older. The typical person in an encore career expects to continue working for an average of another 11 years and eventually retire at an average age of 69. They have an average of 24 years of work experience.
Many individuals need to keep working for the income (69 percent) and benefits (30 percent). Other people launch second careers to stay active and productive (58 percent), pursue a new challenge (6 percent), and because they simply enjoy the work (31 percent). Some older workers also want to give something back by helping others in the community (35 percent) and staying involved with other people (19 percent).
"People are living much longer and they are healthier, and so they want to stay engaged. People need and want and are able to work longer," says Emerman. "If people are out of work now or worried about their current job, the idea of a next career that combines continued financial security with personal satisfaction and something that they are passionate about is very strong."

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