RIM Releases Rosy 2011 Financial Report

Research in Motion just posted its fourth quarter results for fiscal 2011, and things are looking good for the Canadian smartphone and mobile device company. "Growth" appears to be the buzzword for the moment, as RIM showed a 43% growth from 2010 for shipments in the booming smartphone market, a 33% growth in revenue, and a 47% growth in earnings per share.

However, its shareholders may not have seen things through such rose-tinted glasses, as share values slid some 10% according to a report over at Engadget. It will be interesting to see how RIM intends to hold onto its impressive 10% share over the global smartphone market in the face of increasingly fierce competition from the likes of Android and iOS devices, which have both grown impressively in recent years.

Sources: RIM Press Release, Engadget

Sprint Announces Nexus S 4G for Spring

Sprint's next big device for its 4G push, which started last summer with the introduction of the EVO 4G, will come in the form of an upgraded Nexus S. Meet the Nexus S 4G by Samsung. It appears to be essentially the same as the GSM Nexus S sold exclusively by Best Buy, with the exception of the switch to CDMA and the addition of the 4G WiMax radio.

The handset will ship with the vanilla build of Android 2.3, including WiMax hotspot capability for up to six devices at once and integrated Google Voice, allowing the user to route his or her actual cell phone number through the Google Voice service. All the features and perks of the previous Nexus S are retained, including its Super AMOLED display, first dibs on Android updates, the 1 GHz "Hummingbird" CPU and a dedicated PowerVR GPU.

Source: Sprint