BlackBerry is making a big bet in launching a new smartphone that features the physical keyboard adored by loyal consumers. The phone is expected to be a low-cost version of the BlackBerry 10, aimed at bolstering its relevance in emerging markets. BlackBerry Q5 should help the company as it wages the fight of its life in a big, bold turnaround plan.

Here's why. The phone will be available in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa as early as July. It is an essential move because the Q5 represents BlackBerry's attempt to cater to emerging economies where they have a stronghold relative to the developed world, where rivals have swallowed its market share.

At the same time, BlackBerry announced it is opening up its popular instant messaging service to rival manufacturers, pushing the broader brand.

But the company has yet to announce pricing. Even though that infuses an element of uncertainty -- and was probably a big factor in the stock's decline following this week's

“Still using the BlackBerry, eh?”

The comment came during a break in a meeting I was having this week with the head of technology at a large customs brokerage, when he noticed the phone I’d whipped out for a quick e-mail check. The tone behind the comment was obvious. To continue using a BlackBerry (and not even a new model) amid the popularity for iPhones or Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is starting to look like either an act of patriotism or a failure to keep up with the most fashionable technology. I tried not to look embarrassed, but then he went on.

“I still support BlackBerry,” he said. “We’re still using them all over the place here.”

Of course they are. Although there were some stories last year of high-profile corporations moving to other devices en masse, the security and management behind BlackBerry’s products make them integral to many organizations. This week’s BlackBerry Live turned the focus, understandably, to all the changes at a consumer level, like the introduction of colourful

With the news that Telus is buying small cellphone carrier Mobilicity for $380 million, it’s hard to figure out who’s going to be worse off: consumers, the government or the big carriers themselves.

One less wireless company – especially one that specializes in offering rock-bottom prices – obviously means there will be less competition and choice for customers. The removal of such a particularly scrappy player will bring Canada one step closer back to the status quo of Bell, Rogers, Telus, a trio that already currently enjoy some of the highest profits and per-user revenues in the world.

At $60.79, Canada leads the world in the all-important industry measure of average monthly revenue per user, according to figures from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Wireless Matrix. That’s a third higher than the developed world average of $43.79 and 16 per cent higher than the United States, at $51.61. Canadian carriers are also fifth highest among advanced nations in profitability, with a

I am that person. The one who holds up the line during “coffee rush hour” between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. at various Starbucks in the financial district, who fumbles in my wallet, finds nothing and ends up paying my $2.57 with my debit card. The process probably takes less than a minute but I can feel the glares behind my back, and I don’t blame them. Until we’re all living in a world of NFC mobile payments, however, that’s the way it’s going to be.

This week at the Canada 3.0 conference I had an opportunity to lead a session that looked at what near-field communications (NFC) technology will mean for all kinds of transactions between banks, retail stores, independent merchants at fairgrounds and, of course, consumers. The timing seemed right: CIBC launched an NFC payment system with Rogers late last year. RBC and Bell announced they would enter the fray later this summer. And yet Apple’s Tim Cook has dismissed NFC as being in its very early days. The resignation of a key exec responsible

Canadians have proven to be pretty big fans of Netflix, with an estimated two million of them having flocked to the online video streaming service since its launch in 2010. Amassing that many customers in such a short time is nothing short of amazing, considering that Rogers Communications, Inc.– one of the largest traditional television providers in the country – has about that many cable subscribers despite having a head start of several decades.

Not surprisingly, the company – as well as every other big TV provider – is looking to counter Netflix’s explosive growth by fighting fire with fire. By this time next year, there could be a whole raft of Netflix competitors available in Canada, with each TV provider selling their own flavour of online streaming service to both current customers and non-subscribers alike.

Toronto-based Rogers says the key is a current dispute before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission between Quebec TV provider Videotron and Astral

If you’re happy and you know it, you’re probably a Canadian holding a smartphone.

OK, that may be stretching it just a little bit, but amid all the grumbling about high rates for wireless plans, frustrations with lack of carrier competition and increased calls for codes of conduct and new consumer protection laws, data released by Toronto-based J.D. Power and Associates this week was almost shockingly positive.

The firm’s annual rankings of wireless carriers showed that, despite seeing an average increase of 13 per cent on their monthly wireless phone bill between last year and now, Canadians’ overall satisfaction with their mobile phone services actually grew.

J.D. Power surveyed some 13,300 Canadians and looked at seven different factors to determine its satisfaction rankings, which are organized in an index that tallies up points. For example, there was a 46-point increase in the way consumers rated their satisfaction with buying products and services online from the carriers, and a

To me, the decision by Microsoft to release an updated version of its Windows 8 operating system is just another example of what we might call The Ribbon Problem.

For years, software designers at the Redmond-based technology giant were frustrated when consumers and business users would request various new features and functionality in Microsoft Word. Not because they weren’t willing to offer new things, but because in many cases (I’ve heard as high as 90 per cent of the time) the features and functionality were already there.

That’s why the company eventually built what was known as the ribbon, which tried to make those various tools and buttons more easy to discover by organizing them in a new way. Some people loved these changes. Some found them even more confusing. In the end, though, people kept using Word, the same way they’ll probably keep using Windows.

Of course, Windows 8, with its tile-based design, is a sea change in user interface compared to the ribbon, which is why the

Fewer Canadian technology startup companies are looking for buyers in order to exit the market, choosing instead to find ways to reach their next growth stage and generate revenue domestically.

Some 44 per cent of startups polled are looking for a merger or acquisition to exit the market, a steep drop from 76 per cent in the prior year, according to a PwC report released this week titled Emerging Canadian Technology Companies: A CEO Perspective. The survey polled 200 chief executives in February and April, and those findings reflect their strategies for 2012 and 2011, respectively.

The survey shows 21 per cent of respondents anticipate a partial sale of the company, while 30 per cent have no plans to exit at all.

As well, CEOs say they are staying put because more than one-third reported their companies had reached profitability, while another 28 per cent expect to do so within one year. Some 26 per cent expect to do so within two years, the report shows.

Eugene Bomba, national emerging