This is the weekend that stateside BlackBerry (BB 1.06%) fans have been waiting for. The Z10, the first smartphone running the wireless pioneer's BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system, became available domestically on Friday.
This will be an important weekend for BlackBerry as it tries to make up ground that it has lost to Android and iOS devices in recent years.
BlackBerry impressed the market with the new platform's nifty features, but a lack of developer support threatens to hold back the device's popularity among consumers. BlackBerry has a better shot at retaining corporate customers, and it was encouraging to hear BlackBerry announce that it had recently received its largest purchase order in its history for a million phones from a wireless partner.
Will the phones sell? It had better. If BlackBerry falls short, there won't be too many people holding out for BlackBerry 11.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- Vringo (NYSEMKT: VRNG) posted ho-hum financials on Thursday. Its net loss widened as it continues to litigate its way toward milking money out of its recently acquired patents. Vringo did strike a deal earlier in the week to partner with Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties to develop technology solutions.
- Lazard Capital Markets is boosting its target price on Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR.DL) from $58 to $67. That's a caffeinated blast of freshly brewed bullishness for a stock that has already more than tripled since bottoming out last year.
- Celsion (CLSN -5.92%) posted a widening quarterly deficit and updated investors on its ThermoDox candidate that's in different stages of clinical trials for the treatment of different types of cancer. Investors put up with chunky losses on biotechs if they feel that the lead candidates will pay off in time.
