BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) Updates: Up for Sale, Prem Watsa as Leading Bidder, Wireless Charging & More

Editor’s Note: BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)

BlackBerry Puts Itself Up for Sale (Wall Street Journal)
With sales stalling and its customer base shrinking, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) formally put itself up for sale on Monday, a signal the company that pioneered the smartphone market now sees its prospects as a stand-alone public company diminishing fast. BlackBerry’s decision to “explore strategic alternatives” follows the company’s all-out effort to develop new phones and a new operating system fell flat in the wireless market. BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) was betting the devices would help it catch up with Apple Inc.’s iPhone and phones running on Google Inc.’s Android software, but they found only tepid interest from consumers when they launched in the spring.

Investment tycoon Prem Watsa emerges as leading BlackBerry bidder (The Guardian)
The investment tycoon known as Canada’s Warren Buffett is emerging as one of the leading bidders for BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), as analysts point to the likelihood of a private equity buyout for the beleaguered smartphone maker. Prem Watsa, the boss of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings, resigned from BlackBerry’s board on Monday, just seven months after joining, and is now expected to try to orchestrate the company’s stockmarket exit. Having spent an estimated $880m (£570m) buying nearly 10% of BlackBerry’s shares at an average price of $17, the 61-year-old is the company’s largest shareholder and he is sitting on a potential $270m loss.

BlackBerry Z30 to support wireless charging (GSMArena.com)
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Z30 has already leaked in live pictures, we learned its specs and we even saw it star in a six-minute video. It’s supposed to be Z10’s bigger sibling with a 5.0″ OLED 720p display, but to keep the same internals. Latest piece of info comes from the Wireless Power Consortium, where the BlackBerry Z30 is listed as a Qi wireless charging compatible device.

Will you experience ‘crackberry’ withdrawal? (CNBC)

BlackBerry’s new 9720 will run old OS, won’t change its financial situation (Digital Trends)
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has announced a new smartphone, the BlackBerry 9720, which runs the older BlackBerry OS 7.1 software. If you’re wondering why BlackBerry’s releasing another OS 7 device, when BlackBerry 10 is supposed to be the software which will save the company, it’s because OS 7 is still outselling BB10 hardware. Going where the interest is seems like a sensible strategy, but the 9720 isn’t going to be setting any pulses racing at all. It looks like every other QWERTY equipped BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) phone, and has a 2.8-inch, 480 x 360 pixel resolution screen, making it less exciting than the Q5. It will, however, probably be cheaper, and therefore could steal even more sales from the newcomer.