RIM cuts 2,000 Jobs, COO Morrison retires

This is the unfortunate news we all knew was coming. RIM has announced that it is cutting 2,000 jobs from its global workforce. Announced in a statement today, the BlackBerry maker stated that the 2,000 jobs represent 11 per cent of its total workforce.  RIM's lack of new smartphone releases in the recent months and the slow but steady sales of its PlayBook tablet have impacted the company's bottom line.

The company also announced that its chief operating officer, Don Morrison, is planning to retire, and that Thorsten Heins is taking on the expanded role of chief operating officer for product and sales. 

"We thank Don for his outstanding service to RIM. We understand and respect his decision to retire after successfully dealing with a serious medical challenge and we wish him a quick recovery," stated Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEOs at RIM. "Don's presence at RIM will be missed, but our senior management and sales teams had already stepped up to manage Don's responsibilities since the commencement of his medical leave and we're confident in the ability of those teams to continue Don's tradition of success going forward."

Thorsten Heins is taking on the expanded role of COO (Product and Sales). All product engineering functions, including both hardware and software teams, are being consolidated under Heins' direction.

BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac now available, works with PlayBook

RIM today released the BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac which works with the PlayBook. The Desktop software is an easy way to transfer and sync media (music, pictures and videos) between your Mac and the PlayBook. File transfer to the PlayBook is already possible through a wireless file sharing but the desktop software is more media specific plus it charges the PlayBook as you sync back and forth.

RIM facing layoffs, expects lower profits as it sets to realign

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Research in Motion is going to need to innovate its way out of the corner. The BlackBerry maker held an earnings call today and said it expects lower profits and is looking at reducing headcount. During the same conference call, RIM confirmed it had shipped 500,000 units of its PlayBook tablet since the device launched in April, although it was not specified how many of these were actually sold to customers.

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RIM releases Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook app

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

RIM made good on its promise to start offering 'essential' apps for the two week old BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet by releasing the first official Facebook app designed for a tablet. The FaceBook for BlackBerry PlayBook is the only tablet-specific application (Android and iOS are using ill-fitting blown-up versions of their smartphone counterparts). The Facebook app was built by RIM using Adobe Air and Adobe Flash technology.

Hit jump for more screenshots of the new app.

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