The closest person in scale is probably Microsoft, but by their own admission their technology is behind. And if I had to guess I'd say it's 18 to 24 months behind.

EBay is an enormous competitor.

As a conservative estimate, we believe this deal could have a total contract value in the $20 million range. The fact that this is a licensing agreement also entails that virtually all of the revenue will flow to the bottom line.

If true, the impact of this partnership could be extremely positive for RIM.

This would be a very good strategic fit -- largely because each is a little shaky alone.

I think it was the initial blush on subscriber numbers. That's what caused the stock to sell off.

I suspect what that means is that we should add 13 cents for the full year to our estimates. He's not usually that cryptic.

It appears to be that their business is chugging along very well in spite of what must be the biggest publicity nightmare a company can face.

Even with all the bad news surrounding RIM, they have not been able to announce even one major customer that is switching services.