RIM's Indigo a Likely Mood-Changer

Updated from 11:21 a.m. EST

If Research In Motion's(RIMM)spate of recent good news is an indication of things to come, its hecklers might have to do an about-face.

Last week, the BlackBerry maker came out tops among PDA makers in a Gartner research report and even settled its lawsuit against Samsung over its BlackJack phone name.

On Monday, the Ontario, Canada-based handheld device maker released its much-awaited successor to the Pearl.

RIM announced the first in its BlackBerry 8800 phone series, a device code-named Indigo. The device will be offered by AT&T(T) starting Feb. 21.

Shares of RIM were recently trading at $133.41, down 80 cents, or 0.6%.

The debut of Indigo could help RIM break out of the price range of $128 to $137 that it's been stuck in since the beginning of 2007.

"Indigo is an important evolution because it offers refinements that make it probably more attractive to business users who also want a device to suit their personal needs," says Michael Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.

"It is also a step-function change in form factor and usability," says Abramsky, whose firm makes a market in RIM shares.

And according to RIM's own outlook, the timing seems right.

The company is targeting the end of its current, or fourth, quarter and its early first quarter for its new product launches, CFO Dennis Kavelman said during RIM's third-quarter earnings conference call in late December.