HOPING FOR A COMEBACK: Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins kicked off a company conference Tuesday by trying to convince mobile applications developers that the BlackBerry maker's upcoming release of a new operating system will unleash a new wave of innovation and win new customers.

WALL STREET SKEPTICS: Investors are worried that it's already too late for Research In Motion Ltd. to catch up with iPhone maker Apple Inc. and other device makers relying on Google Inc.'s popular Android software.

ANSWER STILL TO COME: RIM's big hope, its BlackBerry 10 software, is due out early next year.