BlackBerry maker RIM today released Q3 08 earnings and provided insight for Q4. Q3 total revenue was up 7.9% to $2.78 billion and up 66.3% from the same quarter last year. Impressively, 2.6 million new subscribers were added in Q3. According to RIM, the revenue breakdown for Q3 was about 81% for devices, 13% for service, 2% for software and 4% other revenue. “We are pleased to report record revenue results for the third quarter and we have entered the fourth quarter with strong momentum despite the challenging general economic conditions. In fact we have enjoyed our best ever start to the holiday buying season over the past few weeks,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at RIM. The company also said that the new BlackBerry Storm is Verizon’s best seller in the US and strong sales are expected to continue despite increased competition from the Apple, Nokia, Microsoft and Google.

BlackBerry maker RIM has just announced a cash acquisition of Vancouver based Chalk Corp for $23 million cash. The deal has not been fully approved yet. Until the deal is approved, RIM will provide the company with $2 million in working capital. Chalk develops mobile based applications that create and deliver media-rich “pushcasts” across your organizations network that can also be tracked. Chalk’s stock price is up about 188% following the announcement.

Blackberry maker, Research In Motion, has lowered its expected Q3 earnings. RIM has now cut Q3 adjusted earnings between 81 and 83 cents, down from its first forecast of 89 to 97 cents per diluted share. The company has also lowered its Q3 revenue expectation to $2.75-$2.78 billion, down significantly from $2.95-$3.10 billion.

In more news RIM has made an unsolicited offer to buy Certicom, a Mississauga, Ontario, CAN, based cryptographic technology company for $66 million in cash, or $1.50 per share (a 76.5% premium over Certicom’s closing price today of $1.23). Interestingly, overnight, Certicom’s stock price jumped significantly from $0.7 per share to $1.23. RIM CEO Jim Balsillie said “”We believe our proposed offer is fair, reflects the full value of Certicom and takes into account the growth prospects” There is no other information relating to whether the deal will be accepted by shareholders.

I personally see trouble ahead for RIM. RIM will have increased competition from the iPhone, among other phones in the consumer market including the new and powerful Nokia N97. The Blackberry might simply be too simple for the consumer market, and as more phones now support seamless push e-mail with IMAP idle, consumers might stay away from the Blackberry and opt for more ‘fun’ phones, if you will.