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Since the introduction of the iPhone, Apple Inc. has been the product to beat when it comes to meeting consumer connectivity needs with the latest and greatest smartphone. Research in Motion sought to change that Monday when it unveiled the latest version of its popular BlackBerry product, the Bold, in a move that revs up the battle for market share supremacy.

“Our take-away is that this is the first shot of the Research in Motion - Apple war that is starting,” JMP Securities analyst Sam Wilson said in a note to clients. “This summer, Apple will release its 3G iPhone and RIM will release Bold. These two companies are squaring off against one another.”

The Bold, which features an integrated global-positioning-system, Wi-Fi functionality, 128 megabytes of flash memory and 1 gigabyte of storage memory, is already receiving positive reviews from Wall Street analysts. In fact, Wilson even joked the latest smartphone from Research in Motion included “the kitchen sink,” and JPMorgan analyst Paul Coster called the device “very attractive.” Coster also lauded the screen resolution and brightness as setting the device apart from previous Blackberrys, while saying the new “Precision” user interface is easy to use and that the Bold is very fast.

Elsewhere, Citigroup reiterated a buy rating and $140 price target on Research in Motion shares, as the broker estimated the new product could increase the company’s quarterly shipments by 200,000 to 400,000 units.

Canaccord Adams also liked the product, saying: “With the (BlackBerry) 8700 approaching two years of service, we believe the BlackBerry Bold has the opportunity to become a blockbuster. We are hearing that pre-orders from AT&T and Vodafone could materially exceed expectations, which will likely drive upwards earnings revisions in the back half of the year.”

Still, some caution investors not to forget about Apple quite yet, as the computer giant may be biding its time until the much-anticipated launch of its 3G iPhone. After checking 11 U.S. retail stores and finding that only 6 had iPhones in stock, Piper Jaffray said the limited availability of iPhones indicates that the release of a 3G model is “imminent,” and that it expects an announcement in mid-June.

Silly “Speed Racer,” success is for “Iron Man”.

The first real movie match-up of the summer has come and gone, and the easy winner was Marvel’s superhero adaptation, which flew high in its second week. While most considered the prospect of newcomer “Speed Racer” eclipsing “Iron Man” an outside chance, few expected that the gap between the two would be so large.

“Iron Man” banked another $50.5 million in its second weekend, easily maintaining the top position and eclipsing “Horton Hears a Who” as the top-grosser of the year so far. The film’s current total is $177.1 million, and while competition should erode the man of metal in the coming weeks, studio executives at Paramount have plenty of reason to light up cigars in celebration.

Warner Bros. pricey “Speed Racer”, on the other hand, crashed and burned in second place with $20.2 million, making it a hard pill to swallow for studios.

The studio wasn’t the only one finding it hard to swallow. Critics gave the film- the shiniest ever made- terrible reviews, which bodes ominously for its future, especially when the acclaimed “Iron Man” is playing next door.

Expectations were high for the action extravaganza, which is about a young racecar driver with the career-limiting moniker Speed Racer. Some analysts expected the film would make more than 50% more than it actually did. Deutsche Bank said the results were “a disappointment for such an expensive film,” though it added that the costs were split with fellow studio Village Roadshow. “With poor tracking, we would not be surprised if it had already been partially written off,” the firm wrote. The film’s budget was estimated at $120 million, which doesn’t include the tens of millions spent on advertising.

Elsewhere, Fox’s comedy “What Happens in Vegas” pulled in a solid $20 million debut, nearly edging out the racer for the silver. But given Vegas’s substantially lower budget (about $35 million), this is one bet that Fox will be glad it placed.

The top 10 films made $115.4 million, up a healthy 24% from the $93.4 made in the equivalent week a year ago, when the emo “Spider-Man 3″ was swinging into its second weekend.

Despite the premium in this past weekend, last week’s comparison bruising has edged the year-to-date total down 0.3% from 2007. There is hope for for this to swing to a positive next weekend, however, as Walt Disney gets its game on with the highly-anticipated “Prince Caspian”. The Dow component is releasing the film in ultra-wide distribution with a huge advertising blitz, leaving no doubt that the crown-less again shall be king.

Stock futures in the U.S. are higher after a big decline on Friday and despite a profit warning from FedEx Corp.

S&P 500 futures were up 2.70 points to 1,391.70, while Nasdaq futures rose 1.50 to 1,964.75. Futures on the Dow Jones industrial average rose 17 to 12,761.

Wall Street ended the week Friday with a big decline as investors grappled with two of the biggest threats to the economy: fallout from turmoil in the credit market and surging energy prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 120.90, or 0.94%, to 12,745.88, while the S&P 500 index fell 9.40, or 0.67%, to 1,388.28, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.72, or 0.23%, to 2,445.52. For the week, the Dow fell 2.39%, the S&P 500 declined 1.81% and the Nasdaq lost 1.27%.

Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stood at 3.78% late Friday, unchanged from late Thursday. Oil futures rose above $126 a barrel for the first time. Light, sweet crude rose as high as $126.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling at a record $125.96. For the week, oil jumped nearly $10.

ECONOMIC DATA:

• Treasury budget for April, 2 p.m. ET, $167.8 billion estimate

EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS:

Company                 Symbol    Period     Estimate 

Charter Communications   CHTR       1Q       $  (.75)
Fluor Corp.              FLR        1Q          1.27
Holly Corp.              HOC        1Q           .15
IndyMac Bancorp          IMB        1Q         (1.92)
Sprint Nextel            S          1Q           .02
Standard Pacific         SPF        1Q         (1.22)
PMI Group                PMI        1Q         (1.96)
Valspar Corp.            VAL        2Q           .42
XM Satellite             XMSR       1Q          (.39)

Figures in parentheses denote losses.

AFTER-HOURS ACTION:

After the closing bell on Friday FedEx Corp. cut its fourth-quarter profit outlook, citing rising fuel prices and a weak economy. The Memphis, Tenn.-based package-delivery giant now expects earnings of $1.45 to $1.50 a share for the quarter ended May 31, compared with a prior projection of $1.60 to $1.80 a share. The mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters is for a profit of $1.69 a share for the quarter.