Start the countdown, peeps! Because smartphone giant, Research in Motion (RIM) is about to make a BlackBerry comeback!
The Canada-based company will officially unveil their new “BlackBerry 10” OS and handsets in the United States on 31st January 2013 (Wednesday). The company website home page depicts a sleek black device against a black background, alongside the words, “The Blackberry Experience. Re-designed. Re-engineered. Re-invented.”:
Tech enthusiasts and experts say that it’s RIM’s final attempt at saving themselves, to remain a major player in the highly saturated industry.
According to RIM spokesman Nick Manning, the new OS is an entirely new operating system and the first entirely new mobile operating system in about five years. More than 150 carriers worldwide have been testing the new platform, and RIM has given more than 8,000 prototypes to application developers.
As for the BlackBerry 10 (BB10) devices, they will come in the forms of an all-touchscreen version as well as in a model that keeps a physical keyboard. We hear that they’re supposedly named the Z10 (all-touchscreen version) and Q10 (with physical keyboard):
Source: gizmodo
Note: Official specs will be released after the official launch.
Rumour has it that another key asset of the BB10 is the “BlackBerry balance”, a system that allows users to separate professional communications and applications from music, photographs and other personal items. Interesting, especially since RIM’s smartphones have always been positioned as “an executive’s phone” or “for working people” only.
Let’s see if the BB10 will generate big enough sales for RIM to finally recover (sizable share market drop, major revenue loss, significant downsizing). Personally, we’re looking forward to it because hey, no harm trying right, RIM?
(Source)