Thorsten Heins, CEO of RIM today unveiled Blackberry’s new Blackberry 10 software to developers at an annual meeting with customers, developers and press at the BlackBerry World event at Orlando, Florida. The new software comes with an improved virtual keypad and added features for efficient and easier typing. In his keynote speech, he talked about how Blackberry 10 is on its way and how it’s going to make communication easier and simpler for people.
The highlight of the event was the early look at the new software on limited edition developer devices. Although he refrained from saying much about its physical features, Heins said that the developer models are not the final design and hence will not be sold commercially. The move is meant to increase developer interest and come up with more apps for the Blackberry 10 platform. He also announced a model carrying BB10 OS will be out only in the latter part of 2012, saying that the company wants to get it right.
Faithful users might be disappointed to know that RIM will be giving up the popular QWERTY keyboard for a virtual keypad. Alec Saunders, Vice President of Developer Relations for RIM, was reported as saying that the new keypad is different from all other keypads available in the market, at a recent press conference. The new OS will have an intelligent keypad that keeps track of the way the person types. If a person tends to type the letter next to what he/she actually had in mind, the software shifts its rendering in that direction and chooses the right letter. This, Saunders says, will be an alternative for iPhone and Android users who find typing on their phones uncomfortable.
Another feature is that the new software will display word suggestions over letters and if that’s the word the user had in mind, he/she can simply flick a finger over it to choose it. RIM reassured intensive users that the keypad is faster than any other keyboard out there. The new BB10 OS will also have software optimization in the camera to focus on faces and also allows the user to access frames prior to the actual picture being taken. The OS will also handle multitasking by allowing users to open multiple apps at once without having to close anything.
May 2, 2012 at 10:50 am
Problem is, RIM thinks they’re in the mobile phone business. They’re not. They think they’re in the handset business. They’re not.
They’re in the communications business.
The value behind the BlackBerry phone system is BlackBerry Messenger. It, and the backend services, are what make the platform valuable. Without it, a BlackBerry is just a so-so phone with a decent keyboard.
To survive, RIM needs to roll out a secure, cross-platform messaging system for use on existing smartphones and tablets. That’s iOS. That’s Android. And that’s Window’s Phone.
More at http://www.iSights.org/2012/04/rim-would-prefer-to-license-blackberry-os-wrong.html