Research in Motion, the makers of BlackBerry devices, are all set for a fight with their operating system, BlackBerry 10. For them, it’s a fight which they can’t afford to lose.
It is expected that finally the company will unveil its new smartphone operating system, BlackBerry 10 on January 30 at a press event in New York. It will also introduce a pair of new handsets, one with a physical keyboard and another which is all touchscreen.
Before this launch takes place, a major question arises. Are there enough takers for this new kind of smartphone from a company that has failed badly behind the competition, both in sales and innovation? In the United States, many BlackBerry users are forced to use the device because it is issued by their employer. This has given birth to a clumsy trend, where people carry two devices: one for work and a second for personal use.
In order to succeed, RIM must convince the BlackBerry fans to upgrade to something that is completely new. Distinguishing itself from the leading smartphone platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8, it must also attract corporations by giving priority to security and support features.
“They need to get everything absolutely right, from the design of the hardware to the UI (user interface) of the hardware to the number of applications to the price of the applications,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner.
Unlike Microsoft, which had a go with Windows Phone 7 and invested huge amounts of money into polishing and marketing Windows Phone 8, the unsettled RIM needs its new platform to be a success right from the word go.
Last couple of years has been a rough for this Canadian company. It was not able to keep pace with the richly packed app store and glossy design of iOS and Android devices. As a result, RIM has drained users in the United States and its public image also got suffered . The thick-bodied BlackBerry phones became an easy target for mocking by the press and iPhone owners in coffee shops, bars and meeting rooms. Adding to the woes was the widespread network outage in 2011.
RIM still has loyal fans in the IT world, especially the speed typists who are obsessed with the phone’s physical keyboard. The BlackBerry was one of
the first devices that blended e-mail with a mobile phone in a way that made it possible to do real work. For many BlackBerry users, the next generation of touchscreen smartphones that came into existence with the iPhone in 2007, never matched the level of productivity .
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