Tag Archives: BlackBerry OS

Android continues to grow, takes top spot away from RIM in US smartphone market

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According to The NPD Group, a market research company, Google’s Android smartphone OS has climbed to the #1 spot for most purchased smartphone OS in the U.S.  In doing so it pushes past RIM’s Blackberry OS and Apple’s iOS 4.  Here’s the official standings for Q2 2010: #1- Android (33%), #2- RIM (28 %), #3- iOS4 (23%).  RIM dropped 9 points since the previous quarter and has not been positioned in second place since 2007.  And if you’re wondering, Android gained 5 points and Apple picked up a single point over the course of the quarter.  The top 5 best-selling Android devices in the second quarter of year are Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC EVO 4G, HTC Hero, and HTC Droid Eris.  Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD, says that though the recently announced Blackberry 6 will “offer features that have been popular in recently launched Android handsets,” the first crop of supported devices, namely the Blackberry Torch on AT&T, “lacks the large screen allure that has characterized the best selling Android devices at its price point.”  In other words, he is blaming Android’s wild successs on the myriad of Motorola and HTC handsets that feature large screens (ie. Droid & EVO 4G).  And if RIM doesn’t start to change their ways with new innovations (Blackberry 6 fails to impress at first glance), it might be a while until they reclaim their old title as the most selling OS in the hotly competitive smartphone market.  And how ’bout dem U.S. carriers?  #1- Verizon Wireless (33%), #2- AT&T (25%), Sprint (12%), T-Mobile (11%).  Full PR is after the break.

[Via Engadget] Continue reading Android continues to grow, takes top spot away from RIM in US smartphone market →

RIM formally details new BlackBerry 6 OS

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When Research In Motion (RIM), the makers of BlackBerry smartphones, officially unveiled the latest BlackBerry operating system in late April at WES they failed to properly go into much detail about it.  We were teased with a brief (music) video demonstration and that was about it.  On Tuesday the company finally revealed in full detail the next iteration of its OS dubbed BlackBerry 6.  I’ll run down the most prominent new features.  A newly designed home screen allows for customization and arrangement of icons, contacts, and web page shortcuts; context-sensitive Action Menus allows “users [to] bring the most common actions or tasks of an application to the surface”; a Universal Search tool allows you to search keywords that will ping all the phone’s content, the web, and the new BlackBerry App World; an all-new Webkit browser features tabbed browsing, auto-wrap text zoom, pinch-to-zoom, and supports HTML5 content; Social Feeds integrate access to BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger applications, allowing you to view all your friends’ actitivies in one space; it also allows you to “post updates across multiple networks simultaneously”.

The new multimedia experience in BB6 packs a really exciting new feature–the ability to sync your music collection over WiFi.  Using BlackBerry Desktop Software 6, you can enable Wi-Fi Music Sync “that allows users to view their entire iTunes or Windows Media Player music libraries from their BlackBerry smartphone, create and edit playlists, as well as select music for download.”  As long as you’re in range of your WiFi signal, playlist edits and song information are automatically synced to the phone.

The OS also includes new camera modes and a Podcasts application that allows you to manage audio and video podcasts.  A dedicated YouTube app is included, too.  All of these new and updated features comprise BlackBerry 6.  Consumers will have the chance to get their hands on it August 26 with the launch of BlackBerry Torch, the first BB to come loaded with the new OS.  According to RIM, BB6 will be ported to the BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry Bold 9650, and BlackBerry Pearl 3G “subject to carrier certifications in the months ahead.”

Overall BlackBerry 6 is a welcome and much needed refresh to the aging BlackBerry UI.  The most exciting update is the system-wide multi-touch experience.  The Storm and Storm 2 smartphones did pack capacitive touchscreens, but BB6-supported phones will be designed around the multi-touch experience consumers are used to finding in devices like Apple’s iPhone and Motorola’s Droid.  A new Webkit browser will definitely wow users with its speed and future-proof support for HTML5.  The new social networking features also look promising.  As exciting as all of these new additions to the BlackBerry platform may sound, almost all of them have already been implemented in other smartphones for years.  With BB6 RIM is essentially playing catch up with the big players (ie. Apple, Google).  RIM has failed to incorporate that extra pinch of bam that separates itself from the competition.  While BB6 definitely pushes BlackBerry devices closer to the competition in terms of features and aesthetics, it does not give cell phone buyers a definitive reason to choose this OS over another one.  BBM’s sheen can only last so long.

Look after the break for the full PR plus a “sneak peak” video.

[Via Engadget; Gizmodo] Continue reading RIM formally details new BlackBerry 6 OS →

BlackBerry pushes out (another) sneak peek at 6

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Today BlackBerry posted a new video on YouTube that gives us another glimpse into their latest mobile operating system called BlackBerry 6.  New features like social network integration (with Social Feeds that support simultaneous postings on sites like Facebook and Twitter), universal search, an enhanced media interface, and the brand new WebKit-based browser (with pinch/zoom functionality) are teased in the breif video embedded above.  It all looks pretty great BlackBerry, but I want to see it in action on a sleek, new Blackberry device.  Let’s release this thing already!  Oh, and as Engadget points out, it’s worth nothing that the first two sneak peek videos of BB 6 feature a UI that’s make specifically for a full touchscreen device.  One wonders how BlackBerry intends to morph the new touch-friendly UI into one that’ll work on a smaller device that sports a physical keyboard–the very form factor that the company is so famous for.

[Via Engadget]

Blackberry OS 6.0 revealed at WES 2010

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At this year’s Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES), Research in Motion (RIM) showed off the latest BlackBerry OS in video form.  (Go acronyms! Anyway…)  RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis did not go into detail about “BlackBerry 6” but he did have these choice words to say: “It’s an all-new user experience guided by a few fundamental design principles.  It had to be easy to use, yet incredibly powerful.  It had to be fun and approachable.  Anyone that looks at it should say ‘I want a BlackBerry.'”  He also shared his excitement about the “all-new WebKit browser.”  According to a leaked report from BGR, BB 6 will feature a new home screen (with customizable icons), the WebKit browser (with tab support), a redesigned media player and photo viewer, and a bunch of new keyboard commands.  It’s expected that BB 6 will natively support multitouch, finding a home both on touch and non-touch screen devices.  RIM confirms it will release later this year.

Also introduced at the event: the new BlackBerry Bold 9650 & BlackBerry Pearl 3G.  Sprint formally announced it will sell the new Bold for $199.99 with a new two-year contract; Verizon Wireless is expected to make a similar offer.  The Pearl 3G is heading to Canada first on Bell, Telus, and Rogers.  Peek after the break for an image of the sleek new pair of handsets.

[Via Gizmodo; Engadget; The Street] Continue reading Blackberry OS 6.0 revealed at WES 2010 →