There are now less than two weeks remaining before struggling smartphone pioneer Research in Motion (RIMM) takes the wraps off its new BB10 operating system. Smartphones running the new OS, which was developed from the QNX operating system, were initially supposed to launch in the first quarter of 2012. The legacy BlackBerry OS has become increasingly uncompetitive since Apple (AAPL) launched the iPhone in 2007, as it cannot handle web traffic and apps nearly as well as iOS and Android. The new OS will provide a much smoother experience, while still offering top-notch security, access to BlackBerry Messenger, physical QWERTY keyboards (optional), and other standard BlackBerry features.

As I have discussed previously, I think that many developed-world BlackBerry users have been waiting for the BB10 release to upgrade their phones. This should create strong replacement demand in the first year after BB10′s release. However, for RIM to survive long term, it will need to appeal to a new user base by offering superior functionality compared to other handset vendors. The app ecosystem is likely to remain far behind Apple and Android for the foreseeable future, so BB10 will have to differentiate itself in other ways.Read more
Courtesy : seekingalpha.com

A comeback phone needs a catchy name, and for Research In Motion, the handle in question could be the BlackBerry Z10.

Previously it was known by its “L-series” alias, but unnamed sources have now outed the product name of RIM’s next BlackBerry smartphone, according to Unwired View.

In addition to learning RIM’s new name for the all-touch device, these sources allegedly also supplied documentation in the form of the promotional material pictured here.Read more
Courtesy :www.cnet.com

The country’s third largest GSM player Idea Cellular ruled out any immediate hike in tariffs, saying it keeps revising its tariffs on a circle to circle basis.

“We are not looking at any immediate tariff revision. We keep revising our tariff plans on circle to circle basis frequently,” Idea’s chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar told reporters after launching its fourth 3G handset here.

In signs of mobile phone tariffs going upwards, Reliance Communications last week said it has increased call rates by up to 25 percent for both post-paid and pre-paid customers.

Shankar said the company has 4 million 3G users out of its 20 million data user base. The company with 115 million subscribers is the third largest mobile GSM operator.Read more
Courtesy : www.firstpost.com

Research in Motion offered investors a ray of hope on Tuesday, announcing an unexpected increase in subscriber numbers that sent its shares up 5 percent as the company worked hard to drum up enthusiasm for its crucial Blackberry due 2013.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM, a pioneer in the smartphone arena, has in past years lost market share in North America to Apple Inc and Samsung, whose more versatile and user-friendly devices took off.

RIM is trying to reinvent itself through a line of jazzed-up smartphones that will run on the BlackBerry 10 or BB10 operating system on which the company has staked its future.

In an attempt to create a buzz around the new devices, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins gave a preview of the smartphone and its features to its developers at a gathering on Tuesday in San Jose, California.Read more
Courtesy : in.reuters.com

One of the features Research In Motion plans to add to its BlackBerry 10 platform is the ability to pull social networking and other data about individual contacts and merge all that information in a single spot.

Contacts in BlackBerry 10 will show not only the individual’s phone number and email address, but also will reveal their latest tweets, Facebook status updates, and other details culled from their online lives. It also will include enterprise-specific information, such as future meetings scheduled with that particular contact. The idea is to provide a richer experience for BlackBerry users.

“BlackBerry has always had this heritage of productivity,” said T.A. McCann to Reuters. McCann is in charge of developing the contact manager application and Blackberry Messenger (BBM) in the new platform. “We are just going to make it better yet again, when we launch BB10.”Read more
Courtesy :www.informationweek.com

RIM and Nokia, two once high-flying technology firms are struggling now, having taken too long to respond to Android and iOS. Although Nokia has switched to Windows Phone, there have been questions about why the company didn’t adopt Android, which has a far greater following. What of RIM, though?

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins, in an interview with the Telegraph, said the company, which has always gone its own way, producing its own hardware and software, very nearly switched to Android. He said. Read more
Courtesy :www.examiner.com

A “strictly confidential” road map for BlackBerry was leaked and obtained by BBOS. The roadmap includes the expected launch of the new BlackBerry 10 OS. As we recently told you, RIM pushed back the launch of its first BlackBerry 10 flavored handset to next year and according to the roadmap, the first two devices to be powered by the new OS, the BlackBerry London/Nevada, will first hit the European market during the first week of January next year. A month later, the devices will make their Stateside launch.

Just a thought. Suppose the L in the name BlackBerry London indicates that it is an “L” series phone which is the model without a physical QWERTY. Now, imagine that N in the name BlackBerry Nevada means that it is an “N” series phone that includes the physical Bold-esquey QWERTY. If you look at the roadmap, that is exactly what the diagram shows. Continuing that way of thinking, the BlackBerry London should have been launched this September and the Nevada in October, if not for the recent decision to push back the launch.Read more
Courtesy : www.phonearena.com

Research in Motion is one company in dare need of new and exciting products, and BlackBerry 10 is expected to provide exactly that – a complete overhaul of the BlackBerry 7 platform and brand new devices.

While previously we’ve heard about the BlackBerry London and Nevada handsets hitting the final production line, now a leaked slide shows that RIM is launching them under a different moniker, the BlackBerry L- and N-series.Read more
Courtesy :www.phonearena.com

BlackBerry-maker RIM may be facing continued losses and deep uncertainty as it readies its first BlackBerry OS 10 smartphone, but if nothing else, the company has a sense of humor.

And some musical know-how among its ranks. Today’s BlackBerry 10 Jam session for developers kicked off with a music video spoof of Tom Petty’s “The Waiting,” substituting Petty’s original lyrics for those describing BlackBerry 10′s progress.

“It’s not quite ready yet,” Alec Saunders, RIM’s vice president of developer relations crooned from the projector. “Android and iOS, they’re no good for you. So grab those APIs…”

Underpinning the light tone is the meat of the matter, that after two years of development, RIM has no new OS to share, and that Android and iOS are the beacons of success.Read more
Courtesy : news.cnet.com