RIM showing BlackBerry 10 phones to wireless carriers
updated 10:40 pm EDT, Thu August 23, 2012
Phones due first quarter 2013
Canadian phone producer Research in Motion has begun demonstrating its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones to wireless providers worldwide, but a ship date of an actual product remains "months and months" away. The phones are tentatively scheduled for early 2013, placing it a full quarter or more after the expected release of the iPhone 5 and other anticipated devices running the new version of Android -- "Jellybean."
Andrew McLeod, managing director of RIM's Canadian operations said that they were "in the process of finalizing the software. It was at a point where we had a confidence level that we could really demonstrate the validity of the products and software." He added that the carriers were "excited with what they saw."
RIM is relying on its upcoming mobile OS, BlackBerry 10, to power a range of new devices that it hopes will prove competitive in the marketplace. The company was late to release a touchscreen device, falling behind Apple and Google, despite having a significant head start in the smartphone market with its QWERTY-based models.
Despite analyst downgrades, layoff announcements and a $518 million quarterly loss, Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins suggests there is "nothing wrong with the company as it exists right now," according to an interview with CBC Radio One's Metro Morning program in Toronto.
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Joined: 08-09-01
All this talk of RIM licensing their BlackBerry OS when its the worst :censor: portable device GUI! The Bold 9900; touch screen, fast CPU, nicest keyboard... still has physical phone pick up/hang up, navigation and BB menu buttons! WHY!? Get RID of them and slap on a bigger screen!!! BlackBerry Store? Horrible. Updates and installing ANYTHING... be pa t i e n t...