Andre Yoskowitz
30 Jan 2013 16:29
RIM used their much-hyped press event today to unveil BlackBerry 10, the operating system that the company hopes will help turn around its half decade of malaise.
The company also rebranded itself as BlackBerry, losing the Research In Motion name that was not necessarily synonymous with its brand.
In showing off the operating system, the company also unveiled two new phones, the Z10 and the Q10. The Z10 is the flagship touchscreen device, and the Q10 will feature a QWERTY keypad reminiscent of the BlackBerry's of the past.
"We have been on a journey of transformation, to transform our business and our brand, but also one that will transform mobile communications to true mobile computing," CEO Thorsten Heins said on stage. "Saying we have reinvented this company is simply not enough. Today is a new day in the history of BlackBerry."
BlackBerry 10 was built from scratch and does not even share a single line of code with its predecessor, BlackBerry 7. Its main features are a "Hub" which brings together all your messages into a universal inbox (including social networking) and gesture swiping that replaces home/back buttons seen on rival operating systems.
Also new to the platform is BlackBerry Balance, which lets you create two separate areas of the phone for work and your personal life.
BlackBerry Messenger, always a popular software, will now include voice and video chat along with its messaging services. In regards to apps, BlackBerry 10 will launch with 70,000 including the most popular on iOS and Android like Facebook, Skype, Kindle, Twitter, Angry Birds, Evernote, Rdio, ESPN Scorecenter, Flixster and Cut the Rope.
The Z10 has a 4.2-inch screen, 1280 x 768-resolution, a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM, LTE and dual 2/8MP cameras. The phone will launch on February 5th in Canada, and in March in the U.S. AT&T and Verizon will both have models. The device will cost $199 with contract, $599 without. There was no word on the Q10's price or release date.