Research In Motion unveiled this week a version of BlackBerry OS 10 which hopefully will lead to the long-awaited launch of the new OS in the second half of this year. The concept version shown at the BlackBerry World conference is intended to keep developers interested while RIM plans its comeback in the next few months.
CEO Thorsten Heins made it clear in his first keynote at BlackBerry World: BlackBerry 10 is the start of a new era for the Canadian company, which has suffered a number of setbacks in recent years.
While many have already given up hope on BlackBerry, RIM's annual conference helps to build momentum in a world where there's still room for a third ecosystem, alongside the dominant Android and iOS systems. The two main candidates are Windows Phone and BlackBerry. Anybody looking at the latest state of affairs for Microsoft's smartphone platform might hazard saying that BlackBerry has a chance to round out the top three. While it is well behind Apple and Google in terms of number of apps, BlackBerry still has enough distinguishing features to attract developers. If it does have a chance, it won't be a result of RIM's efforts.
Developers can start this week working on the first BlackBerry 10 apps using the toolkits released by RIM for native and HTML5 development. "Developers building for BlackBerry 10 will be able to easily create the kind of cutting-edge apps that deliver truly engaging experiences and 'wow' customers, whether through integration with native features and other apps like BBM or by leveraging the new signature design elements of this new and powerful mobile computing platform," according to Alec Saunders, VP for developer relations at RIM.
So the development process should be a bit easier for developers. An important break in the trend is the open source character of BlackBerry OS 10, which is in complete opposition to the earlier, proprietary versions. This means that not only can developers write apps more quickly, but the process will also be cheaper.
The new features in BlackBerry OS 10 focus unsurprisingly on simplifying the user experience . For this, RIM has taken the notable step of dropping the characteristic physical keyboard on the BlackBerry, although this is reportedly not a definitive change.
Gestures, or navigating through touch, assume a more important role. The most remarkable example, at least according to RIM, is the possibility to input text with finger swipes. Also new is a predictive text system, which, as the name suggests, offers suggestions for words the user may be typing. Also new is applications running the background, so they do not have to be repeatedly opened, allowing a constant 'flow' of interaction for the user.
All new, relevant features that for RIM mean a reawakening of the company, despite rumours it's already up for sale. The BlackBerry OS 10 user interface is refreshed, in part thanks to Cascades, which allows for advanced graphics. RIM seems to finally have understood what innovation really means, even if the new platform is not exactly the cutting edge.
As one can't go without the other, RIM also showed the promised Dev Alpha smartphone, a prototype specially designed for developers - so not the end product that will be available in shops. And as it says on the official BlackBerry blog: “nor does it run the final BlackBerry 10 software – it’s been created just for our developer partners to help them prepare for the launch of BlackBerry 10.” In short, we still have no idea what the hardware will actually be like or how BlackBerry OS 10 will look in its final incarnation.
BlackBerry World has primarily been a showcase for RIM to show developers what they could expect. It also communicates to end-users the upcoming launch of a new generation of BlackBerrys, even if the exact release dates are still unknown. Investors and analysts, who are not invited to the event, can also take some solace. Ahead of the actual launch of the first smartphones running BlackBerry OS 10, RIM will need to ramp up its tour de force in order to keep the attention of all these groups.
