At the start of the month, RIM used its BlackBerry World event to give the world a first look at its BlackBerry 10 software. While the software was announced last October (then called BBX), the public hasn’t seen what it would look like until now.
The main menu of BlackBerry 10 looks like a blend between Android widgets, webOS cards and Windows Phone Live Tiles. Four big rectangular applications welcome the user, with relevant information displayed for each application. The phone, search and camera features are permanently located on the bottom bar. Many BlackBerry 10 applications are based on a new user interface, called Cascades. The fundamental concept of Cascades is horizontal swipes, which navigate through the hierarchy of the application. When the top level is reached, another swipe to the right will switch applications. Applications all fully run in the background, which is a shift from how other mobile operating systems pause or close background applications.
The primary functions of the device have also been given a visual and functional overhaul. When people call, a giant caller ID photo appears, asking the user to swipe down to answer and swipe up to ignore. The virtual keyboard has a novel autocorrect method that lets users enter predetermined words quickly. As users type, suggestions appear over certain letters, which users then swipe upwards to enter that word instead of just a letter. The camera has a new feature to help users who just miss the right shot. It takes multiple shots in quick succession, so users can use a scrubbing tool to find the picture they prefer, such as if someone has blinked or one is too blurry.
Developers at the conference received BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha, which is a pre-release version of the operating system loaded onto a black phone which looks like a shrunken down PlayBook. The 4.2″ screen is 1280 pixels tall by 768 pixels wide, giving it a pixel density of 355 pixels per inch, which is clearer than the iPhone 4’s screen. The device has no external memory cards, using internal memory, and makes use of near field communication. Perhaps most significantly, the phone has no external keyboard, emphasizing RIM’s efforts to design BlackBerry 10 to work with touchscreen-only devices.
The software development kit that developers can use to create BlackBerry apps has been updated with more friendly features, a welcome change from older tools which made BlackBerry devices harder to develop for than other platforms. Elements such as buttons and lists can be created without needing to code them by hand, speeding up development time. Developers claimed that it can take as little as ten days to create applications for BlackBerry 10, and porting from other platforms took little time as well.
RIM’s strategy raises multiple questions about its future. Developers have, at least in recent memory, been reluctant to develop for the platform. RIM hopes to solve this problem by guaranteeing developers that they will make at least $10,000 on their apps for the first year, by offering to pay the difference if they don’t. This comes with some stipulations to prevent people from not making an effort, but it shows a serious effort from RIM to have people make applications.
Shareholders of RIM didn’t take too kindly to the announcement, as the stock fell to an eight-year low two days after the features were presented. The features RIM has announced are impressive, but it remains to be seen if they can compete effectively with other operating systems. iOS and Android effectively have a stranglehold on the phone industry today. This has been evidenced by Microsoft, who has found much trouble in getting Windows Phone into the hands of the masses. Even its flagship Lumia 900, which Nokia has been banking on, has had limited success in sales. With people claiming that Microsoft is falling behind, RIM will have to prove to people they have a good offering beyond just the U.S. government liking their phones.
Even corporate and government agencies are beginning to diversify their phone options, leaving RIM with little to fall back on if consumers don’t like their phones. Their marketing strategy has been interesting so far, to say the least. At the end of April, a team of black-clad protesters arrived in a black bus with “WAKE UP.” written on the side at an Apple Store in Sydney, Australia, carrying signs with the same phrase and chanting the phrase over and over again while Apple employees stared in confusion at the flash mob. The tech community assumed Samsung was behind the protest, after their “Samsunged” anti-Apple ads, but RIM then admitted to being behind it and followed up with giant newspaper ads with the phrase and a new website narrated by an annoying-sounding Australian man reading a sort of manifesto about people who are “in business” with their “eyes open”, saying to “Wake Up.” and “Be Bold.” However, they have yet to release a BlackBerry 10 phone and are currently losing rapid market share to more competitive offerings from other manufacturers.
It seems almost ironic that while RIM is at least demonstrating an ability to create catching campaigns, their former consumers seem to be waking up in their own right and picking Android, iPhone, Windows Phones; anything that demonstrates advances in technology and not a slumbering operating system. It’s great that RIM has ideas ready for the future and wants to demonstrate that they are still a major player, but perhaps they should focus more on getting their phones released in a timely manner and less on bashing their competition before they have anything planned for the market.
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