RIM Success Depends on Sound Production Models
Email
Print
Because of this, the keyboard software will present a choice of anticipated next
words over the keyboard so that the typist can simply swipe the entire word on
to the message being generated. The idea, according to Thorsten, is to retain
the BlackBerrys famous thumb typing, but to make it faster and more efficient.
Your time is precious when youre mobile, he said.
The device that Thorsten used in his demo was a fairly generic touch-screen
phone, and while it was an attractive device, its not the product that will
actually be shipped as the first BlackBerry 10 device. Unfortunately, despite
the combined efforts of the eWEEK
team on-site in Orlando, we couldnt squeeze details of the actual device out
of RIMs employees.
Thorsten did say that RIM would reveal more about the BlackBerry 10 devices
in a few months, and more about the full operating system around the same time.
But the close resemblance to Windows Phone 7 is a little uncanny. The first
words voiced by some of the highly experienced tech media contingent at the
event were, Its Windows! But that wasnt the case. The good news is that BB10
isnt yet another iPhone clone. Whether theres bad news remains to be seen.
And that, of course, is the big question for RIM. The first glances at BB10
are encouraging. But as
Forbes writer Brian Caulfield pointed out during a conversation in the BBWC
pressroom, its not the basic idea, its the execution. Right now, with the
prototype phone and the developers alpha software, the execution looks like it
may have potential.
But theres another question beyond that. Will BB10s potential be realized
well enough by the production versions of the operating systems and smartphone
models to enable RIM to hit the market home run that Caulfield says the company
so desperately needs? Right now, its too early to tell.
The company has shown some tantalizing details, including its next-generation
keyboard software and a new camera application that showed up in a fleeting
demo. There is also the promise of multitasking that will enable users to slide
app screens around to access other apps in real time. But theres more to a
smartphone than a bunch of cool details.
RIM, of course, knows this and
even released a video glimpse so we can see just how cool the company thinks
BB10 actually is. But the videos and the assurances that RIM has sound plans
for the future dont really matter nearly as much as how smartphone buyers
react when the new BlackBerry is released near the end of 2012.
To follow Wayne Rash on Twitter, click
here.
To follow
Wayne Rash on Google Plus, click here.
Wayne Rash is a Senior Analyst for eWEEK Labs and runs the magazine's Washington Bureau. Prior to joining eWEEK as a Senior Writer on wireless technology, he was a Senior Contributing Editor and previously a Senior Analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. He was also a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. Previously, he ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek.He is a retired naval officer, a former principal at American Management Systems and a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. He is a regular contributor to Plane & Pilot Magazine and The Washington Post.
