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Beleaguered BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion disputed a report on tech blog Boy Genius Report, which stated the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) would be incompatible with the company’s latest line of smartphones and operating system software, BlackBerry 10. This would force businesses to require two servers to operate the latest BlackBerry devices as well as legacy devices.
RIM issued a statement saying BES 10 would support existing BlackBerry devices, including the company’s PlayBook tablet, and all new devices running on the BlackBerry 10 platform.
In a statement emailed to ZDnet, which picked up the erroneous report, RIM also took the opportunity to plug the platform. “BES 10 will be the ultimate management solution for all BlackBerry platform devices, as well as iOS and Android devices. BES 10 will launch simultaneously with the first BlackBerry 10 devices,” the statement read.
RIM recently released a free update to the BlackBerry 10 toolkit it first offered to developers at its BlackBerry World event in Orlando, Fla., in May. Most notably, the new toolkit features two key sets of APIs-an application invocation framework that will allow apps to interact with each other, and Push APIs that enable developers to send notifications and other content to devices running the new platform.
The company has a lot riding on BlackBerry 10, which will consist of an entirely new operating system and new devices, and which it says has received a “phenomenal” response from developers. RIM recently delayed the launch of the platform and devices until the first quarter of 2013.
RIM has struggled to hold onto market share as rivals like the Apple iPhone and Google Android-powered smartphones cut into its space. Competition has also increased due to the growing popularity of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives, which allow company employees to use their personal devices in the workplace.
Despite denials from the company CEO, Thorsten Heins, that the company is in a death spiral, analysts have begun to speculate on who could step in and acquire the company if the new platform fails to halt a slide in market share.
One potential buyer could be Samsung, the world’s largest manufacturer of smartphones, according to investment firm Jefferies. The company’s analysts said in a report that they believe Samsung walked away from earlier talks with RIM but is still considering a BlackBerry 10 licensing deal and that BlackBerry 10 was unlikely to meet RIM’s expectations.
“We see significant potential for [BlackBerry 10], and it certainly is a vast improvement over BB7,” the analysts, headed by equity analyst Peter Misek, wrote in an Aug. 7 report. “However, we believe it is highly unlikely that it will be an improvement over iOS 6 and about equal to Android 4.1. Therefore, we see little chance RIM can take share away from Apple with BB10.”