Research in Motion launches BlackBerry 10, changes corporate name

Research in Motion launched the highly-anticipated makeover of its mobile operating system, BlackBerry 10, and two new smartphones at a press event in New York City on Wednesday.

RIM kicked off the launch event with endorsements from professionals around the world. The company says it went on a world tour to talk to developers about the BB10.

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins took to the stage to unveil the BB10's final features and the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10, which will be the first to run exclusively on the BB10 OS.

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BlackBerry unveils new phones

"This is one of the biggest launches in our industry and today is not the finish line, it's the starting line," said CEO Heins.

BB10 has a feature called Balance, which is geared toward professionals who use their devices for personal use and work by using swipe gestures to switch between "work" and "personal" profiles. RIM boasts that businesses can keep data secure without forcing employees to carry two mobile devices.

BB10 launches with over 70,000 applications, including Skype, Amazon Kindle and WhatsApp. BlackBerry Messenger also gets a big update. The chat client now offers video chatting and BBM Screen Share - a feature that lets users share their entire screens over BBM.

BlackBerry Flow was also unveiled. The feature allows users to move seamlessly between apps by using swipe gestures instead of a home button.

Heins also announced that RIM is changing its name from "Research in Motion" to "BlackBerry." According to CNBC, the new Nasdaq ticker symbol will be BBRY.

Heins surprised audiences when he announced that singer Alicia Keys has been named the company's new Global Creative Director, saying that Keys has been in a "long-term relationship" with the BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Z10 is a touchscreen device running on BB10, has a 4.2-inch 1,280 x 768 touchscreen display with a 356 pixel density, front- and rear-facing cameras and comes in black and white. BlackBerry Q10 will keep a full QWERTY keyboard and has a 3.1-inch display. Both devices have 4G LTE capabilities.

• MoneyWatch: Alicia Keys, new BlackBerrys fail to impress
• CNET Review: BlackBerry 10 OS
• CNET Review: BlackBerry Z10

U.S. wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile will be announcing pre-registration and price plans today. The white version of the Z10 will be exclusive to Verizon and will cost $199 with a two-year contract. AT&T says it will announce pricing and availability in the coming weeks.

BlackBerry Z10 will be not be available in the U.S. until March. The United Kingdom will be able to purchase the smartphone on tomorrow, Canada on Feb. 5, and United Arab Emirates on Feb. 10. There are no details on a release date or price for the BlackBerry Q10.

[Z_Krauss]

For the teckies,here is a complete list of technical info that will complete the description given above: http://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Products/BlackBerry-Z10/

[Ed217]

While it may do well in the corporate niche world, the question is how long that will last.

The Smartphone market is going in the direction of being able to do more and more things from a single device. RIM is way behind in this area. It hasn't and likely wont be able to compete with iPhone and Droid products here.

I don't see people wanting to carry 2 devices with them - one for business stuff and the second for everything else all their friends and family do with the other. Eventually they will only carry one, and this seems a hard sell for RIM.

[greywords]

For BlackBerry, this is the time
Shed "Research in Motion" as grime
But what's in a name?
Will all stay the same?
The emp'rors new clothes are sublime

[hawkman1001-2009]

The BlackBerry 10 is a great phone that will do well.

Even my 16-year-old son is starting to talk about wanting one. iPhones and Androids are so yesterday.

I really had to laugh about BlackBerry "only" having 70,000 apps. How many could you possibly need and use on your own phone? The initial reviews are very positive, and very soon Blackberry technology will once again rule the smartphone world.

[Tyler__]

Some people might decide to count Blackberry out of the smartphone race due to issues that have plagued their brand in the past - things like their major decline in market share, "outdated" technology, and lack of apps. But looking only to the past is lazy and it is exactly how RIM almost sunk their own ship.

RIM was obviously complacent with respect to iPhone and Android - they were asleep at the switch and failed to immediately recognize/acknowledge/respond to the advantages that these two platforms had over their own.

But the past is yesterday, BB10 is today. The fact is that the Blackberry user experience is now on-par with iPhone and Android and it offers several significant innovations unique to BB10. Each platform will still have its own specific benefits, but they are all on the same playing field.

Anyone who thinks that Apple or Google are too successful to see a decline in market share need only to look at what happened to RIM. Five years ago RIM had everything to lose and they became a victim of their own success. Today, Blackberry has everything to gain. They have walked through "the valley of death" while developing BB10 and they are now poised to reap the rewards.

Consider this - Blackberry could quadruple their sales in the U.S. and it wouldn't even make a dent in the Apple/Google market share. Who wants an Apple/Google duopoly anyways?

[jgg000010]

the stock went down 12% today and dropped another 2% in after hours trading. Not a good sign.

[hawkman1001-2009]

The stock went down because stock market bottom feeders were taking their profits and moving on. The stock has more than doubled since October. Anybody who bought in at six dollars last year and sold in the last few days made a very good profit.

[stupa5]

Hosers are on their way out like the Horse & Buggy!

[EFPDX]

I think there is still a market niche for Blackberry. Whether or not they can survive long enough to fill it is another question.

There are still some of us out there who use their smartphones almost exclusively for business applications and have little interest in the miriad number of primarily "entertainment oriented" functions or Apps. marketed by the industry leaders.

For some of us it is about less, not more, so if the Blackberry 10 turns out to be a purely business oriented tool, but with the clean lines, intuitive user interface and operational efficiency of its competitors it may survive (albeit with a small market share). If not, it will be dead in the water.

[unlockworldwide]

Agreed; still a niche aimed at serious users who are unfazed by ONLY 70K apps.
Many of those serious users are in the emerging economies where the use of smartphone technology offers millions (think away from the big conurbations) their first opportunity to exploit banking services, to circumvent middle men in commercial transactions and even access education and healthcare. That's a serious and sizeable market.

Where I am less optimistic is in RIM's ability to survive longterm against rivals who benefit from diversified revenue stream. Apple have Mac's and iTunes. Samsung sell us TV's and Fridge Freezers. Google control our life and Microsoft ..... have Steve Balmer who still wastes lots of money.

I see the BlackBerry approaching an attractive ripeness whose pheromones attract suitors. Look out for wise men from the East bearing incense, frankincense and myrrh. Do not take your eyes off the Jeff Bezos; he may look hobbit-like but he could make an Amazon of the pubescent BlackBerry.

Yes I called them RIM. Based upon the BBX saga I want confirmation that BBRY will not generate lawsuits. After all, anyone naming Alicia Keys as Global Creative Director MUST still suffer from systemic hubris.

[jcmiller555]

The name change to "BlackBerry" is good because people will be able to accurately say "BlackBerry went bankrupt."

[JimmyKick]

People still have their blackberries?