As the iPhone 5 flies off the shelves and Samsung reports record profits, the boss of the firm that once ruled the smartphone roost has said in an interview that BlackBerry 10 – set for launch early next year – should not be underestimated.
With so many product launches taking place in the tech world this month, it’s not hard to think Research In Motion should be in the mix too, rolling out its new BB10 phones and next-generation mobile operating system. But, of course, it’s not. For RIM’s new offerings we still have to wait at least several more months.
The company is trying to keep itself in the picture though – lest it be completely forgotten by consumers playing with their newly acquired iPhone or Samsung device – with RIM boss Thorsten Heins giving an interview to the BBC this week, offering a glimpse of the new OS while answering a few questions about the company’s current state of affairs.
The demo – given on a Dev Alpha B device similar to the one handed out to developers earlier this year – involves a good deal of touching and swiping, as well as a little bit of ‘blending’ (check out the demo below to learn more), with Heins describing the theme of BB10 as “the integration of various applications into what we in BB10 call the BlackBerry flow…..[so there’ll be no] application grid.”
BB10 is about real-time multi-tasking, Heins said, enabling the user “to live in the multi-taking space,” making it simple to jump between running applications. He also mentioned the BlackBerry Hub, which acts as a kind of notification system that pulls in information from various apps and programs.
Too late?
Heins, it has to be said, didn’t look particularly pleased when Cellan-Jones suggested it was all coming too late, staring straight back at the BBC man with an expression that suggested he was momentarily imagining a scenario involving the interviewer, the Dev Alpha B device and a painful surgical procedure, but overall Heins was cheerful and enthusiastic throughout. And by the way, in response to the accusation that RIM has missed the boat, Heins said, “Don’t underestimate the dynamic this platform is going to create in the market.”
Interestingly, when asked about the recent NY Times article which featured people claiming to be embarrassed about getting their BlackBerry phone out in public, Heins said, “Without going into detail, I would kind of question the sources that were used for that article,” adding that, according to what he sees in markets outside the US, there’s “huge growth and huge commitment to BlackBerry.”
You can check out the interview below.
Source : digitaltrends[dot]com
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