RIM has changed its name to BlackBerry, accompanying the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 operating system with a radical name ditching.
RIM, which stood for Research In Motion, is now officially re-monikered BlackBerry — a name change that makes sense as BlackBerry phones are exactly what the company makes, and has made for years.
Big cheese Thorsten Heins debuted the new-but-familiar name, saying, “We are BlackBerry everywhere in the world.”
RI… sorry, BlackBerry revealed the new name at the organisation’s launch shindig for its two new phones, the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10.
The Z10 is a touchscreen-only mobile that to my eye has been taking design tips from Apple’s iPhone. The Q10 will be more familiar to long-time BlackBerry owners, as it retains the physical keyboard underneath the screen.
Both devices are running on BlackBerry 10, a new operating system that BlackBerry hopes will have Android, iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone quaking in their boots.
New features include the ability to ‘peek’ at your email inbox by dragging your finger from the left of the screen, but there’s a question mark over whether the operating system will have enough apps to prove a compelling alternative.
Will BlackBerry 10 take off, or is it too little too late from the newly-named BlackBerry? Let me know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.