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RIM is pulling out all the stops for the upcoming launch of its BB10 operating system. It’s punted out a press release saying it’ll be advertising the new OS during the Super Bowl, which is a pretty pricey spot to buy, from what I hear.
The press release hints a BB10 tablet could be on the way as well. So RIM certainly isn’t doing things by halves.
The press release refers to BB10 as RIM’s “new mobile computing platform that will power the next generation of smart phones and tablets”. There are no details on what to expect from a tablet, or how it’ll differ from RIM’s frankly rather disastrous PlayBook. But let’s stay positive, eh? A new tablet has to be good for competition. And BB10 does look pretty impressive so far, so maybe RIM can claw back some market share.
On the phone side, the BlackBerry Z10 will launch with BB10, alongside the X10, which will have a keyboard for bashing out important business missives. The Z10 sports a 4.2-inch touchscreen with a 1,280×768-pixel resolution, with a higher pixel-per-inch count than the iPhone 5. Inside is 2GB of RAM and 16GB of memory.
BB10 will have “tens of thousands” of apps when it launches, according to one RIM exec. The company has renamed its app emporium — now called BlackBerry World — as a sign its offerings are expanding beyond just apps to movies, games and TV shows. It could also license its BB10 OS to other manufacturers, so we could see it running on a Nokia or Samsung. Which would be pretty cool.
Many think BB10 will be make or break time for RIM, considering how it’s struggled of late. The OS has already been delayed twice. It’s set to launch on 30 January, which is Wednesday, with the Super Bowl ad airing next Sunday, 3 February. I just hope it’s better thought out than some of RIM’s previous marketing efforts.
Are you excited about BB10? Or is it too late for RIM? Let me know what you reckon in the comments, or on our Facebook page.
