Compiled by Andrew Schopp
Research in Motion has placed all its chips on the release of the new BlackBerry 10 smartphone and operating platform.
Once the pinnacle of the mobile communications industry, Waterloo-based RIM has struggled to keep pace with the hipper and more user-friendly iPhone and Android smart phones.
In the release of RIM’s second-quarter results, the company posted a $235 million loss.
“The street is largely giving RIM a pass on this quarter as it readies the important BlackBerry 10 launch,” Edward Jones analyst Bill Jones told The New York Times.
The BB 10 will feature the BlackBerry Hub, which will combine e-mail, social media and text messages to one screen. COURTESY WIKICOMMONS
“The fact of the matter is that the company has really placed its bets on BlackBerry 10.”
The BlackBerry 10 will feature a redesigned operating system, implementing full touch screen control.
RIM said in a press release that the new operating system will provide users with a stronger app platform.
Apps have proven to be a vital selling point for smartphones, a department that the BlackBerry 10 hopes to improve upon.
The BlackBerry 10 platform has developers excited to create “apps that engage and delight customers,” according to a RIM press release.
“We have a clear shot at being the No. 3 platform in the market,” said RIM CEO Thorsten Heins in a press conference at today’s BlackBerry Jam Series, in San Jose, Calif.
The Jam Series gave application developers for the new BlackBerry the opportunity to showcase their developments.
“RIM’s BlackBerry 10 mobile platform is a make-or-break event for the company,” Cowen Group Analyst Matthew Hoffman told Cnet.com.
John Jackson, mobile analyst, told Reuters it remains to be seen if the new devices will be competitive.
“The question now is whether the devices will be sufficiently competitive and that is in no small way a function of RIM’s ability to spend massive marketing dollars to cut through the competitive noise,” he said.