Research In Motion’s BlackBerry OS is clearly struggling to maintain relevance in the current consumer market, but with all three of the major mobile operating systems having taken steps to implement some description of voice-recognition functionality, it appears BlackBerry will also be joining the party, too.
RIM’s ecosystem has relied heavily on its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service for purpose of marketing and general consumer interest, but with most other platforms offering something similar (Apple and iMessage, for example), the BlackBerry Team now patently recognizes the need to bring other features to the table. The voice assistant software now present in the dev alpha bears striking similarities to Apple’s Siri, as you can see from the video demonstration provided below (via iMore).
With Siri set to see big updates (as well as a wider reach) when iOS 6 comes around, and Google making a good impression with Google Now service, BlackBerry already has a great amount of catching up to so. At present, consumers are only really thinking about iOS, Android, and in good time, Windows Phone; while BlackBerry – although still commanding decent business sector numbers – is fast losing its place in an arena it once dominated.
With Windows Phone’s own voice-recognition functionality developing well, along with Samsung’s very own S Voice, it should be of little surprise BlackBerry also wants a piece of the action.
The question, at this point in time, is not so much how well the new implementation will work, but will it be enough to save RIM’s flagging mobile brand in general? The company’s complacency in recent years has certainly caught up with it, and as it rested its laurels on strong sales and a messaging service now arguably inferior to those around it, will the decision to actually innovate have come far too late?
Only time will tell whether BlackBerry 10 will rejuvenate the platform, but after such a long time sitting in the shadows behind iOS and Android, I’m not so sure it has enough about it.
I would love to hear what you think of both the voice system, and BlackBerry in general, so please feel free to leave your comments via our Facebook or Google+ pages.
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