If you thought BlackBerry could continue building hardware forever, regardless of how successful, or unsuccessful - as the case may be - that hardware was, then it appears that you would be wrong.
Research In Motion, a company known for its once market-leading BlackBerry range, has rebranded itself by the name of its main outlet, and its first move under its new BlackBerry moniker has been to announce the Z10 smartphone. Research In Motion, often referred to under the acronym RIM, has been working hard over the past couple of years to rebuild its BlackBerry brand, which has been left behind by the likes of Apple's iPhone and the plethora of Android handsets which now dominate the market. The Z10 certainly looks a promising device, having fared favorably against the iPhone 5 in a brief test, and it will be interesting to see whether a new company name, and a new device, will trigger a comeback for BlackBerry.
Keen to show businesses that there is a world outside BlackBerry Enterprise Server, Samsung has aired a new ad that it believes shows its own business solution as a real competitor for RIM's. It may have fallen wide off the mark, however.
If you pulled together a focus group of average smartphone users and gathered their thoughts on the platforms which they believe are most relevant at the current time, then it is unlikely that BlackBerry and RIM would get a significant mention. There was a time when RIM were on top of the world and riding on the crest of a wave, but the emergence of iOS and Android as well as some killer underlying hardware from Apple and other manufacturers has seemingly put an end to that.
So, BlackBerry World has happened, during which RIM unveiled the new BlackBerry 10 OS. It has been in the works for some time, and yet it still feels unfinished. Before I proceed with this any further, let me quickly go over the highlights of the new OS: The keyboard is pretty neat; they did something innovative where it learns how you type, and offers suggestions that you can swipe upwards to take advantage of. You can also swipe across the keyboard to delete words that you've already typed. The second main "innovation" is with the camera; you can take a photo and it will help you select the right moment by scrolling a bit forward or backward in a small period of time, so you can ensure that everyone has their eyes open in the photo.
That big anti-Apple advertising campaign that has been going on in Australia we were telling you about the other day? You know, the one that Samsung was quick to deny was its own doing? The same one that Macworld began pointing fingers at RIM about? Turns out it was the Canadian BlackBerry maker all along.
Samsung ChatON App Now Available For BlackBerry, Android Version Updated For Tablets – Download Now!
Samsung's entry into the mobile chat arena, ChatON is now available on all BlackBerry devices. To add to its Android compatibility, Samsung has also brought a tablet optimized version to the Google Play market which offers an improved experience for those using tablets powered by the Ice Cream Sandwich and Honeycomb flavors of Android.
So here we are, the last day of my look into the future. A look at what the big boys of the smartphone world will be doing, as well as what I think they should be doing, throughout 2012.
Just when the world was starting to lose hope in RIM’s first attempt to take on the tablet market with the BlackBerry PlayBook, a tool – which is the first one ever of its kind – has popped up in the interwebs which jailbreaks the said device.
It's really not a great time to be involved with Research In Motion. Take the company's tablet, for instance, the PlayBook was announced to much fanfare not that long ago, and after its release, some people went and bought one, not a lot, but some. Now the Canadian firm has had to delay the next big software update for the PlayBook, and things are getting worse for the beleaguered company.
