BlackBerry 10's New Features Shown Off; Jury Still Out

At the company's BlackBerry Jam developers conference, RIM gave developers an update about BB10, which carries the hope that RIM can return to old glory. The short news is that the OS is still very much in development and the key features are met with doubt and, in some instances, with the conclusion that RIM is building functionality no one needs.

The profiles are completely separate and even use separate ways to access RIM's application store. The big news for Calendar is that it now interfaces with social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. BBM gets an interface described as "one-thumb navigation", which plays into the successful history of BlackBerry phones when they were especially useful when used with just one hand. BBM also got a dedicated emoticon key, if that is important for you.

Much of BB10 seems to be revealing how RIM is trying how to create a consumer/business devices from the perspective of a business user, while its competition has consumer devices that are moving into the business world. RIM believes that BB10 will be key for RIM to establish itself as the third-largest smartphone platform. BB10 needs to be much more disruptive and revolutionary than what the company offers today.

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Wolfgang Gruener
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Wolfgang Gruener is an experienced professional in digital strategy and content, specializing in web strategy, content architecture, user experience, and applying AI in content operations within the insurtech industry. His previous roles include Director, Digital Strategy and Content Experience at American Eagle, Managing Editor at TG Daily, and contributing to publications like Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware.