The BlackBerry is trying to shake off its image as a fusty business
device but local users face a long wait before cooler versions of the
smartphone arrive in New Zealand.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) said yesterday that it was
close to introducing a new operating system for its phones which will
give them a more swept-up appearance, with new features designed to
appeal to social networkers as well as corporate high-flyers.
The new operating system, BlackBerry 6, will be released within the next
few months and is an attempt by RIM to emulate some of the
user-friendly features found in more consumer-focused smartphones,
especially Apple's iPhone.
Delegates at RIM's annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium, being held in
Orlando, Florida, this week, were given a first look at BlackBerry 6 in
the form of a music video the company also posted on YouTube.
The new operating system includes an animated graphical display, an
improved web browser, a redesigned home page and a new application that
pulls together users' news and social networking feeds.
BlackBerry
6 seems designed with a particular focus on touch-screen phones,
although RIM remains silent on whether it plans to update or replace its
only touch-enabled model, the BlackBerry Storm.
The popularity of the easy-to-use touch-screen iPhone has enabled it to
edge its way into the corporate smartphone market, an area that was
previously the domain of BlackBerry.
As a result, an RIM-organised event such as the symposium is probably
the only time the iPhone becomes conspicuous by its absence in a
gathering of several thousand business people.
RIM knows it needs to make its phones more attractive for personal and
business use if it is to reclaim ground lost to Apple in the lucrative
corporate market.
In another bid to win back style-conscious iPad defectors in the
executive classes, Rim also announced yesterday that its flagship
top-end Bold 9700 handset would soon be available in white as well as
the traditional black.
But WhiteBerries and grafted AppleBerries are likely to take some time
to arrive in New Zealand. BlackBerry 6 will be released within the next
few months, and while existing users of late-model BlackBerries are
likely to be able to download a software upgrade, new phones with the
updated operating system may take several more months to arrive in NZ.
New model BlackBerries have been slow to arrive in New Zealand recently.
Handset makers such as RIM need to forge deals with local mobile network
operators Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees before their phones are
offered to customers.