BlackBerry 10 Unveiled, With Company Name Change

BlackBerry launched its comeback effort Wednesday with a revamped platform and a pair of sleek new handsets, along with a company name change as part of a move to reinvent the smartphone maker.

Published

4 months ago

Categories

Technology

Topics

Technology

People

Thorsten Heins

Places

Canada, United States of America, New York

Companies

Research In Motion Ltd

Transcript

SHOTLIST: NEW YORK, JANUARY 30, 2013, SOURCE: HANDOUT **NO RESALE for non-editorial purposes** SOUNDBITE 1 Thorstein Heins (man), President and CEO, Research in Motion (English, 19 sec): "And now we intend as RIM to lead the move from mobile communications to mobile computing, to true mobile computing." SOUNDBITE 2 Thorstein Heins (man), President and CEO, Research in Motion (English, 6 sec): "We expect the availability with most US carriers for the BlackBerry Z10 to be in March." - Thorstein Heins and video of people counting up to 10 to unveil the two new BlackBerry devices, the Q10 and the Z10 - VAR of the demonstration of the keyboard functions -------------------- AFP TEXT STORY Canada-US-telecom-company-RIM,newseries-2ndlead BlackBerry 10 unveiled, with company name change by John Biers =(PICTURE)= ATTENTION - UPDATES throughout, ADDS comments, UPDATES share price /// NEW YORK, Jan 30, 2013 (AFP) - BlackBerry launched its comeback effort Wednesday with a revamped platform and a pair of sleek new handsets, along with a company name change as part of a move to reinvent the smartphone maker. Canadian-based Research in Motion said it had changed its name to BlackBerry as it launched the BlackBerry 10, the new platform aimed at helping the firm regain traction in a market now dominated by rivals. "From this point forward RIM becomes BlackBerry," chief executive Thorsten Heins told a glitzy unveiling in New York, one of six global events for the product launch. "It is one brand, it is one promise." The company presented two new devices for its new platform, one with a physical keyboard called the Q10, and a touchscreen handset dubbed Z10. The new BlackBerry "will transform mobile communications into true mobile computing," Heins said. "Today is a brand new day in the history of BlackBerry." The launch is seen as critical to BlackBerry, which had been the dominant smartphone maker before Apple launched its iPhone and others began using the Google Android operating system. The immediate response from several leading technology industry observers was praise of the device's sleek appearance and impressive features. But some noted that the smartphone market is a busy and cutthroat competitive space and questioned whether BlackBerry could make a significant dent. Shares in RIM were off 6.6 percent at mid-day. The renamed company's new stock tickers take effect Feb. 4, according to a news release. The new device will be avaialbe as soon as Thursday in some markets, but not until mid-March in the key US market. Heins told a news conference that the reason for the delay in the US is "a rather lengthy" testing process with phone carriers. Heins said there was no "one size fits all" price for all conditions because the phone is available at different rates in different countrides. Verizon, a leading US provider, is currently marketing the phone in the US for $199 with a two-year plan. RIM says the all-new system will break new ground by allowing customers to flip between applications seamlessly and without first passing through a home page, to boost efficiency and multitasking. Another key asset of BlackBerry 10 is what RIM dubbed the "BlackBerry balance," a system that allows users to separate professional communications and applications from music, photographs and other personal items. Such an option means that if a user changes job, his or her former company can disable the device's corporate side without affecting personal data. The new device also starts with some 70,000 applications, including prominent offerings like Amazon's Kindle and LinkedIn. BlackBerry has traditionally enjoyed a strong client base among corporate clients because of the system's superior security. Heins said security would remain a strength because companies could put a user's professional content behind a firewall. The company plans to offer a range of different security levels based on customer preference. Besides corporate clients, BlackBerry is targeting creative entrpreneurs and women, especially working mothers who lead a busy life. To that end, the company appointed pop star Alicia Keys as global creative director. Keys appeared at Wednesday's launch where she praised the phone for its "incredible" capacity to bridge the gap between family and professional uses. Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum, praised the new BlackBerry offering as "a differentiated user experience in today's crowded and homogenous smartphone market" But the company will be challenged to appeal to consumers who have already opted for other smartphones, he said. BlackBerry, Leach predicted, "will become a niche player in the smartphone market" in the long-term. Tech analyst Jeff Kagan said in a note that he was impressed with the lofty number of applications and the overall impression of the device. But Kagan said it was too soon to say if BlackBerry 10 will emerge as a major competitor to Apple and Google. "This is the first step in Blackberry's recovery and I think they did a good job so far, but there are still so many more steps," Kagan said. "We'll have to wait and see, but so far, so good." According to research firm IDC, BlackBerry's share of the global smartphone market slipped to 4.7 percent in 2012, to 68 percent for Android and 18.8 percent for Apple's iOS. jmb/rl/jm