Tag: bb10

Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion has already provided developers with the possibility to start building applications for its upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system, and it is now promising a final flavor of its development tools for early December. 

According to the handset vendor, developers will be provided with a new flavor of the BlackBerry 10 SDK on November 29, while the Gold version of the kit will arrive on December 11.

The company is focusing on bringing developers into the fold, offering a wide variety of tools such as HTML5, native C++, and even Java, to fill up the BlackBerry App World with high-quality apps and games.

RIM clearly understands that apps can make or break an ecosystem — just ask webOS — and it’s working hard to woo developers back from Android and Apple.

The company apparently learned from the recent release of Windows Phone 8 as well. With WP8, Microsoft angered legions of would-be developers when it didn’t bother to release a final SDK until the day after the official launch of the mobile operating system.

RIM will officially launch Blackberry 10 on 30th January. 

Research In Motion is confident its new BlackBerry 10 devices will be 100 percent ready for the January 30 launch and available in stores “not too long after” that, Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear said on Tuesday.

[quote]”We’re working hard right now to make sure all the bits and pieces and all the details are in place for the date, when the devices will be available for consumers and enterprises,” Tear told Reuters in an interview.[/quote]

RIM, which virtually invented the concept of mobile email with its first line of BlackBerry devices more than a decade ago, was roundly criticized for the botched 2011 launch of its PlayBook tablet computer, which RIM had hoped would compete with Apple’s blockbuster iPad.

The PlayBook looked pretty and had top-of-the-line hardware. But its software was far from complete at the launch and needed multiple updates. The device also lacked the library of apps available on the iPad and on devices that run on Google Inc’s competing Android operating system.

RIM says its the new  Blackberry 10 devices will be faster and smoother than its existing phones and have a large catalog of applications that are crucial to the success of any smartphone.

The company hopes the new devices will allow it to claw back some of the market share it has lost to Android and Apple phones.

Tear said RIM has used input from current BlackBerry users to influence the design of the new devices, The new phones both build on the strengths of RIM’s existing operating system and improve on its weak points, he said.

RIM last month began carrier testing on the new  Blackberry 10 devices, with an initial rollout to more than 50 carriers. Tear, who joined RIM a few months ago from Sony Mobile Communications, said RIM was expanding that to a wider group of carriers across the globe.

January 30th is about 2.5 months away. The countdown begins.

[Reuters]