Any doubt that the BlackBerry 10 is central to the survival of Research In Motion was likely erased on Wednesday as the company not only unveiled its new operating system and phones, but changed its corporate name to "BlackBerry," too. "We have a fantastic brand, BlackBerry, and we are known as such all over the world, except in North America," CMO Frank Boulben said in a video interview at the launch. "We wanted to take full advantage of that global, iconic brand."
"We have redefined ourselves inside and out," said CEO Thorsten Heins, speaking to launch events held across the globe from New York to Jakarta. "RIM becomes BlackBerry. It is one brand, it is one promise." He declined to specify the company's marketing spend for the corporate rebrand and a global launch of BlackBerry 10 that includes Sunday's Super Bowl ad buy, but characterized it as in the "hundreds of million dollars."
Along with a radically different operating system, the company introduced two new phones — the keyboard-equipped Q10 and the touch-screen Z10 — which employ a gesture-based interface similar to Apple's pioneering iPhone. Yet the new BlackBerry OS offers a host of distinct features.
"Flow," for instance, allows users to move between apps with the mere swipe of a finger, while "Balance" partitions users' work and personal worlds into two distinct environments, keeping data and messages in each from intermingling.
Both phones sport a sharp 4.2-inch screen display and sports 16 gigabytes of storage, a memory-card slot for expansion and front and back cameras that record in high definition (1080p back, 720p front). Popular BlackBerry Message software enables free phone and video calls while screencasting.
Other features include Story Maker, which automatically grabs photos and turns them into videos with music, and an ability to "learn" and mimic users' writing patterns. Time Shift, its photo software, allows selections to be made from a series of quickly shot images.
BlackBerry 10 will launch with 70,000 apps including Angry Birds, Skype, Yelp, Twitter, Spotify, Foursquare, Dropbox, the New York Times and Amazon Kindle, while noticeably missing are Netflix, Draw Something, Pinterest, Hipstamatic, Instagram and major airline and bank apps.
Also on offer with the new Z10 and Q10, a vast range of entertainment options, including an integrated solution for music, movies and TV shows, with major content partners including Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures, Universal Music and Warner Music Group.
The Z10 will not be available in the U.S. until March, while the United Kingdom will be able to purchase it Thursday, Canada on Feb. 5 and the United Arab Emirates on Feb. 10. Verizon will sell it for $199 on a two-year agreement, with other carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile expected to offer similar deals.
Release dates and a price for the Q10 were not given on Wednesday. Asked about the delay in rolling out the phone in the U.S.,
"I really do believe that the consumer market as a whole is ready for something new," said Kevin Burden, head of mobility at Strategy Analytics, ahead of the BB10 reveal. "I have to believe that there is some level of user fatigue that plays into the longevity of some of these platforms," he added, referring to Google Inc.'s Android and Apple's iOS, which are both more than five years old. "RIM is probably timing it right.
Any doubt that the BlackBerry 10 is central to the survival of Research In Motion was likely erased on Wednesday as the company not only unveiled its new operating system and phones, but changed its corporate name to "BlackBerry," too. "We have a fantastic brand, BlackBerry, and we are known as such all over the world, except in North America," CMO Frank Boulben said in a video interview at the launch. "We wanted to take full advantage of that global, iconic brand."
"We have redefined ourselves inside and out," said CEO Thorsten Heins, speaking to launch events held across the globe from New York to Jakarta. "RIM becomes BlackBerry. It is one brand, it is one promise." He declined to specify the company's marketing spend for the corporate rebrand and a global launch of BlackBerry 10 that includes Sunday's Super Bowl ad buy, but characterized it as in the "hundreds of million dollars."
Along with a radically different operating system, the company introduced two new phones — the keyboard-equipped Q10 and the touch-screen Z10 — which employ a gesture-based interface similar to Apple's pioneering iPhone. Yet the new BlackBerry OS offers a host of distinct features.
"Flow," for instance, allows users to move between apps with the mere swipe of a finger, while "Balance" partitions users' work and personal worlds into two distinct environments, keeping data and messages in each from intermingling.
Both phones sport a sharp 4.2-inch screen display and sports 16 gigabytes of storage, a memory-card slot for expansion and front and back cameras that record in high definition (1080p back, 720p front). Popular BlackBerry Message software enables free phone and video calls while screencasting.
Other features include Story Maker, which automatically grabs photos and turns them into videos with music, and an ability to "learn" and mimic users' writing patterns. Time Shift, its photo software, allows selections to be made from a series of quickly shot images.
BlackBerry 10 will launch with 70,000 apps including Angry Birds, Skype, Yelp, Twitter, Spotify, Foursquare, Dropbox, the New York Times and Amazon Kindle, while noticeably missing are Netflix, Draw Something, Pinterest, Hipstamatic, Instagram and major airline and bank apps.
Also on offer with the new Z10 and Q10, a vast range of entertainment options, including an integrated solution for music, movies and TV shows, with major content partners including Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures, Universal Music and Warner Music Group.
The Z10 will not be available in the U.S. until March, while the United Kingdom will be able to purchase it Thursday, Canada on Feb. 5 and the United Arab Emirates on Feb. 10. Verizon will sell it for $199 on a two-year agreement, with other carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile expected to offer similar deals.
Release dates and a price for the Q10 were not given on Wednesday. Asked about the delay in rolling out the phone in the U.S.,
"I really do believe that the consumer market as a whole is ready for something new," said Kevin Burden, head of mobility at Strategy Analytics, ahead of the BB10 reveal. "I have to believe that there is some level of user fatigue that plays into the longevity of some of these platforms," he added, referring to Google Inc.'s Android and Apple's iOS, which are both more than five years old. "RIM is probably timing it right.
