RIM: first BlackBerry 10 devices to focus on mid-range and up, entry-level may be ready in 2013

BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha B

RIM’s Q2 earnings details have had a common theme of a silver lining to darker clouds, and that edge may have grown a bit brighter with hints of the company’s longer-term BlackBerry 10 roadmap. When asked about the release strategy, CEO Thorsten Heins said that the first BB10 devices would focus on both the mid-range and high-end of the market, a bit wider than the chiefly high-end approach that has been rumored so far. While shy on details, he confirmed that the full-touch smartphone would have a screen with an HD resolution — that’s higher than on the iPhone 5, the executive was eager to point out. More intriguingly, Heins teased the prospect of an entry-level BB10 device arriving as soon as 2013. Although development was in the early stages, the new starter phone just might be ready next year if all goes well. There’s a lot of questions left to answer about RIM’s strategy, so we won’t get too excited yet; even so, the statements are signs that the BlackBerry designer doesn’t want to leave any product gaps open for very long.

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RIM: first BlackBerry 10 devices to focus on mid-range and up, entry-level may be ready in 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Messenger for BlackBerry 10 gets a possible first sighting, themes to fit that chatty lifestyle

BlackBerry Messenger for BlackBerry 10 gets a possible outing, themes to fit your chatty lifestyle

It was scarcely a day ago that we got a first peek at what could be the first BlackBerry 10 devices — and now we’re looking at what may be BlackBerry 10’s cornerstone app, a reworked BlackBerry Messenger. As long as N4BB‘s details prove legitimate, the centerpiece of the app will be its theming: owners can customize the chat bubbles and backdrops to fit their finicky ways. Of course, this being an efficiency-obsessed RIM, the theming should also be integral to keeping power consumption to a minimum: the darker the colors, the less energy a BBM conversation demands from a future BlackBerry’s big OLED screen. We don’t know whether any changes will prove more than skin deep, although the switch to the QNX-based OS might prove enough at first. We’ll know everything soon enough should of a September release for the first phone be more than just a feverish dream.

BlackBerry Messenger for BlackBerry 10 gets a possible first sighting, themes to fit that chatty lifestyle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 10:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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