Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been waiting for RIM to make a complete comeback, and today at BlackBerry Jam they’ve been showing off what’s been brewing in RIM’s world. BlackBerry 10 has leaked a plenty but today right on stage they showed off all sorts of exciting new things. BlackBerry Hub, their new Peek notification system (which rocks) and now they’ve announced carrier testing is on track for October.

After RIM’s CEO stated BB10 wasn’t where he wanted it, and that he could still “see the seams” in the OS, they feel like they’ve got a complete product now that is worth giving to the world. Today on stage during BlackBerry Jam the new CEO Thorsten Heins has just confirmed what we all were wondering — BlackBerry 10 is on track for October.

Not only is it on track, but carrier testing is finally ready and will begin in late October. From there Heins stated that their official launch is still slated for early next year, which makes sense considering carriers won’t even begin their testing stages until next month. Then you’ll have Verizon adding in all their content and additional bloatware features, and all the carriers making their unique marks to the offering.

He then went on to state that the level of optimism and excitement from the providers was higher than expected, and that carriers all are moving forward and accepting BB10. We aren’t sure what all is planned, but Android and iOS sure haven’t been slowing down anytime soon so they’d better hurry. Check out more on BB10 below.

RIM: BlackBerry 10 carrier testing begins next month is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

RIM has had to deal with a few big names leaving their BlackBerry apps behind, but it’s managed to keep four of the biggest on board for its forthcoming BlackBerry 10 devices. That includes Facebook, which will have a native app that RIM revealed for the first time at today’s BlackBerry Jam Americas conference. Not surprisingly, the app itself doesn’t look a whole lot different than the Facebook apps for Android or iOS, but it is fully integrated with the OS and promises to take advantage of the new Flow interface and features like the BlackBerry Hub. What’s more, while it didn’t demo them today, RIM also confirmed that BB10-specific LinkedIn, Twitter and Foursquare apps will also be available at launch.

Update: RIM did later give a quick demo of the Foursquare app (pictured after the break), which it says was able to be ported to BB10 in a week by just two developers.

Continue reading RIM shows off native Facebook and Foursquare apps for BlackBerry 10, confirms Twitter and LinkedIn for launch

Filed under: Cameras, Mobile

RIM shows off native Facebook and Foursquare apps for BlackBerry 10, confirms Twitter and LinkedIn for launch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM CEO and possible Bond villain Thorstein Heins gave the world its best look at BlackBerry 10 today; while previous demos had focused on the camera and keyboard, this morning focused on even more everyday features. It looks like it does some things very well—and that they’re not the things you’d care about. More »

Today RIM and BlackBerry is showing off their new and improved mobile operating system in BlackBerry 10 — better known as BB10. Today at BlackBerry Jam (yes that’s the name) they’ve been sharing all sorts of details about a better and faster system, seamless user experiences and more. One feature that was surely worth mentioning was “peek” where you simply slide up from the bottom bezel to get a peek at your entire BlackBerry Hub.

We’ve seen bits and pieces of BB10 leak out over the past few months, but today they’ll be showing plenty of new features off to developers and fans alike as BBJam continues. With their new “peek” feature you simply can see any and all notifications — everything that is important to you — with one seamless gesture all with one hand. While on the go simply slide up with your thumb from the bottom of the screen and walla. From their wherever you are, whatever window you’re in, zooms out into a full notification peek.

It’s here in this “peek” they are calling BlackBerry Peek where you’ll see every notification from your BlackBerry Hub. Now what is BlackBerry Hub? One centralized locations for your Email, Gmail, Twitter, FaceBook, BB Messenger, Text messages and more. The image above shows all the notifications in one after you’ve gestured up to reveal peek mode. From there you can simply slide to the side to enter the Hub — from anywhere in the OS.

In general RIM is calling this BlackBerry Flow. The entire user interface and UX flows with ease. They want the experience to be as seamless and as natural as possible, predicting what you’re about to do next. They’ll be showing tons on the predictive text of their keyboard, browser speeds and more so stay tuned.

BlackBerry 10 Peek finesses notifications is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

At today’s RIM event, the BlackBerry maker gave us a closer look at BB10, with CEO Thorsten Heins talking up the operating system as “all about getting things done” and coining the interface “BlackBerry Flow.” He demoed a new Peek feature that lets users access the message notifications screen with a right angle gesture. The function can be used in any app: performing the swipe takes users to the BlackBerry Hub where they can view Tweets, messages and other notifications. There’s also a new clock and alarm system, which works by the user holding their fingertip on the bezel and sliding it to the appropriate time to set an alarm.

There’s also the business-friendly Balance feature we already knew about, which will let users’ IT departments access corporate email and perform remote wipe without affecting the rest of the phone. With Balance, BlackBerry phones essentially have two profiles, one secured for the work environment and one for personal use. It just so happens that we already got a hands-on look at the software running on a Dev Alpha B handset: take a look here.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile

RIM puts BlackBerry 10 on display: new alarm, Peek gesture and more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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