NEW YORK – Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled its new, versatile BlackBerrys after excruciating delays allowed Apple, Samsung and others to build commanding leads in an industry that is redefining society. But the first phone won’t come out in the United States until March, and one with a physical keyboard will take at least a month longer.
The stock fell 12 percent after Wednesday’s kickoff, despite mostly positive reviews about the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. There is concern the phone isn’t coming out sooner, and there is worry that BlackBerry 10′s advances won’t be enough to turn the company around.
In a move underscoring the stakes riding on its make-or-break product lineup, RIM used the occasion to announce that it is changing its name to BlackBerry. The pioneering brand lost its cachet not long after Apple’s 2007 release of the iPhone, which reset expectations for what a smartphone should do.
Pioneered in 1999, BlackBerry became a game-changing breakthrough in personal connectedness. It changed the culture by allowing on-the-go businesspeople to access wireless email and text quickly with both thumbs on a full-range keyboard with superior encryption. President Barack Obama couldn’t bear to part with his BlackBerry. Oprah Winfrey declared it one of her “favorite things.” It was so addictive at times that it was nicknamed “the CrackBerry.”
As the BlackBerry began to cross over to consumers, rivals came out with a new generation of phones that could do more than just email and messaging, starting with the iPhone and followed by devices running Google’s Android system. It also came under pressure from various governments to provide ways to nullify its encryption.
The first device in the new crop of revamped BlackBerrys will be the Z10. As RIM previously disclosed, it will have only a touch-screen keyboard. Although the Z10 was to go on sale Thursday in the U.K. and next Tuesday in Canada, it won’t be available in the U.S. until March.
The Q10 will follow and will have a physical keyboard, a feature that has kept BlackBerry users loyal over the years because it makes typing easier. RIM said the Q10 will start going on sale on some global carriers in April.
RIM also decided to make a touch-only version first, despite its strength with physical keyboards, in hopes of luring new customers.
But RIM won’t abandon its speedy physical keyboards. The Q10 will have a square screen and sport a 35-key physical keyboard with a back light, with language-specific arrangements such as QWERTY and AZERTY, depending on the market.
The touch-screen keyboard itself promises various improvements, such as the ability to learn a person’s writing style and to suggest words and phrases to automatically complete, going beyond the mere spell correction offered by rivals.
The new BlackBerrys also are supposed to run faster and enable people to separate their professional and personal lives with a feature called Balance. They also promise to let people easily switch between multiple applications by swiping on the screen. But they won’t have a home button, which is fundamental to the iPhone.
The BlackBerrys and the new software were supposed to be released a year ago, only to be delayed while Apple and Android device makers won more zealous converts to their products. In the meantime, Microsoft Corp. rolled out a new Windows operating system for smartphones, confronting RIM with another technology powerhouse to battle.
The delays in developing the new BlackBerrys helped wipe out $70 billion in shareholder wealth and 5,000 jobs.
Regardless of BlackBerry 10′s advances, though, the new system will face a key shortcoming: It won’t have as many apps written by outside companies and individuals as the iPhone and Android.
RIM said it plans to launch BlackBerry 10 with more than 70,000 apps, and with 100,000 apps by the time it comes to the U.S. But some of those were developed for RIM’s PlayBook tablet, first released in 2011, and weren’t necessarily adapted to run on the BlackBerry 10. In addition, popular services such as Instagram and Netflix won’t have apps on BlackBerry 10.
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