The New York Times may have called the BlackBerry “embarrassing,” but new models of the once top-selling smartphone hopes to change the mind of consumers stuck on iPhones and Androids. Research In Motion Ltd., will officially launch one of its BlackBerry 10 (not pictured in the thumbnail) phones this week, attempting to become a viable entity among its competition.
Chief executive of RIM, Thorsten Hein will reveal the new model in New York, which will be followed by a marketing campaign to include a Super Bowl ad.
What with the changing market, and constant technology upgrades RIM is in desperate need of a smartphone that will bring back the consumers it’s lost. “The old models are becoming obsolete quickly,” noted Colin Gillis, analyst for BGC Financial. “There is still a big user base but it’s going to rotate off. The question is: Where do they rotate to?”
Pushbacks of the release of BlackBerry’s 10 system has already cost the company the opportunity to cash in on the holiday season, and comes months after Apple released its iPhone 5 model.
Much about the latest product is being kept secret, but images and details of the forthcoming BlackBerry Z10 found its way to the ‘Net ahead of schedule. Crackberry.com reports:
Just two days before the big BlackBerry 10 launch event around the world, the BlackBerry Z10 has made another appearance on camera. This time things are a bit special as it’s the white variant stealing the show. We haven’t seen or heard too much on this model aside from a few renders and a peek at Verizons BB10 site, but it’s been rumored all along that both a white and black model would be available.
As of now there’s no clear victor in the smartphone industry race. Apple has even slipped in the rankings, putting up lower than expected quarterly earnings, and pulling back production of its latest model.
Click below to see images of the new and improved BlackBerry, and some of its predecessors.
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Photos: RIM/Twitter
The BlackBerry 850 introduced in 1999. Looks like a dinosaur at this point.
The Blackberry 5810 was the first model introduced by RIM with a phone functionality. This thing is huge.
The BlackBerry 6210 was introduced in 2003 as the first RIM device to combine phone functionality with email, web browsing, SMS, BlackBerry Messenger, and email without a headset. Imagine pulling this out of your pocket.
The BlackBerry 7290 released in 2005 came in Cosmos Black, Satin Blue and Steel Blue. The device was the first BlackBerry to support bluetooth.
The BlackBerry 8700 was released in 2005 and was powered by an Intel processor.
The Blackberry Pearl ushered in the switch from a side scrolling wheel to a trackball.
The BlackBerry 8800 included a new trackball and navigation.
The BlackBerry 8300 (aka BlackBerry Curve) packaged all of its amenities into a lighter device. However it still lacked WiFi, and 3G support. Major fail.
The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 was an expansion on the BB Pearl (and looked utterly ridiculous).
The BlackBerry Storm 9500 was RIM’s attempt at cashing in on the touch screen craze. Still no Wi-Fi on the phone though.
2010 brought the release of the BlackBerry Torch 9800. Yet another terrible design.
The BlackBerry Curve 9350 is the updated version of the Curve models. It features a BB OS 7, a 5 MP camera, 800 MHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 2 GB memory and a 2.44 inch display with a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels.
It still wasn’t good enough to beat iPhones or Androids. Tough break BlackBerry.
