Thorsten Heins, president and chief executive officer of BlackBerry, presents the company's new phones: BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry Q10 at its launch in New York City January 30, 2013. Credit: Courtesy Hartmann Studios/BlackBerry/Flickr
Start cracking those thumbs, because the Blackberry is back. Research in Motion, the Canadian company behind Blackberry, unveiled its new operating system today. In an effort to compete directly with Apple and other smartphone manufacturers, it rolled out two phone models, the Z10 and the Q10.
The Z10 is more in the vein of an iPhone, with a fully functional touch screen and no physical keys. It also possesses software which learns the way users type, and thus their mistakes, as a means to anticipate and fix them later. The Q10 may be the choice for Blackberry purists, as it retains the cherished keyboard so many preferred to typing clumsily onto a screen. But are there even any Blackberry purists left? The smartphone industry has been charging ahead for years, and Research in Motion has stood completely still. In an effort to consolidate the brand, Research in Motion changed its name to Blackberry.
But is all of this too little too late? Is it possible for the once king of cell phones to work its way back up from fifth place? Where does your loyalty stand at this point? Will you shirk your iPhone for the longer battery life of a Blackberry? Have you kissed the keyboard goodbye, or are you aching for another round of Blackberry thumb? How are the reviews of the new phones thus far? Are rumors of Blackberry’s death greatly exaggerated?
Guest:
Andrea Chang, technology reporter for the Los Angeles Times covering the new Blackberry