RIM unveils BlackBerry OS 6 with iPhone-like multitouch

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Set to arrive in the third quarter of 2010, Research in Motion's new BlackBerry 6 mobile operating system will feature multitouch input for its Web browser, e-mail, media player and more, with iPhone-like features such as pinch-to-zoom.



RIM provided a sneak peek of BlackBerry 6 at WES 2010, the annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium for BlackBerry users. A video demonstrated flipping through album art, pinch-to-zoom on images, typing, and making calls -- all with a touchscreen.



New features shown in the debut video include contextual pop-ups, a cover flow-like feature in the integrated media player, and a new WebKit-based Web browser that includes support for tabs. The video also pushes the social networking capabilities of the device, with integration with Facebook and Twitter.



Though the video focuses on the touch capabilities of BlackBerry 6, all of the features will also become available on RIM's other non-touch handsets as well. The company plans to update many of its existing line of phones to the new operating system, but has conceded that not all devices will receive an update.



Officials at the WES 2010 keynote said that RIM has redesigned all of the core applications within the BlackBerry operating system. It also revealed that there are 41 million BlackBerry users, and 90 million BlackBerrys have been sold to date. Co-CEO Mike Lazardis said he expects his company to reach the 100 million milestone soon.







RIM has touted the operating system upgrade as an "all-new user experience." The company had already announced on Monday that BlackBerry 6 would be available in the third quarter of calendar 2010, but did not include any details on the software.



The BlackBerry follows the already-released Google Nexus One, along with Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Phone 7, in offering multitouch capabilities on a mobile device, years after Apple pioneered the input method with the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007.



It is rumored that the addition of multitouch functionality to the Google Android-powered Nexus One smartphone, via a software update, is what prompted Apple to sue the handset's manufacturer, HTC. Apple has accused HTC of violating 20 patents it owns that are in use in the iPhone.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 76
    I am well-familiar with RIM's Handsets in our organization and while they do email well they have only slowly evolved their handsets and the richness of the interface. They have a long tradition (like Windows updates) of showing flashy videos of things to come while what arrives is always behind the times and stodgy, with no eye in the details.
  • Reply 2 of 76
    dkwalsh4dkwalsh4 Posts: 178member
    Just curious as to how long the iPhone has had multi-touch?
  • Reply 3 of 76
    jupiteronejupiterone Posts: 1,564member
    It's surprising that they titled this "All New User Experience", then had three different people dancing to a song that had to be "bleeped" several times.....but barely showed the actual user experience. Yeah a few things swiped and a couple of virtual keyboard taps, but in the grand scheme of things, what was all new about it?
  • Reply 4 of 76
    what an absurd, tacky, hilarious ad!!!
  • Reply 5 of 76
    swingeswinge Posts: 110member
    Nothing screams "hopelessly uncool" like a quick-cut ad with the Black Eyed Peas doing the soundtrack.



    With Palm out of the picture (at least for now) and the new Verizon Droid going keyboardless, Blackberry seems like the biggest player in the physical keyboard category of smart phones.... There's a large category of people who still demand physcial keyboards (sadly my GF is one of them). Would have been a lot more effective for RIM to highlight what makes them different instead of looking like hacky copiers of the iPhone.
  • Reply 6 of 76
    swingeswinge Posts: 110member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DKWalsh4 View Post


    Just curious as to how long the iPhone has had multi-touch?



    Since the very beginning. ....



    First demo-ed in January of 2007, released later that summer.
  • Reply 7 of 76
    djbetadjbeta Posts: 30member
    Too funny, one of the lines in the song is "I'm so 2008!"



    LOL LOL LOL oh man..
  • Reply 8 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DKWalsh4 View Post


    Just curious as to how long the iPhone has had multi-touch?



    ...And Blackberry's Touch experience is HORRIBLE on the Storm which they did not improve AT ALL with Storm 2 - - It feels like their engineers have no experience in this area.
  • Reply 9 of 76
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    So are RIM mocking the use of a virtual keyboard on their own hardware?
  • Reply 10 of 76
    monstrositymonstrosity Posts: 2,234member
    That video makes me cringe.
  • Reply 11 of 76
    echosonicechosonic Posts: 462member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by djbeta View Post


    Too funny, one of the lines in the song is "I'm so 2008!"



    LOL LOL LOL oh man..



    "I'm so Three Thousand and Eight, you're so Two Thousand and late..."



    Don't bag on the peas folks.



    If somebody called you up and said "I'll give you 100k to use your song in a commercial for our new phone" you'd take that money in a heartbeat.
  • Reply 12 of 76
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    I was getting a headache from the constant motion behind the graphics.



    Unleash the lawyers, Apple!
  • Reply 13 of 76
    williamgwilliamg Posts: 322member
    <yawn>



    "Me too" all the way.



    What's next, they gonna use multitasking as some sort of a bragging point?
  • Reply 14 of 76
    pathetic



    i got to 0:49 and had to stop watching that mess
  • Reply 15 of 76
    zoolookzoolook Posts: 657member
    Oh dear, what a terrible video.



    Interface looks nice, and they've copied the touch features almost perfectly. Welcome to 2007 RIM.



    Joking aside, I have a BlackBerry for work as well as my iPhone... I won't be upgrading.
  • Reply 16 of 76
    swingeswinge Posts: 110member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by echosonic View Post


    "I'm so Three Thousand and Eight, you're so Two Thousand and late..."



    Don't bag on the peas folks.



    If somebody called you up and said "I'll give you 100k to use your song in a commercial for our new phone" you'd take that money in a heartbeat.



    PLEASE. The thing with "the Peas" is that they've taken money for everything. I think this SNL skit says it all: http://www.hulu.com/watch/2360/satur...k-eyed-peas-ad



    They're done. Will I Am needs a career change.
  • Reply 17 of 76
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Wow! I wasn't expecting that video to be so horrible. Talk about lame. Looks like the classic example of putting someone in charge of making a video who has no experience in marketing or media design. Just awful.
  • Reply 18 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    RIM has touted the operating system upgrade as an "all-new user experience."



    OMFG... just be honest RIM... "we attempted to capture everything that's great about the iPhone and rebrand it as ours". GTFOH



    I simply don't understand why Apple seems to be the only company innovating. Why wouldn't RIM sit down and attempt to create a better way, a new way, a creative way to interact with the phone? Once again, Apple innovates while other companies follow along. No wonder Apple defends it's patents with such vigor.
  • Reply 19 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    RIM has touted the operating system upgrade as an "all-new user experience."



    "All-new" to the Blackberry user.
  • Reply 20 of 76
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by swinge View Post


    PLEASE. The thing with "the Peas" is that they've taken money for everything. I think this SNL skit says it all: http://www.hulu.com/watch/2360/satur...k-eyed-peas-ad



    They're done. Will I Am needs a career change.



    Brings new focus to bear on the original title of their song "Let's Get Retarded".
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