The three new BlackBerry models from RIMResearch in Motion (RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook tablet, has launched three new phones worldwide as it tries to claw back share from Google's Android and Apple's iPhone.
The phones will all run RIM's new BlackBerry 7 operating system, the next generation from the existing BB6 OS used by other BlackBerrys, but different from the QNX OS used on the PlayBook.
Though RIM has announced five devices, two of them are simply CDMA versions of the three GSM models announced. Patrick Spence, the managing director of global sales and regional marketing, told the Guardian that there are a further two BlackBerry devices yet to be launched this year. It is not clear whether that will comprise two different phones, or a GSM and CDMA version of the same handset.
RIM has been steadily losing market share over the past two years to phones using Google's Android OS and Apple's iPhone, especially in the US, once its largest market. But it has been gaining share in other countries, notably in Europe, China and parts of Africa: in the latter two it says it has overtaken former market leader Nokia for smartphone sales.
But although RIM profits rose in the most recent quarter, the number of handsets sold fell sequentially, suggesting customers were not renewing contracts and were instead buying touch-based phones from companies such as Samsung, HTC and Apple.
Among the devices unveiled on Wednesday was an all-touch screen without a QWERTY keyboard, marking RIM's move back into all-touch displays by RIM after its efforts with the BlackBerry Storm series, which was poorly received by buyers. Spence said that all-touch devices had become an important market: "in western Europe between 60% and 70% of smartphones sold are all-touch."
RIM's customers split roughly 50-50 between business users and consumers, where the general smartphone market is split 30-70. The consumer market is larger, which has created problems for RIM in trying to expand its customer base as the iPhone and Android phones have so far proved more popular with the first wave of consumer smartphone buyers.
The devices are the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930, which feature QWERTY keyboards; the BlackBerry Torch 9810, which has a touch display and slide-out keyboard; and the Torch 9850 and 9860, which has a 3.7in all-touch display.
"This is the largest global launch of BlackBerry smartphones in our history," said RIM's co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis in a statement. "We think customers will be thrilled by the improved performance and enriched mobile experiences delivered by these powerful new smartphones."
The phones have 1.2GHz ARM architecture processors, 768MB of RAM and near-field communications built in.
BB OS7 is claimed to be up to 40% faster than BB OS6 smartphones and up to 100% faster than those using BB OS5. The displays also feature "Liquid Graphics" technology with a high pixel density of more than 250dpi.
Spence said that RIM had emphasised the browsing experience on the phones, with the inbuilt web browser optimised for speed and HTML5 handling. Unlike the PlayBook, the phones do not have any capability to play back Flash content: Spence said that "you need dual-core processors to render Flash in the way that we would want to do it. The processing power isn't there yet."
He said that the transition from BB OS6 to BB OS7 would be smooth because the newer version had been put into the hands of developers "months ago" and that making apps available on the new version would only require a recompilation in most cases.
But some businesses may hold off from committing to the new devices because RIM is expected to bring its products into line by releasing smartphones using QNX next year.
• Three, Vodafone and Virgin Media will sell the BlackBerry Torch 9810
• Vodafone will be selling the Torch 9860.
• Three will sell the BlackBerry Bold 9900: £449 PAYG or £35 per month.
More details via the RIM BB7 newsroom:
BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930: 2.8in display, 640x480, 287ppi; BB7; 8GB on-board memory; up to 40GB with micro-SD; 5MP camera, digital zoom, 720p HD video recording; Wi-Fi.
BlackBerry Torch 9810: 3.2in display, BB7, 5MP camera HD video recording, GPS, Wi-Fi, slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860: 3.7in touch display with Liquid Graphics technology, BB7, 4GB memory onboard expandable up to 36GB with micro-SD. 5MP camera, HD video recording. GPS. Wi-Fi.
The phones will all run RIM's new BlackBerry 7 operating system, the next generation from the existing BB6 OS used by other BlackBerrys, but different from the QNX OS used on the PlayBook.
Though RIM has announced five devices, two of them are simply CDMA versions of the three GSM models announced. Patrick Spence, the managing director of global sales and regional marketing, told the Guardian that there are a further two BlackBerry devices yet to be launched this year. It is not clear whether that will comprise two different phones, or a GSM and CDMA version of the same handset.
RIM has been steadily losing market share over the past two years to phones using Google's Android OS and Apple's iPhone, especially in the US, once its largest market. But it has been gaining share in other countries, notably in Europe, China and parts of Africa: in the latter two it says it has overtaken former market leader Nokia for smartphone sales.
But although RIM profits rose in the most recent quarter, the number of handsets sold fell sequentially, suggesting customers were not renewing contracts and were instead buying touch-based phones from companies such as Samsung, HTC and Apple.
Among the devices unveiled on Wednesday was an all-touch screen without a QWERTY keyboard, marking RIM's move back into all-touch displays by RIM after its efforts with the BlackBerry Storm series, which was poorly received by buyers. Spence said that all-touch devices had become an important market: "in western Europe between 60% and 70% of smartphones sold are all-touch."
RIM's customers split roughly 50-50 between business users and consumers, where the general smartphone market is split 30-70. The consumer market is larger, which has created problems for RIM in trying to expand its customer base as the iPhone and Android phones have so far proved more popular with the first wave of consumer smartphone buyers.
The devices are the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930, which feature QWERTY keyboards; the BlackBerry Torch 9810, which has a touch display and slide-out keyboard; and the Torch 9850 and 9860, which has a 3.7in all-touch display.
"This is the largest global launch of BlackBerry smartphones in our history," said RIM's co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis in a statement. "We think customers will be thrilled by the improved performance and enriched mobile experiences delivered by these powerful new smartphones."
The phones have 1.2GHz ARM architecture processors, 768MB of RAM and near-field communications built in.
BB OS7 is claimed to be up to 40% faster than BB OS6 smartphones and up to 100% faster than those using BB OS5. The displays also feature "Liquid Graphics" technology with a high pixel density of more than 250dpi.
Spence said that RIM had emphasised the browsing experience on the phones, with the inbuilt web browser optimised for speed and HTML5 handling. Unlike the PlayBook, the phones do not have any capability to play back Flash content: Spence said that "you need dual-core processors to render Flash in the way that we would want to do it. The processing power isn't there yet."
He said that the transition from BB OS6 to BB OS7 would be smooth because the newer version had been put into the hands of developers "months ago" and that making apps available on the new version would only require a recompilation in most cases.
But some businesses may hold off from committing to the new devices because RIM is expected to bring its products into line by releasing smartphones using QNX next year.
• Three, Vodafone and Virgin Media will sell the BlackBerry Torch 9810
• Vodafone will be selling the Torch 9860.
• Three will sell the BlackBerry Bold 9900: £449 PAYG or £35 per month.
More details via the RIM BB7 newsroom:
BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930: 2.8in display, 640x480, 287ppi; BB7; 8GB on-board memory; up to 40GB with micro-SD; 5MP camera, digital zoom, 720p HD video recording; Wi-Fi.
BlackBerry Torch 9810: 3.2in display, BB7, 5MP camera HD video recording, GPS, Wi-Fi, slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860: 3.7in touch display with Liquid Graphics technology, BB7, 4GB memory onboard expandable up to 36GB with micro-SD. 5MP camera, HD video recording. GPS. Wi-Fi.
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