Blackberry Launches 3 New Handhelds and New OS 7

Few days ago in London, Blackberry presented ” the most important launch in Blackberry history”. Initially, I was excited to know the weapons that Blackberry will use to fight back on handheld-OS battlefield . But after what they presented, once again I felt disappointed.

In the past 2 years, Blackberry has not been able to release a very innovative product like in the old days. The company has been having internal fights towards the vision of the company, so this showoff was going to be something to talk about.

The rumors before this launching were pointing new handhelds and a brand new OS. And it was about it.

You may ask: what is the reason for my disappointment?

The first reaction when I heard that Blackberry will release a new OS was that finally they are showing something that will fight against Google Android and Apple IOS.  Instead of launching a new and very innovative OS, they released one that it is not compatible with old devices.

So you can forget about upgrading your old devices to benefit from the new OS. This means that if you really want the new BB OS7, you will have to buy a new phone. Shame on you RIM.

The second thing was about  the announcement of the new handhelds:

1. BB 9900, which was already public since march 2011. Which is the new version of one of the best handhelds released by this company: the BB Bold. The new features on the BB 9900 are: a new touchscreen, faster processor and a trackpad instead of a trackball . Of course it comes with the OS 7. Let’s see how does it do.
2. BB 9810, a brand new Torch. Really? again with this phone? it is exactly the same on the outside but has new components on the inside.
3. BB 9860, a brand new Storm. RIM, seriously, you can do better. This phone is not good when you look to its predecessor: a bad reputation due to its tricky usability and the lack of applications made for this phone.

This new releases will not stop users from migrating to other platforms like Google Android or Apple IOS, which not only offers their users state of the art handhelds but also an amazing OS with a tremendous portfolio of well designed applications. This is something that blackberry cannot compete with.

The problem here lies on the dependency on the Blackberry Messenger. RIM thinks that this still is a killer application, but they are wrong. We have seen how Applications like Whatsapp has been catching up this need of the users that don’t own a blackberry and for those who own it.

The solution is really simple. Like Steve Ballmer said “Developers, Developers, Developers”. That is what RIM should be encouraging or investing.

Finally, this show, the one that they claim to be the most important on Blackberry history will really be history if they do not come with something innovative.

And what about you? Do you think Blackberry is doing good or just going to be soon part of the technological graveyard in which Nokia is part of?