There have been numerous leaked videos of the upcoming Blackberry 9800 slider. The device brings a new form factor to the Blackberry, but most importantly incorporates a brand new OS, 6.0. The combination of 6.0 and the 9800’s touch screen mimics the experience found in competing phones running Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, but is it enough?
I have blogged before about how I believe that RIM has to re-write their OS to become competitive in the rapidly changing and multimedia-centric smartphone market. OS 6.0 represents RIM’s strongest move yet in this direction, but is still based on their traditional Java OS. Crackberry.com has links to sample videos of the new phone/OS combination in the links below. (Note: that some of these videos have been removed, and most can be found here.)
- Multimedia experience – Inside Blackberry
- Blackberry 6 overview
- Blackberry 6 multimedia capabilities
- Blackberry 6 browser
These videos show an impressive improvement in Blackberry functionality and features, but I am not convinced it is enough. If you look at the market, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android battle on hardware and software features. They are constantly trying one-up each other with enhancements like video-conferencing (iPhone) or wireless hotspot (Android). RIM is behind on touchscreen functionality and 6.0 is a catch up release for them. It breaks no new ground but rather brings RIM a touch interface that is similar to what Android and iOS have been offering since inception. Where is the innovation in the platform? Continue reading Blackberry OS 6.0 – Is it enough?