RIM postpones smartphones with BlackBerry 10 until 2013

By admin On Jun 29, 2012

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RIM is delaying the first models with its new BlackBerry 10 operating system until early 2013. That is a year later than planned. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is said to have approached RIM to make Windows Phones.

At the beginning of 2013, both models with and without a keyboard should be released, RIM said. This week there was already a rumor that the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone with keyboard, under the name BlackBerry N series, should only be released next year.

Writing the code for BlackBerry 10 features is taking longer than expected, RIM says. Originally, the introduction of the first BlackBerry 10 device was planned for last winter. There was even hope that the release could still take place in 2011. That was postponed to 2012, but now even that deadline appears to be too tight. RIM presented the first features of BlackBerry 10 a few months ago.

RIM released fewer new models in the past six months with its ‘old’ operating system BlackBerry 7 and the last top model is from September last year, the Bold 9900. It is unclear how RIM wants to bridge the time until the new smartphones are widely available; no new devices have been announced in recent times, except for a variant of budget BlackBerry Curve.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is said to have approached RIM to make smartphones with Windows Phone 8. Reuters reports that. Only one model of Windows Phone with a keyboard has appeared so far: the HTC 7 Pro. Presumably, Ballmer wanted RIM to start making models with keyboards.

The Reuters rumor seems to be linked to a feature removed from Windows Phone 8; that would originally support screens with a resolution of 640×480 pixels, the resolution that the screen of the Bold 9900 also has. However, support for that resolution was dropped. Microsoft would also like to have the patents in the field of wireless technology, Reuters reports.

RIM sold 7.8 million BlackBerrys in the quarter, significantly less than the 11.2 million in the same quarter last quarter. The drop of almost a third is due to the lack of new top models and increased competition. RIM suffered a net loss of $518 million, approximately Euro 455 million. The manufacturer announced that it will cut more jobs again, this time around 5000.