BlackBerry 10 Smartphones Set For January Launch

RIM will officially unveil its new BlackBerry 10 operating system and a number of new smartphones running the platform on 30 January 2013. A number of launch events will take place around the world, with details and availability of the new devices revealed on the day.

BlackBerry 10 is seen as vital to RIM’s hopes for a recovery, having seen its share of the smartphone market slide in recent years as businesses and consumers defect to rivals such as iOS and Android.

The Canadian manufacturer’s prospects have been harmed by continuous delays to the platform’s release, with recent reports suggesting that it could be postponed until March. However RIM seems set to fulfil its promise of a January launch and remains confident that BlackBerry 10 can reverse its fortunes.

BlackBerry 10 launch event confirmed

“In building BlackBerry 10, we set out to create a truly unique mobile computing experience that constantly adapts to your needs,” said Thorsten Heins, RIM CEO. “Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities.  All of this will be integrated into a user experience – the BlackBerry Flow – that is unlike any smartphone on the market today,”

It is believed that there could be as many as six new BlackBerry 10 smartphones released during 2013, including at least one with a physical keyboard.

RIM is touting new interface features such as BlackBerry Flow, which allows for seamless navigation across open applications, and BlackBerry Hub, which lets users ‘peek’ at messages, emails and notifications at any time. BlackBerry Keyboard aims to make it easier and faster to write messages by adapting to how a person types while BlackBerry Balance keeps personal apps separate from work data, with users able to switch between the two ‘profiles’ easily.

BlackBerry 10’s security credentials have been bolstered by the award of FIPS 140-2 certification, the first time that a BlackBerry product has received the certification ahead of launch.

“Thanks to our strong partnerships with global carriers and a growing ecosystem of developers, we believe our customers will have the best experience possible with BlackBerry 10,” added Heins. “We are looking forward to getting BlackBerry 10 in the hands of our customers around the world.”

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