Just days after the worst service outage in its history, Research In Motion unveiled a new operating system on Tuesday for its next-generation BlackBerry smartphones to better compete with Apple and Android devices.
The new BlackBerry operating system is called BBX and is based on the operating system that’s already in the RIM’s PlayBook tablet, co-CEO Mike Lazardis told a software developer’s conference in San Francisco.
He said the BBX operating system will give RIM’s future smartphones the ability to run Android software applications, such as games, business and medical apps.
The Android operating system, developed by Google, is used on a variety of phones, smartphones and tablets made by numerous manufacturers–making it an attractive technology environment.
“We’re sensitive to what our developers want,” said Lazardis, who was on stage with various developers to explain the new operating system’s features with its PlayBook tablet.
“At DevCon today, we’re giving developers the tools they need to build richer applications and we’re providing direction on how to best develop their smartphone and tablet apps as the BlackBerry and QNX platforms converge into our next generation BBX platform,” Lazaridis said.
Lazaridis reiterated that RIM won’t ditch its PlayBook tablet, which has been languishing on store shelves and sold fewer than one million units since its debut last April.
“We’re absolutely committed to the BlackBerry PlayBook,” he said.
RIM has struggled through several major setbacks in recent months and the conference gives the Waterloo, Ont.-based company an opportunity to start regaining both its reputation and its share of the smartphone market.
“You’re going to see some very, very transformative things,” co-CEO Jim Balsillie promised Monday ahead of the conference.
The new BlackBerry smartphones are expected to be more like mobile computers when they’re launched early next year.
With its own more powerful BBX operating system, Lazaridis said users will be able to seamlessly perform multiple tasks at the same time, such as watching a video in high-definition and writing e-mails.
The conference comes after a global outage of BlackBerry text, e-mail and internet services last week that hit Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North and South America.
To make amends for the outage, RIM has offered its 70 million users a selection of free apps totalling $100 and its business customers free tech support for a month.
This is not the first time the company has stumbled with its future at stake. RIM overcame doubts when it went public 14 years ago and then again during the tech crash 11 years ago. At one point, a patent dispute threatened to shut down BlackBerry service in the U.S. until the company settled in 2006.
