BlackBerry smartphone maker, Research in Motion, has unveiled the next version of their BlackBerry operating system.
Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced BlackBerry® 6, a new operating system for BlackBerry® smartphones that retains the trusted features that distinguish the BlackBerry brand while delivering a fresh, approachable and engaging experience that is both powerful and easy to use. BlackBerry 6 features a redesigned interface that seamlessly works with a touch screen and trackpad, expanded messaging capabilities that simplify managing social media and RSS feeds, an advanced multimedia experience that rivals the best in the industry, a convenient new Universal Search tool, and a new and efficient WebKit-based browser that renders web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience.
“BlackBerry 6 is the outcome of RIM’s ongoing passion to deliver a powerful, simplified and optimized user experience for both touch screen and keyboard fans,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-ceo, Research In Motion. “Following extensive research and development to address consumer needs and wants, we are delivering a communications, browsing and multimedia experience that we think users will love, and we are thrilled to debut BlackBerry 6 on the amazing new BlackBerry Torch smartphone.”
In today’s press release, RIM talked up four marquee features:
- Visual, Fluid Interface
- Fast Rich Web Browsing
- Social Feeds and Text Messaging
- Engaging Multimedia Experience
RIM will be working with their carrier partners to develop upgrades for the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the BlackBerry Bold 9650, and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G. If you are a new BlackBerry Storm2 owner like me, or you have a BlackBerry Storm, it looks like we are going to be out of luck. RIM stayed quite on upgrades for us. The new BlackBerry Torch 9800, announced today, will ship with BlackBerry OS 6 pre-installed.
You can read the full press release on the RIM website.