Toronto: BlackBerry maker Research In Motion says it's now testing its much-delayed BlackBerry 10 smartphones with 50 wireless carriers around the world. RIM calls it a key step. RIM previously announced delays to its upcoming BlackBerry 10 system, which the company considers crucial to its future.
It's expected in the first quarter of next year, rather than late this year. The delay means the phones will miss the holiday shopping season and come months after the expected launch of a new iPhone. The delay could make it even harder for RIM to regain market share lost to Apple's iPhone and devices running Google's Android operating software. Here's a look at developments surrounding the BlackBerry 10 in recent months:
October 18, 2011: RIM unveils a new operating system, combining existing BlackBerry elements with RIM's previously announced QNX operating system for phones and tablet computers. RIM gives few details and offers no timetable, though analysts have come to expect it in early 2012.
December 6: RIM says "BlackBerry 10" will be the new name for its next-generation system after the company loses a trademark ruling on its previous name, BBX.
December 15: RIM says new phones running BlackBerry 10 won't be out until late 2012. The company says the phones will need a highly integrated chipset that won't be available until mid-2012, so the company can now expect the new phones to ship late in the year.
May 1: RIM unveils a newly designed smartphone prototype powered by BlackBerry 10. The prototype BlackBerry has a touch screen, but no physical keyboard like most BlackBerry models. No update is given on the new system's launch date.
May 2: Company stresses that while the prototype has no physical keyboard, RIM will continue to make some models with one.
June 21: Company says the first BlackBerry device running BlackBerry 10 will not have a physical keyboard, only a touch-screen one. Ones with hard keyboards will eventually be made, but the company declines to say when.
June 28: RIM says it's delaying the launch of BlackBerry 10 yet again, to the first quarter of next year. CEO Thorsten Heins says RIM's top priority is a successful launch of the new BlackBerrys. He adds, "I will not deliver a product to the market that is not ready to meet the needs of our customers. There will be no compromise on this issue."
July 10: At its annual shareholders meeting, Heins asks disgruntled investors for patience as it develops BlackBerry 10. He says the product's quality is more important than rushing out the software, and he argues that some telecom carriers prefer a 2013 launch because next-generation wireless networks will be more widely operational by then.
August 23: RIM says it has begun showing its new BlackBerry smartphones to wireless carriers around the world, but it remains "months and months" away from starting to sell them. The company says feedback from those carriers has been positive, and it will begin to discuss product launches and other business aspects with the carriers soon.
September 25: Heins promises to restore the BlackBerry phone's stature as a trailblazing device even as many investors fret about its potential demise. Heins speaks at a conference for mobile applications developers to rally support for BlackBerry 10.
October 31: BlackBerry maker Research In Motion says its BlackBerry 10 smartphones are now being tested by 50 wireless carriers around the world. The company calls it a key step.
November 8: Research In Motion Ltd said on Thursday it has won a much-coveted US government security clearance for its yet-to-be launched platform for BlackBerry 10 devices that are expected to hit store shelves in the first quarter of 2013. The company said its BlackBerry 10 platform has received the FIPS 140-2 certification, which would allow government agencies to deploy the devices, along with the new enterprise management platform to run the devices, as soon as the new smartphones are launched.
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