A report from Wall Street Journal (WSJ) indicates that RIM will soon take two beta BB10 devices to carriers as a preview. What I took away from this, is that the final software and hardware is nearing completion. Which frankly is fantastic news. Carriers need to test the radio stacks on new devices to ensure full compliance, and that process typically take weeks, or even months. So it seems that BB10 is right on target for an early 2013 release.
“The physical shape and feel of the new phones is finished and the software nearly complete. We’re near the finishing line.” Mr. Heins said.
Of course the carriers that they mentioned in that article are Verizon Wireless and AT&T, but BB fans in Singapore have no need to fear that we have to wait long to get the first BB10 device in our hands. What we know from our local carriers, is that they are always very quick in bringing in new devices into our shores. A simple example would be the Samsung Galaxy S3. Just look at when it was launched in Singapore versus the United States.
That’s not all there is to it. More details were revealed about the roadmap of the platform. We all know that there will be two versions at launch, the full touch version, followed by the keyboard version. Now, it has been revealed that eventually there will be six phones. Three all-touch devices, and three physical keyboard devices. Also, according to Thorsten Heins, BB10 phones will have replaceable batteries. A decision made to appeal to heavy smartphone users who frequently run out of battery time and don’t want to carry chargers around.
That’s another great news for heavy users who find themselves running out of juice frequently, or people who are often on the go and do not have a charging point available to them.
I am sure that we can all look forward to seeing more sneak peak of BlackBerry 10, both software, and hardware. It has been a tough transition for RIM, and a lot is betting on the success of the new platform. But I still have faith in RIM to pull this through, and looking forward to getting my hands on the first BB10 device. Lets hope the RIMpire will truly strike back.
Source: WSJ
