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Research in Motion, the struggling communications firm responsible for Blackberry, is reinventing its entire mobile operating system and flagship product line in a new bid to regain market share.
In a move to rally developer support, the company is offering $10,000 to each app developer that passes quality standards and makes $1,000 through the redesigned BlackBerry app store.
BlackBerry 10, the company’s next software package, is seen as a significant departure from RIM’s legacy OS. It will be based on an operating system called QNX and compatible with numerous coding languages.
Most, if not all, apps built hitherto for RIM devices will not be compatible with the new operating system.
The next BlackBerry phone will also eschew physical keyboards and resemble various iPhone and Android devices.
The string of announcements were made yesterday at the company’s BlackBerry World showcase in Florida.
Developers in attendance were offered free OS 10 kits as part of a PR move to highlight how important RIM considers a new ecosystem of content creators.
Thorsten Heins, the company’s CEO who was appointed in January, stressed that the prototype BlackBerry – shown in the video below – was very much at the early stages of design.
No launch dates were provided.
Following the showcase RIM’s share price fell by 5.9 per cent, and today another 3.8 per cent at the time of going to press.
