RIM sets out to reverse decline
BLACKBERRY 10: Offer tools to lure developers
ORLANDO, Fla. — Research In Motion Ltd. is using this year’s Blackberry World to highlight the crucial role that apps developers will play in determining whether its next-generation smartphones have any chance of reversing the company’s precipitous decline.
At its annual showcase on Tuesday, RIM formally offered developers software tools to create applications for the new Blackberry 10 platform, due out later this year. It also handed out thousands of prototype devices to developers to test their apps.
Put simply, the company knows consumers won’t buy its new phones or tablets unless developers get excited about the new platform and create a wealth of flashy apps to operate on it. A dearth of apps for the legacy Blackberry is one of the big reasons RIM has suffered huge market-share losses to Apple Inc. and Google Inc.’s Android in recent years.
In his keynote address, RIM’S new chief executive Thorsten Heins demonstrated aspects of the new platform that set it apart from its predecessor. In contrast to the legacy Blackberry, the new devices navigate with fewer keystrokes, relying more on swipe gestures and word suggestions.
“We wanted a user paradigm that is easy and fast,” Heins said, showing how information from documents, emails, calendars, and address books could slide in and out from the screen’s edges. “It’s all about making things flow.”