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RIM says current devices won’t be upgraded to Blackberry 10
CANADIAN GADGET MAKER Research in Motion (RIM) has confirmed that its current Blackberry devices won't be upgraded to its upcoming Blackberry 10 operating system (OS).
At the beginning of the week The INQUIRER was out in Amsterdam at RIM's first Developer Conference in Europe where we got a demonstration of the Blackberry 7.1 and Playbook OS 2.0. In the video we took the opportunity to ask Vivek Bhardwaj, head of software portfolio at RIM whether phones and the Playbook would get an update to Blackberry 10 when it arrives.
He told us, "Our currently Blackberry line of smartphones will still remain based on our current Blackberry operating system."
We double checked this with RIM to make sure, and it said, "Blackberry 10 is designed to work on next generation Blackberry smartphones but will not be able to run on the current Blackberry 7 OS (or earlier) devices."
This came as a bit of a surprise since new versions of rival OSs like Apple's IOS, Microsoft's Windows Phone and Google's Android get rolled out to most, if not all, older devices. Blackberry owners won't take this news kindly and it could be a major reason not to opt for a RIM smartphone until Blackberry 10 devices arrive.
A similar thing happened when Blackberry 7 tipped up and older devices weren't able to be upgraded due to technological differences. A pattern seems to be emerging here.
We also asked Bhardwaj whether the Playbook tablet would be updated, to which he said, "The Playbook will continue to progress and evolve and lead the road towards Blackberry 10."
The line he gave was a bit hazy so we checked with RIM on this one too. Luckily for Playbook owners the news is much more positive.
RIM said, "Blackberry 10 is being designed for both next generation Blackberry smartphones, as well as for the Blackberry Playbook. Owners of Blackberry Playbook today will be able to update their tablet to the BlackBerry 10 OS via a free software update once the software is generally available." µ
Tags: Software
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This was known even BEFORE BB7 came out that it would not be possible to upgrade the BB7 devices to BB10 (or BBX as it was known then). I remember reading several articles wondering how well BB7 devices would be received on release, given they have a known (or presumed) shelf life of a year at most.
Thank you, for all the information concerning the long waited Upgrade for the Backberry Playbook . I need tools and toys !!! If only use the Playbook and if it wasn't upgradeable ... it would be on Ebay by this afternoon . Times are changing and Tablets are so supercharged today there's hardly a need to lug that laptop around or come home to your PC . Its a new day , If you can't keep up , your replaced
RIM already announced that current BB devices will not be upgradeable to BB10. This was well known and not a shocker.
From the BB developer's blog, from *October 2011*:
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2011/10/bbx-blackberry-java-sdk-roadmap/
This is old news. QNX is a completely different operating system requiring new, more powerful chips that are compatible with QNX-based OS.
BB7 is Java-based but it didn't roll back because it was touchscreen and required significantly more power than BB6 and 5 phones had. No BB6 phones could really take advantage of the new features.
And Android is the most fragmented eco-system on the planet. As for iOS, well they make small incremental updates every year so it seems only right that the OS works backwards.
As for BB10 and QNX, I do believe the PlayBook which was released almost a year ago is getting a brand new release of the OS - PlayBook OS2.0, which will be available in the next week or two.
Whomever wrote this article really, really needs to so their research. Here's why:
"This came as a bit of a surprise since new versions of rival OSs like Apple's IOS, Microsoft's Windows Phone and Google's Android get rolled out to most, if not all, older devices. Blackberry owners won't take this news kindly and it could be a major reason not to opt for a RIM smartphone until Blackberry 10 devices arrive."
First and foremost, this wouldn't have come as a surprise if you knew anything about the product your writing about. BB10 is using AN ENTIRELY NEW OPERATING SYSTEM (called QNX) to power it's new line of phones, making it impossible to port it over to older Blackberry Phones. That's the equivalent of saying "Why wont Windows 7 work on my Computer from 1995 using Windows 95?" (Because one is 15 year-old technology and the other is bleeding-edge new!")This isn't just an OS "upgrade" on RIM's part. They are creating a whole new ecosystem for BB users.
Secondly, New Android versions are NOT made available to most models. I know this because I've owned two different Android phones for the last three years and just recently switched to a BB Bold 9930. Not once was either of my phones upgraded to the newest version of Android. Only the market's top-end phones (very few) get the OS upgrades when they come out. Cheers!
Thanks for getting the clarifications from BB. I am reu urning my 64G Playbook and I will not take BB9900 on Valentines day from Tmobile.
I am going Android as the result of BB attitude toward me.