BlackBerry 10
The first thing made clear to us was that
the BB10 Dev Alpha device is not the final device: RIM still has secrets and
we'll learn of them when the time comes. The second thing is that the device
was made available to developers in attendance so that they could begin
development of apps and content. When the final hardware and software arrives
later this year, RIM intends to have the key components fully available.
Vivek Bhardwaj, head of software portfolio
of RIM, joined Thorsten to talk about the new BlackBerry 10 features, and he
touched on three very interesting features of BB10; the "flow" in
usage and navigation, the brand new on-screen keyboard and a new camera
feature.
Vivek stated that BB10 is meant to help
manage the different information channels that smartphone users receive at one
time. "We've created a flow. It's taken to a new level. We look to
notifications and recognised that it's not about being notified; it's about
being immersed in the right way."
He showed the BB10's new glancing gesture,
where dragging the current open screen will reveal notifications, and then
other open apps behind that. Using easy sliding gestures, users can switch apps
by just moving left and right through the menus. You can flow between apps and
activities without stopping, and the apps stay running in the background all
the time.
"We're making you agile and nimble
with the BB10," said Thorsten, which will be the core focus of BB10.
"Your time is even more previous when you're mobile."
For the new on-screen keyboard, RIM
understands the iconic significance of their physical QWERTY keypads, and aims
to provide something that works as well, if not better. The new typing
experience will feature a keyboard with predictive algorithms to continually
adapt the phone to the user. The keys are designed to be as wide as possible, and
you'll be able to use gestures to swipe down and reveal the numbers and symbol
keys. As you type, predictive text will appear at the keys you naturally have
to type next - you can swipe up at these works to bring them onto the message.
Swiping across the keyboard will delete the words. It looks amazingly fast and
intuitive.
And what of the camera? Thorsten noted that
most people lament a 'missed moment' in any picture-taking. A new BB10 feature
is to allow users to take a picture, and - as Vivek demonstrated - actually go
back and forth in time to select the "magic moment" of the picture.
That's right: you won't be having those times when you snapped someone with
their eyes closed.
A close-up looks at the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha. While interesting, this is not
the final product
There is no news of the hardware specs just
yet, but we can expect to see more as the BB10 reaches its final release at the
end of the year.
"BlackBerry 10 is not just a new
mobile OS. It's a revolution that we've built. Imagine where we can take
this," said Thorsten, and he showcased a car fitted different BlackBerry
devices, all running BB10. These devices can work for gaming or video calls,
and with LTE technology arriving, the car can be connected and receive pushed
content all the time. The other places and industries they can take this is
limitless.
"This is a new era of mobile
computing, way beyond smartphones and tablets."
And we can't wait.
Apps and development
With that much excitement over the
BlackBerry 10 platform and OS, the next thing that we have to question is
content. Namely, applications. Applications and the ecosystem that supports it,
aside from the equally pressing matter of getting developers to stay on the
bandwagon.
Martyn Mallick, vice president, global alliances
and business development for RIM, said: "BlackBerry 10 marks a different
way to look at applications. It's been designed with content at the heart of
it." What he meant was BBIO's deep integration of flow, and how it extends
to the app community.
Martyn
Mallick, vice president, global alliances and business development for RIM
At the keynote, Mallick explains that to
have a healthy app ecosystem, three key elements have to be present: a great
platform, amazing tools and global distribution.
For Blackberry, the new BB10 platform
combines the best of BlackBerry (productivity, communications, security) and
the power of QNX. Mallick further noted that BlackBerry's core tools include
native development, hardware acceleration, HTML5 support and key communities
that are both open source and commercial ones. These tools allow developers to
take the skills they already have and then apply it just as easily in building
for BB10. And distribution-wise, BlackBerry has the app world, a vast global
distribution system (available in 165 regions), and global payment capabilities
that extend beyond credit card by allowing PayPal and direct carrier billing.
What RIM has emphasised is how powerful QNX
is, and how easy it is for developers to create and port apps both small and
powerful to the BB10 platform. Jonas Norberg, CEO of Pacemaker, was present to
show the Pacemaker DJ app, a BlackBerry exclusive app that packs a full DJ
experience into the PlayBook. "QNX is the only real-time OS we found. Low
latency is one of the most important aspects of our development. We get the
control we need to achieve that," he said.
What
RIM has emphasised is how powerful QNX is, and how easy it is for developers to
create and port apps both small and powerful to the BB10 platform
On building apps on the PlayBook:
"We've used Cascades, which supports high modular development. It was easy
to develop a new Ul in Cascades and port it to C++." And lo; a exciting,
powerful app that actually powered the entire BlackBerry World Party that happened
later that night.
And that's not just the only excitable app
shown; app developers like Occipital has created a 360-Panorama app that works
well with the BB10 platform's hardware and software. In just 7 days, Occipital
had put together the app and had gotten it to run.
Gaming was also given a lot of exposure.
Gameloft has already confirmed that 11 of their best games are coming to the
BB10, which includes Shark Dash, NOVA 3 and what may be an actual sequel to a
classic game, The Oregon Trail.
Fishlabs had also confirmed galaxy on fire
2 for the BB10. From what we could see from the demo, these games are looking
fantastic.
"Game developers are looking for is
the least work as possible, and the best channel to sell the content,"
said Michael Schade, CEO of Fishlabs, in a group briefing. He said that, upon
receiving a PlayBook, his team had managed to get Galaxy on Fire working in
just one day.
Michael
Schade, CEO of Fishlabs (right)
At the conference, app-creator platform
Mippin had introduced the BlackBerry App Generator, which can allow users from
large enterprises or personal ventures to create an app in less than 10
minutes. Available for free, the BlackBerry App Generator supports the
BlackBerry OS 5, 6, 7, PlayBook and BB10 platform.
The overall BlackBerry app submissions in
the last fiscal year had increased by 226%; the apps in the App World received
a 69% increase (the fast growing app store in the industry) and the PlayBook
app growth went up by 240% in a single year quarter. The current app ecosystem
is certainly on the rise, and Martyn Mallick believes that it'll get better.
"What defines success? The approach
we're taking resonates with our partners. We really understand the community
and make sure we deliver the solutions."
