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Audio: Lazaridis says BlackBerry QNX-based smartphones “will be available in the not to distant future”

By on September 15, 2011 at 6:11pm in Mobile News


The price of RIM’s stock drastically dropped today after they announced their Q2 fiscal 2012 results (after hours trading fell 17.67%). Even with successfully launching a few devices, the Bold 9900, Torch 9860, Torch 9810 and the Curve 9360 they still only managed to ship just over 10 million devices. And the race to capture market share in the tablet space is fading too, the PlayBook has scraped about 200,000 shipments… but next up for RIM is QNX. This is the current operating system that’s powering the PlayBook and RIM is betting big on it.

The rumours have been slowly surfacing, the first device has a code name of the “Colt” and apparently it’s all touchscreen with a dual-core processor. No other details have been announced. On their Conference Call today Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of RIM, stated that QNX smartphones are already being worked on within RIM and they’re planning to show them off in October at the upcoming DevCon (October 18th – 20th).

“Development efforts on the first QNX-based smartphone products are going extremely well. We plan to ensure that when we launch the product will have the features, industrial design and content and app ecosystem it needs to deliver a dynamic and industry leading customer experience. The development platform for QNX phones will be presented in more detail at DevCon in October, and prototype phones featuring the QNX operating system and development platform will be available in the not to distant future.”

 

Surely now everybody will be waiting to see what these new QNX phones will be like – and how the overall experience differs from the new BlackBerry 7 OS… only 4 weeks away!

Related posts:

  1. RIM’s QNX-based smartphones “will be Android-compatible”, Bloomberg says
  2. Rumour: RIM to release the QNX-based BlackBerry Colt Q1 2012
  3. Rumour: RIM’s QNX BlackBerry smartphones to have OTA software updates, front-facing camera and BBM Video Chat
  4. Lazaridis on RIM’s new BlackBerry 6: “you’re going to see something different”

Discussion

26 comments for “Audio: Lazaridis says BlackBerry QNX-based smartphones “will be available in the not to distant future””

  1. This sounds all good and all, but if the dev support system is the same (read: crappy) behind all the hullabaloo they trumpeted before the Playbook launched, this may be for naught.

    Come on RIM! Make it less hard to like you!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 4

    Posted by Trent | September 15, 2011, 6:15 pm
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  2. Really MobileSyrup? It’s “too” not “to”.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 34 Thumb down 4

    Posted by Thomas | September 15, 2011, 6:18 pm
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    • I gotta agree with the feeling of your comment, for the past little while now. I’ve noticed MANY grammatical errors from article to article. Makes me wonder if this stuff even gets proofread… what makes it worse is that the errors are NEVER corrected…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 2

      Posted by A. Carmine | September 15, 2011, 7:51 pm

  3. To me blackberry is a great operating system and for an avid messenger BBM is worth it. When QNX arrives, the new devices will get a significant amount of apps similar to those in iPhine/Android. To me this would really be best of both worlds and I think it will help them greatly.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 9

    Posted by Ryan M | September 15, 2011, 6:20 pm
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  4. That’s what they said about the Playbook a year ago. Did everyone forget?

    They announced it in October, and it was released unfinished in April, 7 months after the announcement. And the QNX Playbook hasn’t exactly turned out to be a great success, it’s hard to remain optimistic.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 6

    Posted by roman129 | September 15, 2011, 6:34 pm
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    • The PlayBook isn’t a flop either, I love using my PB and with the last couple OS updates I have no complaints.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 8

      Posted by TeknoBug | September 16, 2011, 6:49 am

  5. I own an iPhone right now and I’m going back to a blackberry. I can honestly say I enjoy the experience on a blackberry so much more. Really hope RIM can turn it around

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 26 Thumb down 17

    Posted by Jordan | September 15, 2011, 6:46 pm
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  6. Are they trying to not have people buy their current devices…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 3

    Posted by Sean | September 15, 2011, 7:09 pm
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  7. As per being patriotic, Im pulling for RIM. With that said, I would be dumping my RIM stocks right about now.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 8

    Posted by Jay | September 15, 2011, 7:48 pm
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  8. I’m all for RIM succeeding, but if they are going to abandon their ICONIC keyboard and not have that on the first QNX device, then they will have blown it.

    The ultimate device for RIM to release with QNX as the first device is a BOLD-9900-esq keyboard with a 3.5 inch screen.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 1

    Posted by A. Carmine | September 15, 2011, 7:58 pm
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  9. QNX phones better come with android apps compatible or IT’S OVER RIM.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 11

    Posted by Dave | September 15, 2011, 8:14 pm
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  10. It seems RIM is putting all their eggs in one basket with QNX. I sure hope it works out, otherwise it’s game over for RIM!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 9

    Posted by Alex Perrier | September 15, 2011, 8:22 pm
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  11. great… just bought the bold 9900… all os7 will never see the light of day for any updates… RIM will be heavily focused on QNX… thanks RIM..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 1

    Posted by ice_cold | September 15, 2011, 8:59 pm
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    • You honestly just saw that now??? After yesterday you just saw that BB7 is fill between BBOS6 and QNX??

      There was never supposed to be a BBOS7. BBOS6 (which was just a theme with slight “improvements”) was supposed to be the fill between BBOS5 and QNX.

      Until QNX phones come out, I’ll keep on loving my 9700 and BlackBerry PlayBook combo.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 3

      Posted by BB User | September 16, 2011, 8:35 am

  12. Sorry Mickey Lizarditis, your time is up. You lied to the people, you squandered their money, and you are fat.

    GOOD BYE LIZARD MAN!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 1

    Posted by henshaw | September 15, 2011, 11:09 pm
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  13. What’s the “not to distant future”? I’ve heard of a “not TOO distant future”, but that’s just ridiculous.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2

    Posted by Evan K | September 15, 2011, 11:57 pm
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  14. They’ve planned to release prototypes of these QNX phones at DevCon in October all along. I suspect that RIM will release the QNX phones around April/May 2012. Hopefully they will solve the BES integration issues in QNX by then to avoid further product delays.

    Another prediction I have is that the menu structure may remain intact, so with QNX, you may see the same interface that is familiar with current OS6/OS7 products. But with multitasking and touch sensitive bezel similar to the Playbook.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0

    Posted by aka | September 16, 2011, 12:21 am
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  15. It seems more and more obvious that they need to port the eventual QNX to the last generation of phones (bold 9900 and the others) and say NOW that they will do so

    Otherwise they will have a major slump in sales until mid 2012 when they ship fonctionning QNX phones

    I still dont believe that there is a good technical reason not to port QNX to the last BBs

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1

    Posted by Kad | September 16, 2011, 8:54 am
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  16. QNX sounds good but I fear it’s too little, too late.
    It’s going to be tough to pry market share back from Android and iPhone.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 2

    Posted by laridae | September 16, 2011, 9:00 am
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  17. why does everyone bank on QNX like its some GODly saviour? It’s not! It exists today and the product it is on FLOPPED. POOPED. RIM IS DEAD

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 4

    Posted by Compton | September 16, 2011, 9:41 am
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  18. Unless it will be no later than Q1 of 2012 they can save the spot in the market they have. Otherwise they’re gone…

    I also agree with comment above- if RIM gives up their keyboard their phones will be just a trash and not even QNX can save them.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1

    Posted by tabasco | September 16, 2011, 12:28 pm
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  19. I love how there are so many “experts” here saying RIM is surely dead. False.

    Yep, they’re struggling, but they are far from dead if you look at the books, sales and continued subscriber growth in the global markets. A more clear statement is: “RIM is not what they used to be.”

    RIM is not the powerhouse they were throughout the 90′s and early 2000′s anymore. They became complacent and let everyone catch them. I too am sceptical that the can innovate enough to recapture some of the steam they once had.

    All that being said, there is still no better pure email and messaging device than a BlackBerry. I’m an Android advocate and love my Atrix, but when RIM releases some horsepower behind QNX phones complete with Dalvik on them, I’ll be moving platforms.

    RIM _does_ need to suck it up though and stop complaining. They’re a public company, that entails pressure from shareholders and media outlets. It comes part and parcel with being a large and successful public company.

    The biggest question is can RIM stop being reactive and start being proactive? Can they recapture the spirit of innovation that made them rise to the top as a small company, or are they now too large and lumbering to allow that to happen…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0

    Posted by ITGuy | September 16, 2011, 12:47 pm
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  20. I have a Playbook and it works very well. I do not need an extra carrier to connect to the internet and can easily access all the information I need. It is very quick and efficient. If they develop phones with QNX they should work very well.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by James | September 26, 2011, 9:54 pm
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