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RIM’s VP of Industrial Design says 2012 BlackBerry smartphones will be “charming, whimsical and fun”
RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones, for the most part, have had the same general look for the last number of years. According to their VP of Industrial Design, Todd Wood, says “products should wear in rather than wear out”. The iconic BlackBerry look with its QWERTY keyboard was the device of choice for many first time smartphone owners, but competing manufacturers such as Apple, HTC, Samsung, LG and even ZTE have began to eat away at their market share by offering better specs and a simplified design.
In an interview with Pocket-Lint, Wood explains that his team goes all over the world to look for new design ideas and that “we have had very little competition in the last 10 years. That has changed. The products are a reflection of the company… The best designers in the world are on our side… BlackBerry doesn’t need to make a fashion focused phone. We are one of the accessories already.”
Specifically speaking about the next generation of BBX-powered BlackBerry smartphones, Wood stated that we can expect a very different direction next year and that they’ll be “charming, whimsical and fun”. Yesterday the first BBX-powered BlackBerry smartphone surfaced online, it’s rumoured that the all touchscreen “London” will be available sometime in Q3, 2012.
Source: Pocket-Lint
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33 comments for “RIM’s VP of Industrial Design says 2012 BlackBerry smartphones will be “charming, whimsical and fun””
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Yes but will they be “magical” like their iPhone counterparts? I think I just vomited in my mouth. Effing Apple.
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RIM’s VP of Industrial Design says 2012 BlackBerry smartphones will be “charming, whimsical and fun”- In response Co workers decide to take him to a De-Tox clinic!
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Can you name another Manufacturer that posts pictures of a new model TEN MONTHS in advance??
Not even Nokia did this! But you can’t blame them for trying.
All they have from here to Feb, is Rumours, white phones, more OS 7 phones and leaks of what BBX could do sometime, somehow.
This phone will “Leapfrog” the competition!
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Basically, the translation of this means “We are going to start copying the iPhone and Samsung designs”
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I like what I see on the picture above. Good job RIM! Finally an unique and fresh design touch!
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What happened to the picture BBX blackberry that was initially posted? I have nothing against the guy, but just to clarify – my original comment was about the leaked picture of the first BBX based blackberry
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About time! Hope that doesn’t take afew months too
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Can you say too little, too late? It’s a shame this Canadian company has lost its way, but they had a chance, and blew it.
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Q3 is too late RIM. Before they release this, there will almost 500 phones released by other companies.
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stops bsing and start delivering. Oh wait, first BBX to be released in Q3 2012?
By then, I don’t know which will be lower. RIM’s market share or stock price?
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They can be charming, whimsical and fun, but they have to be. And if they are not going to “be” until the end of next year, then there little hope for the company (as they continue to lose market share).
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That’s nice that they are making their phones “prettier”, but what about the resources. Are they being improved, like app availibility and such…. and will the software last more then 6 months withour a security wipe???!! (obviously not having the best luck in BB World)
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Looks like a prop from a cheap sci-fi TV show.
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Future Blackberries will always be great.
However, by the time they release, they always are underwhelming, outdated and expensive.
Why would it be any different this time?
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This is straight out of Battlestar Galactica.
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The phone would be nice if they shrunk the top and bottom a bit. Why add the extra bumpers on it? Just increases the size. Or take away part of the bezel and decrease the height of the phone.
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RIM is lame, always one step behind. By Q3 2012, the new iPhone is gonna be out, and possibly Android 4.5 or 5.0 is gonna be out. Oh and also the Flexible screen smartphones are gonna be out too, so this phone above this gonna be outdated
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“The best designers in the world are on our side”
Riiiiiiight. Apple and Samsung must have horrendous designers. The Pearl Flop and the BlackBerry Turd (Tour) are definite winners?
Keep up the good work Todd DickWood!
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I have to correct every single one of you ignorant fools.
RIMs market share has slightly decreased but their overall phone sales have risen. They have a greater userbase now than they did last year!!! In other words MORE PEOPLE ARE USING BLACKBERRY’S NOW THAN EVER BEFORE!
Thats how bad they’re failing. /facepalm
And if you think stock price has anything to do with a company’s ability to generate revenue you dont know the first thing about trading.
Look at BP, after the oil spill their stock fell 50% but their profits were maintained and now they’re generating just as much as they did before the spill. What happened to their share value? It went nowhere.
Public sentiment drives share value not the actual performance of the company in almost every single case.
Look at Apple – #2 market cap in the world. Could it be that they’re leading in market share in mobile operating systems? Not even close. What about the PC market? Not even close, they’ve been stagnant at around 10%.
If you’re going to criticize RIM for its market share then you’ll have to do the exact same thing for Apple and OSX, and i would never call OSX a complete failure, and thus RIM and their Blackberry’s are certainly not a failure either.
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Trey, give your head a shake. RIM profits have been decreasing significantly as of late and while they are selling more phones, a decreasing market share is a representation of what the company will do in the future and has a negative influence on its stock as a company is underperforming if their market share is sliding – dont try to put a positive spin on that. Finally, Apples market share is growing AND the only reason why their market cap is the highest in the world is because they have beat market analysts by at least 30% for the past 13 consecutive quarters. Based on what you wrote you dont seem to understand trading all that well either if you think market share isnt relevent.
If you are going to go around telling people that they are ignorabt fools and least have information accurate information to back yourself up. Now go be an arse elsewhere.
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God damn I need to proof read stuff I post on my phone.
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Unfortunately too little too late for RIM. I passed by a Playbook last night in Futureshop and just looked at it compared to the rest of pads on market, just looking at it made me think, gee they just can’t compete. Combined with their network mess of late, it may be secure but seems quite unstable, I think they are going to slowly decrease in all areas until they are bought out by a bigger player.
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Whimsical? My superphone (something RIM will never achieve) is like an extension of me. It holds all the information I don’t need to remember in our fast paced world.
I wonder which market finds superphones ‘whimsical’?
RIM…still out of touch and losing market share fast. As a Canadian, I’m embarrassed to see this company, once a market lead,drop the ball SO much. Should have changed CEO’s back in 2008. Too little too late ’cause RIM can’t Innovate.
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Oh hello there Bell’s corporate shill! It’s a “smartphone”, and not a “superphone”. Please get it right. I know that Bell pays your bills, but please do not suspend your humanness in favor of a mighty dollar.
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they cant inovate,,, what a comment,,,
they inovated to get us here ,, they will bounce back,, was like a spoiled kid learning a lesson,, they have learnt alot of good lessons,,
i remember when apple had these comments applied to them, apple was damn near bankrupt,,, and look it now,, and by the way,, the iphone and OS has almost become archiac
rim will be fine, they have learned,, to change your curve takes time
and the above picture is a sweet looking phone.. lines are nice,, different then the rest,, kind of innovative
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For the love of God, just fire the CEO’s and all the so called “leaders” of this company already. This is a disgrace to Canada and our talent!!
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… says a nerd from his momma’s basement.
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he forgot to mention ugly..
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First the Sierra Wireless 754S hotspot and now a BB from RIM. I guess “cut-off” corners is hip now but I don’t really like this look. Dunno if this “fresh” design will save RIM tho.
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wicked watermark, thanks Ver… Mobile Syrup
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I like it! Current blackberry all touch phones are ugly. “Whimsical” is definately not the right choice of word though. But this design definately works better with all touch than with the QWERTY keyboard. yikes
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2 remarks about his statement:
- the competition part, having very little of it, while true, this statement should’ve been made at least 1-1.5 years ago, not NOW. competition has been killing you in the last year
- the way he boasts about being an accessory already: that’s the same mentality which brought them were they are now – oh we’re so good, so irreplaceable! If anything you’re as replaceable as anything else RIM. Get it through your cocky skulls!
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[...] Does Blackberry have any Hope? [...]
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