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