RIM CEO: BlackBerry 7 devices will not receive BB10 upgrade
updated 03:45 pm EDT, Wed May 2, 2012
BlackBerry 7 apps said to be compatible with BB10
Speaking at a BlackBerry World press conference, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins has admitted that the company has no plans to offer BlackBerry 10 updates for existing devices that run the BlackBerry 7 OS. The company has yet to announce a consumer device that will be powered by the new OS, though developers will be able to test apps on the Dev Alpha handset.
Although BlackBerry 10 is viewed as an upgrade from the existing OS, the company appears to be planning to release new BlackBerry 7 handsets even after the new OS arrives. The only device that has been confirmed to receive a BB10 update is the PlayBook tablet.
The revamped OS brings a new approach to menu organization and multitasking, enabling users to quickly swipe between communication and productivity panes. The company has also developed a virtual keyboard that mimics the characteristic BlackBerry layout, complete with virtual frets, and brings shortcut gestures for frequently typed words.
BlackBerry 10 and related devices are expected to arrive sometime before the end of the year. [via Ubergizmo]
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Par for the course
No big surprise, and not really any different from the dozens of Android handsets that are stuck on earlier versions of the OS.
What I do find amusing is that you so often read comments about Apple's "planned obsolesces" due to OS updates either not running well on old hardware or not existing. While Apple's desktop OS policy has been a much shorter period of support compared to MS's "everything runs on everything" tack, their mobile OS update path has been *extremely* friendly compared to the competition.
Now, one could argue that carriers and/or RIM have made the choice to not support an OS that will run badly on old hardware where Apple doesn't mind poor performance, but I think in practice that argument is about as ridiculous as it sounds.