RIM previews BlackBerry 10 at BlackBerry Jam event, aims for top three spot

RIM previews BlackBerry 10 at BlackBerry Jam event, aims for top three spot

RIM showcased new features of its upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS at the BlackBerry Jam event in San Jose, California, and said that testing will begin by next month. The company also detailed changes that developers can look forward to in BlackBerry App World and app development, as well as its plans to capture the number three spot in terms of global smartphone sales.

The new OS, BB10, will have its own version of notifications called ‘Peek’. Users can simply slide up from the bottom bezel to get a peek at their entire BlackBerry Hub. Peak allows users to see all notifications, be it social networking, messages, mail and more. You could be anywhere in the OS or running apps, but you can launch peek with a single swipe of your finger. BlackBerry Hub is your one stop centralized location for your email, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, BlackBerry Messenger, text messages and more.

Social networking fans can rejoice, as RIM has announced that the major social networking sites – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare will be onboard the OS at launch, with dedicated apps. The Facebook app that was showcased at event, looks remarkably similar to the ones available for iOS and Android.

Improvements will also be made to the BlackBerry App World. Users can now expect the app world to sell movies, music, games and more. No specific details were provided about which content providers were onboard, but with these announcements, it looks like RIM is finally starting to playing catch up with iOS and Android. At launch however, the App store is expected to have more than 100,000 apps, including games from Gameloft.

The new BlackBerry 10 OS also gives users the ability to have two profiles. Called Balance, the two profiles can be divided into work and personal. Switching between the two is as simple as swiping down from the top, and tapping the appropriate profile button. The two profiles are completely separate. If your company decides to wipe out your professional profile from the device, your personal content remains unchanged.

RIM has set some realistic goals for itself. After the event, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins told the media that BlackBerry could be the number three smartphone OS after iOS and Android. He thinks that RIM has a good chance of overtaking Windows Phone 8 and becoming the world’s third most popular mobile OS. He also said that the features of BB10 such as the BlackBerry Hub and the new multitasking UI have a shot at taking on the competing OS from Microsoft.

When asked why he was gunning for the number three spot and not one of the top two, Heins said, “You climb a mountain step by step.”

So when will BlackBerry users see the new OS in action? Well, RIM has announced that testing of the OS in the US will begin next month and we think that BB10 will be out by January 2013.