Mobility Leaks: BlackBerry 10 Goes Under The Hammer

Sure enough today was the day reserved for BlackBerry 10 to wow us and restore our faith. Did it? We take you behind the scenes for another edition of Mobility Leaks.

David K

http://bgr.com/2013/01/30/blackberry-z10-review-306613/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Murani Lewis

Just read the review and honestly it reads an awful lot like Windows Phone reviews. Launching a new platform is so difficult because of the maturity and mind share iOS and Android has garnered with the consumer.

Stephen Mesik

That’s the first thing I thought too. The complaints about switching apps and limited notifications both sounds like the initial first-gen Windows Phone (7.0) reviews. I have to say I’m impressed by the virtual keyboard, but that was always RIM’s strongsuit. As far as the lack of apps, I could care just as less as I did with Windows Phone two years ago. The media needs to get over that. It’s 2013, maps is maps whether Google, Bing, or even MapQuest is the service. They all (surprisingly) work well. I don’t think business users with BlackBerry phones will care too much about Instagram. …well, sadly I’m probably wrong about that. But they shouldn’t.

Murani Lewis

Yeah. I was actually impressed with RIM targeting business apps and specific brand apps to bring to the platform. Clearly RIM paid these app providers to port their apps to the platform. Honestly I wish Microsoft had done this too. Get all the needed local apps (banks, business, etc) and make people feel like your phone is the best for where you’re at in the world.

I’m writing my quick take on the launch event right now and will be done in the next 5 minutes.

Stephen Mesik

I also have to say I disagree with BGR about the status bar. I always thought I’d go crazy without being able to see my signal and battery status at every blinking moment, but I’ve been using Windows Phone every day for over 2 years and having the status bar hidden really isn’t a problem. I wish third party apps worked like IE where the status bar appears when you raise the app bar, but even still it’s not a big deal. It seems RIM took some pages out of the webOS and Windows Phone playbook (no pun intended) with this OS, but regardless of how good it really is in actual use it will never live up to the standards iOS and Android have established in the minds of brainwashed consumers, tech writers, and carrier sales reps (who seem to constitute 90% of who decides what’s popular in the mobile phone world).

Ramon Trotman

Its gbr… To be expected. Although, judging from that review there are some very fundamental things done wrong with bb10.

Murani Lewis

Hottest feature by far that is the screen sharing ability. Skype for Windows Phone needs to employ that as a major standout feature.

David K

This doesn’t feel like the WP reviews to me. Those reviews wanted more of the OS. They wanted apps and they wanted more capabilities. I agree with Ramon. The early reviews seem to have fundamental issues with the navigation of the OS. The removal of a ‘home screen’ is bold but that means they are getting away from being a business device and trying to go mass market. They’re cutting off their arm…It won’t be easy for them to pull this off if all they have is Android apps running on a new OS that is lacking some features. I don’t see it as cohesive enough to get the real corporate guys (you know 40-50+ year olds that want a physical keyboard) to stick with.

Stephen Mesik

That’s true, Ramon. The orientation lock (at least there is one) should not affect the photos the camera takes. The gestures do sound a bit cumbersome, but perhaps they are easier to do than to describe. Then again, they may grow on you as you learn them?
I’m no RIM apologist to say the least. In fact, I have little sympathy for their plight as they try to rebuild mindshare and market share from the ground up. I simply feel for RIM users who appreciate their product and find it best for what they do, in the same way I wish more people would give Windows Phone the fair chance it deserves rather than make snarky comments about me "owning a phone that probably blue screens every day."

Murani Lewis

BlackBerry will sell well to their base of rabid fans. How do you get people to see the advantage of BlackBerry flow while in the store. RSPs suck at displaying the same deep-dive experience with Windows Phone and I don’t see an answer from BlackBerry that overcomes this hurdle.

It is very clear BlackBerry has given up almost completely on the U.S. market. Again, my feelings are in the quick take that is being published right now.

David K

I just don’t know where they fit. This gesture based phone won’t sit well with suits. So then you have to look to us – the younger crowd that wants to bring a phone to work and not mix it with their personal life. That’s probably the best feature the phone has going for it. But we all live with this and we’re all fine with it. I have two mailboxes on my phone and I don’t care that my contact mingle…and I presume given that this is really running Android apps, most people would take the Android over it.

Murani Lewis

BlackBerry is shooting for a market that is rapidly declining. The pricing for Verizon will be $199.99 out the door. Again, they have lost both the preference of decision makers and the price advantage. If BGR is right about the state of most apps on the platform BlackBerry will be doomed at launch.

Did anyone else tune into the presentation? They showed the demo of the "true" multitasking and how with the Peek feature you can check on incoming notifications and alerts quickly. All I could think about is that if you’re watching a video or playing a game and you Peek at something while action is taking place you miss something important that you peeked away from. It is a nice theory but practical applications in some instances it makes sense that your app pause until your full attention can be given to it.

I’ve got a series of articles coming up on the challenges both Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 face going forward. Apple and Android’s advantages are huge.

Danny Dodge

If this is their equivalent of the WP7 launch, I’m prepared to give them a try at their equivalent of the "WP8" launch… This may prove to be a nice system but unlike WP it doesn’t intrigue me to early-adopt.

Murani Lewis

The thing that scared me about BlackBerry’s future is Heins’s insistence on their message that BlackBerry 10 will transform mobile communication into mobile computing. They have the worst ecosystem of any of the four major ecosystems. No desktop component at all.

They do have some good ideas for the platform just like Microsoft had when they debuted Windows Phone 7. In truth Windows Phone’s ability to jump into related and relevant apps from within apps is better than RIM’s implementation of FLOW. I just think that time is not their friend. They will be on BB10 while everyone else will have updated their mobile OS to newer versions.

If Skype brings over the screen sharing feature from the desktop to mobile apps the one hot feature BlackBerry has going for them is toast.

I found it funny BlackBerry hyped up bringing WhatsApp to the platform and in Canada they were found to be in violation just days before of privacy laws.

Stephen Mesik

The keyboard intrigues me, if there was any reason for me to try it. But since my keyboard disappeared three times while typing this (no lie), it wouldn’t take much to make it an improvement.
But seriously, I see little incentive for most people too. Consumers and business users have moved on to iPhone or Android. If Microsoft’s bottomless pockets couldn’t get Windows Phone 20% market share in two years, I doubt RIM can. It’s just a matter of time before the cash runs out.

Surely RIM didn’t focus so much on the branding of the device to skip over important details like getting the focus and pricing right in such a competitive market did it? Do you want to gesture your way around an OS all day? Let us know, we’re pretty sure you’ll get a vocal response either way.