RIM (Research In Motion) has announced that it’s going to launch a new Operating System, touted as the ‘Blackberry OS BBX’, in coming months. According to RIM, the new operating system will be capable of running on all its hardware platforms (smartphones, tablets and embedded systems). RIM has informed that the BBX will combine the best elements of its existing Blackberry OS with the best features of QNX (QNX is used to run the PlayBook tablet). Further, BBX will have cloud capabilities with a focus on high-performance HTML5 development. (Hot Deals on Mobile Phones | Compare Mobiles | Buy Mobile Phones | BlackBerry Deals)
The reason why Blackberry has decided to take this step is because it doesn’t want to lag behind in the mobile-computing race. These days, mobile devices like PDA’s, tablets, smartphones, etc. are becoming increasingly popular. It really helps to have a single operating system which can efficiently run the wide array of device types which a company like Blackberry produces. Corporations have taken this cue from Apple (Apple recently launched iOS) which looks at competition with a bit of arrogance. Other companies, since, have followed suit. And, Blackberry too, doesn’t want to lag behind.
The Native SDK (Software Development Kit) of RIM enabled developers to create amazing multithreaded C++ apps for Blackberry PlayBook. Now, BBX smartphones and tablets will be able to run Native SDK apps and libraries. Further, Blackberry is working on Blackberry Cascade which is basically a User Interface framework. Cascade is primarily targeted towards developers so that they can create “design-centric” interfaces for their applications which are complete with custom layouts, 3D effects and animations. What basically Blackberry wants to do is to give a stiff competition to the Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.
Cloud services are necessary in the present world, if a company expects to achieve huge volume sales of its proprietary OS. The concept of Cloud is simple, yet powerful. The basic tenet of Cloud Computing is that users should just concentrate on what they do best, i.e. create stuff, and leave the rest of the headache of storing and retrieving the data to the Cloud. It frees one from the hassles of carrying your data around on your Hard Disk Drive. Just pull from the cloud, on demand. Blackberry, therefore, will incorporate all the cloud based features into its new OS. This is necessary, if it expects to compete with Google and Apple.
Further, Blackberry is trying to shake its smartphone-strictly-designed-for-business reputation by striving to establish Blackberry as a gaming and entertainment platform too. If it succeeds, it will establish itself as consumer friendly and fun. Let’s wait and see what Blackberry has in store for consumers when it launches the Blackberry BBX OS.
Author: Jatin Agrawal
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