Everyone seems to be coming out with their own ‘iPhone killer’, whether it’s Sony Ericsson’s W960i or Nokia’s N82, and now even RIM’s developing its own BlackBerry version.
A US analyst, Carmi Levy at AR Communications, said RIM’s next range - the 9000-series - is ‘the future of the BlackBerry franchise’.
According to Levy, RIM’s preparing a 9000-series operating system and device platform, with the express aim of taking on Apple by targeting consumers normally attracted to the Pearl and Curve devices.
“The 9000 is supposed to be a touch-screen device, very similar in form factor to the iPhone,” Levy says.
The new-look BlackBerry devices won’t have QWERTY keyboards but instead will have a full-screen touch screen, better multimedia capabilities and the ubiquitous push-email.
The 9000-series devices are expected to appear early next year, a bit of a delay from the original target of late this year.
Mind you, RIM’s already pretty much sewn up the enterprise device market, and the Pearl and Curve have successfully bridged the consumer-business gap, so who would be against RIM making an impact, no matter when its 9000-series devices will eventually appear? Not us that’s for sure.
[Via Unstrung]
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