Vanessa Ho
Staff Writer
The Waterloo-Ont.-based company formerly known as Research in Motion will be henceforth known as BlackBerry. This reveal was made at a press event in New York City to launch its latest handset, the BlackBerry 10.
According to an Ottawa Citizen article, the BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen model goes on sale in Britain on Thursday and on Tuesday, Feb. 5, in Canada, where it will be available for $150 on a three-year contract. It will be launched in the U.S. in March. The Q10 handset that features a physical keyboard will be available sometime after that.
CBC.ca also outlined other features of the BlackBerry 10 models that include BlackBerry Flow, a technology that will allow the user to swipe between multiple apps with the touch of a finger; the ability to do predictive text in up to three languages; a revamped web browser; the ability to do video chat over the secure BBM network and a makeover of its app store, BlackBerry World.
BlackBerry also announced at the launch event that the company has named singer-songwriter Alicia Keys as its new Global Creative Director.
“We are excited she will be bringing to us her enormous capabilities, as well as a vast network of relationships in the entertainment, social media and business communities, to help shape our brand and grow our business,” said Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry’s president and CEO, said in a press release.
Keys’ role, according to the same press release, will be to work “closely with app developers, content creators, retailers, carriers and entertainers.”
Keys added that she’s going to use the device to make unique music videos of the concerts in every stage of her upcoming world tour.
In another CBC.ca article, it stated that Keys has issued a challenge for others, from artists to athletes, to create for the BlackBerry 10 platform. The article quoted Keys as saying:
“I want to bridge the gap between the work phone and the play phone,” she noted.
“As global creative director, my goal is to inspire creativity with this platform, and I’m so excited to jump right in.”
Will the new name, handsets and Alicia Keys help revitalize the handset maker so better compete the likes of Apple and Android devices? Only time will tell.
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