RIM is ready to make some changes. Their comeback plan involves changing their name to BlackBerry and a line of of products which they unveiled on Wednesday.
“What’s very important as we start the marketing of BlackBerry 10 in the U.S. is to signal that it’s a new start, that we’ve made a number of radical changes. We’re coming back with something truly different,” Frank Boulbem the Chief Marketing Officer for BlackBerry, said during a recently interview.
This morning, Thorstein Heins (chief executive officer for BlackBerry) introduced a new line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones. The new operating system reportedly has multitasking features that are better than the similar features found on the iPhone or other rival smartphones. The two new phones he introduced included a traditional model with a physical QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen model. The latter will be available for sale first.
The main reason for RIM name change to BlackBerry is in hopes of turning over a new leaf and revamping their image. The Canadian tech company has been struggling in the smartphone market thanks to Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S III. These phones not only have better specifications but they also have larger mobile application stores with more choices. BlackBerry has yet to garner the same interest from app developers and that’s primarily why they have a limited selection.
The BlackBerry 10 devices will arrive in March in the United States. They will arrive sooner in Canada and in the United Kingdom. When these devices arrive in the United States, the devices will be available through all four major carriers including AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), T-Mobile, and Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S). There is no word on the pricing plans for the devices sold in the United States but three-year contracts in Canada will start at $149.99 in Canada.
The BlackBerry makeover also includes a new new ticker symbol: BBRY. Despite the new “improvement”, it appears that nothing has really changed. Upon the announcement, BlackBerry’s shares plummeted 8 percent.
