All eyes on RIM in smartphone face-off

Analysts say, Tuesday’s announcement is critical for company’s long-term achievement.

 

 

Tuesday is the day for Research in Motion – as in “do or die” day – say technology analysts, who consider the Waterloo, Ont.-based BlackBerry maker needs to fight back against lost smartphone market share to Apple and Google. While detail are scarce, RIM and U.S. carrier AT and T have called a news conference in New York City for Tuesday. It’s believed they will unveil the long-rumoured BlackBerry Bold 9800, their first “slider-style” smartphone that not only has a touchscreen but a glide-out QWERTY keyboard for messaging.

According to MobileCity Online, a web store that is already taking preorders for the smartphone, the Bold 9800 will feature a 3.2-inch HVGA display, 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of onboard storage, A-GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11n and a camera/camcorder. Cyberspace is also abuzz about the opportunity of RIM unveiling an iPad-like tablet that would run on its BlackBerry 6 OS, as well. In fact, the company has already registered the domain name called blackpad.com.

RIM is also expected to show off App World 2.0, a redesigned online store with enhanced navigation and additional bells and whistles. Levy said Apple and Google’s Android platform are “gaining fast,” with mutual operating systems that account for almost half of all smartphones sold in Canada and the U.S.

RIM’s share of the smartphone market cut down from 55 per cent in early 2009 to roughly 41 per cent in the first quarter of 2010, according to leading technology market research firm Gartner Inc. By comparison, the BlackBerry App World has only about 7,000 apps – plus, they’re usually more expensive than the iPhone and Android contributions, and more difficult to sift through.

Levy said Tuesday’s declaration is “critical.”

He said, “It’s difficult to understate just how critical this launch is to the very survival of the company”.