The once-dominant smartphone maker has changed its name to coincide with the release of its new phone and its new OS:
There is a new smartphone coming to market, running on a new operating system. It’s an all-touch device—with no physical navigation controls and no physical keyboard—and serves as a platform for third-party apps. It’s meant to compete in a world defined by Apple’s AAPL +0.11% iPhone and Google’s GOOG +0.38% Android phones. It’s a BlackBerry, reinvented from the ground up.
This model, called the Z10, and its operating system, called BB10, are bet-the-company moves by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion RIMM -6.07% . RIM has seen its once-dominant position in the market shrivel away, especially in the U.S., since the iPhone appeared in 2007.
I appreciate an all-in move like the one RIM — er, BlackBerry — is making here. But even Microsoft, with its deep pockets, has been unable to buy itself more than a small sliver of the smartphone market. After four years of being perpetually behind the market, BlackBerry doesn’t have many resources left, other than its plucky new me-too phone and its plucky new me-too OS.
With the new name, I can’t keep using my “Fill it to the RIM — With Fail” headline. But I’m pretty sure that’s still going to be the final result.
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