Research in Motion has just announced a new test device for
its Blackberry 10 (beta 3) mobile operating system. In a special event
yesterday, the Dev Alpha B showcases the possible bright future of Blackberry.
Specifically the event showcased the much awaited (although still in beta mode)
hardware and software improvements for the Blackberry devices of the future.
However, the main star of the show wasn’t the hardware
specifications of the device, but rather the software improvements of Blackberry
10 over previous versions of the operating system. For starters, the home
screen of the device no longer displays an icon-based desktop but rather a
screen filled with “active frames”.
According to people from RIM, these active frames are not to
be considered as icons that act as shortcuts to applications. Instead, these
frames are the actual running
applications that are displayed in thumbnail form. The entire homescreen is
filled up by 4 frames but a maximum of 8 can be used at once. Do note, however,
that only 4 frames can be seen in the screen at any given one time so you may
need to scroll down to see the other 4 frames you have opened.
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| Blackberry OS 10 and the MEEBO interface in the Nokia N9 |
To the right of the homescreen is the usual grid of icons that
works similar with icons found on iOS. You can easily drag and drop icons to
meet you’re desired arrangement and you can drag items on top of one another to
create a folder.
Navigation through menus and items are also made easy
through the use of several gesture based commands. Swiping from the bottom of
the screen to the top brings the user back to the homescreen as well as unlocks
the device. Swiping from top to bottom, on the other hand, brings users common
options and settings applicable for the app the user is currently running.
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| Blackberry OS 10 UI vs the iPhone 5 UI |
Another note-worthy feature of the OS is the Blackberry Hub –
a unified messaging service that integrates and aggregates the user’s email
accounts, messages from social networks like Facebook and Twitter) and of course
BBM. The BB Hub is accessible through a reversed L gesture from the bottom of
the screen.
There’s also a swapping feature that allows users to switch
from personal to work mode by swiping down a blank area on the list of icons. This
allow anyone who’s using the phone as a corporate phone to easily switch from
icons intended for work and those apps intended for personal use.
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| Blackberry OS 10 Hub vs Facebook for iOS |
With all things considered, Blackberry OS 10 seems a very
impressive operating system that may have what it takes to bring back RIM into
the main arena of smartphones. Although some of the features of the OS is
clearly similar to those from other platforms such as Meebo, iOS and Windows
Phone, the smooth and fluid UI together with better multitasking capabilities
might still make it fly to consumers.
So what do you think about the new OS 10 for Blackberry? If
you’re a current BB user, are you excited? And If you’re a non-believer of Blackberry
are you interested enough to make that switch? Tell us by leaving a comment
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Photos
courtesy of The Verge
