RIM working on BlackBerry with touchscreen
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Research In Motion Ltd. is developing its next-generation BlackBerry to have touchscreen capabilities, pitting the popular messaging device directly against Apple Corp.'s popular iPhone.
According to a research note written by GMP Securities analyst Ray Sharma, a recent patent filed by RIM engineers strongly indicates that RIM will release a touchscreen BlackBerry in the near future.
"The oft rumored RIM touchscreen device has lofty prospects," wrote Mr. Sharma.
In a patent filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office last June, the new BlackBerry device will have a keyboard that retracts into the device in order to create more room on the screen, Mr. Sharma says. It will also have what is called tactile response mechanism akin to Nintendo's Wii controller that vibrates based on input from the user.
While there has been much chatter around the Internet on what a touchscreen BlackBerry or "BlackBerry 9000 series" will look like, this is the first time concrete evidence has emerged that the device is indeed in development.
"Our early views on this device is high intrigue," Mr. Sharma writes. "The retractable keypad concept is a bold design move with high risks."
RIM declined to comment regarding a touchscreen device, citing company policy.
It has been widely reported that RIM co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis does not consider the iPhone to be a considerable threat to the BlackBerry. Mr. Lazaridis has even gone so far as to state that the lack of a tactile keyboard will limit the iPhone's adoption by business users.
Carmi Levy, a senior vice-president of strategic consulting for AR Communications Inc., says that it's inevitable that RIM will develop a touchscreen device to go after the consumer market as it has been trying to do with more feature-rich products.
"The success of RIM as a company is largely based ability to extend its dominance of the enterprise messaging market into the consumer market as well," he said.
Sources close to the company have told Mr. Levy that the touchscreen device will be released by RIM in the first half of 2008.
"The more they wait, the more vulnerable they become to devices from competitors," said Mr. Levy. "At some point, the BlackBerry will become long in the tooth."
Along with RIM, Microsoft Corp. is also rumoured to be working on a next-generation touchscreen device, says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
Although there are only a handful of touchscreen devices currently on the market, the demand for the technology appears to be the fastest growing segment in the cell phone world. According to estimates from New York-based technology research firm ABI Research, over 100 million handsets with touchscreens will be shipped in 2008. By 2012, that number is expected to reach 500 million.
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