SMARTPHONE
BlackBerry 10 is a proprietary mobile operating system developed by BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion) for its BlackBerry line of smartphone and tablet handheld devices. The most recent example
being the Q10 smartphone. It is based on QNX which was acquired by BlackBerry in April
2010. BlackBerry 10 is the third major release of a QNX based operating system,
following the release of BlackBerry Tablet OS with the BlackBerry PlayBook on April 19, 2011, and BlackBerry Tablet OS version 2.0 on February 21, 2012.BlackBerry
10 and BlackBerry Tablet OS have numerous technical similarities, with
BlackBerry 10 providing substantial enhancements over the earlier releases.
Launch announcement
On November
12, 2012, Heins announced a January 30, 2013 launch of the BlackBerry 10
operating system and the first smartphones running it.The operating system, as well as two devices, the (a full touchscreen device), and the (a device equipped with a physical keyboard), were announced
simultaneously around the world on January 30, 2013.The company also announced that the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet would receive an update to
BlackBerry 10 later in 2013
Feature
Gestures are largely integrated within the
BlackBerry 10, featuring four main gestures for easy navigation.
Quick swiping up from the bottom edge of the bezel will result in users
returning to the home screen. From there, users can view and close active
applications. Users can also swipe from the top edge, to bring down a quick
setting shade on the home screen, or an option shade on other supported apps.
Also, while using any application, the upside down J-hook (starting from the
bottom of the bezel and moving upward and right) allows users to peek at any
notifications or messages on the BlackBerry Hub.
Finally, swiping left to right (or vice versa) scroll through the available screens.
Similar to BlackBerry Tablet
OS, BlackBerry 10 OS also supports
multitasking with gesture integration. Swiping up from any application brings
up the running application screen, which function as an application switcher
and a task manager. Users can switch through running applications by tapping on
any of the apps or close them by tapping on the ‘X’ on the lower right of the
app itself. Some apps also offer widget like functionality, similar to Android.
Examples of this include, picture app cycling through a photo album or calendar
app showing upcoming events and meetings. Users are currently limited to 8 running
applications, which are displayed from most to least recently accessed.
BlackBerry Hub acts as a notification center,
with the user’s entire social and email accounts integrated into one app. These
include, at launch, standard E-mail client, Twitter, Facebook, BlackBerry
Messenger (BBM), and LinkedIn
(with options to turn any of these services off). Standard notifications like
missed calls, voicemail, and system updates also appear on the hub. The hub can
be accessible from any app/lock screen, by performing an upside down j-hook
gesture.Users can perform various tasks like compose emails, send emails, and browse
social networks, without accessing other apps. Developers are also given
options to integrate apps into the Blackberry Hub.
BlackBerry Balance is a new feature
introduced in BlackBerry 10, enabling users to keep both personal data and
office work data separated in its own spaces. Using Blackberry Enterprise
Server 10, IT departments can allow users to set up work-spaces that automatically
install applications and email accounts. After completion, users can navigate
between personal and work profiles, by swiping down on the apps page. All of
the user’s data is secured via 256-bit AES encryption, and any files created will stay within
the profile partition.
BlackBerry 10 features camera software that
takes multiple frames of every photo. This feature allows users to adjust a
photo easily to correct issues such as closed eyes.
BBM video/screen share
BlackBerry's popular messaging application
now includes the ability to video chat as well as the ability to share the
contents of a user's BlackBerry screen with others.
BlackBerry 10 introduced an Android runtime
layer. This allows developers to easily package and distribute their
applications designed to work on the Gingerbread (Android 2.3) and below
operating system. Gingerbread, however, is showing signs of age with waning
usage. Less than 46% of Android devices connected to the Play store are running
2.3 or below.
Because of this, Blackberry officially announced that it will soon update the
runtime layer to include compatibility with Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) APIs.
BlackBerry 10 features a new virtual keyboard
layout that mimics BlackBerry’s past generation’s physical keyboards.The letters and numbers feature fonts and frets similar to previous BlackBerry
devices. The keyboard also learns the user’s typing preferences, trying to
auto-predict the next word. The
keyboard also uses contextual information to predict the next letter in a word
sequence. In this case, words will appear above the letter that the OS thinks
that the user will touch next. Users can then perform a flicking upwards
gesture above the letter to quickly select that word.
Also, swiping from right to left in keyboard deletes the entire word rather
than using backspace to delete each character.
Voice Control was also introduced in BB10,
allowing users to send BBMs, schedule meetings, update social networks, and
open apps using natural speech patterns. Voice control can also be used for
typing on any screen that accepts keyboard input.
BlackBerry Link allows users to sync and
organize music, documents, photos, and videos between a BB10 device and a
computer. It is compatible with Mac and PC, and supports iTunes and Windows
Media Player. Syncs are done over Wi-Fi or USB. Blackberry Link also
facilitates device switches from Android and iOS as well as BB10 software
updates.
Link transfers contacts, files, calendars, tasks, bookmarks, alarm clocks, SMS,
phone logs, WLAN profiles and other information between devices.
Applications
BlackBerry 10 features a number of included
applications that help users perform various tasks and activities. These
include maps, Web browser, Remember (Sticky notes app), Docs to Go, Story Maker
(video and music stitching app), calculator, clock, music, media, weather, and
file manager. Cloud service integrations like Box and Dropbox are also
integrated by default. In addition, BlackBerry's popular messaging service, BlackBerry
Messenger is included with BlackBerry
10.
At the time of the release in January 2013,
BlackBerry 10 operating system had 70,000 third party applications. This
represents a substantial increase over the BlackBerry PlayBook which launched with only 3,000 third party
applications.In end of March 2013, BlackBerry 10 has 100,000 apps, but still less of imaging
favorites like Instagram and Snapseed.
At BlackBerry Live 2013, BlackBerry announced that they had surpassed 120,000
apps, and that Skype would become available on the BlackBerry Z10.
Unlike the previous BlackBerry OS
(but similar to the BlackBerry PlayBook), applications must be downloaded through
BlackBerry's BlackBerry World storefront, which comes included with BlackBerry 10.
|
|
|
OS family
|
|
Working state
|
Current
|
Source model
|
|
Initial release
|
|
|
|
10.1.0.273
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supported platforms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Proprietary
|
Official website
|
|
This entry was posted on Maandag 24 Junie 2013
. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response.
