Along with the introduction of the BlackBerry Torch 9800, Research In Motion today announced BlackBerry 6, the latest version of its BlackBerry smartphone operating system.
“BlackBerry 6 is the outcome of RIM’s ongoing passion to deliver a powerful, simplified and optimized user experience for both touch screen and keyboard fans,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-ceo, Research In Motion. “Following extensive research and development to address consumer needs and wants, we are delivering a communications, browsing and multimedia experience that we think users will love, and we are thrilled to debut BlackBerry 6 on the amazing new BlackBerry Torch smartphone.”
BlackBerry 6 promises a new user interface with a Home Screen with 5 customizable views, context-sensitive Action Menus, a Universal Search tool, a new WebKit-based browser, a new Social Feeds application with integrated access to a number of social apps (including BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, Google Talk and others), and an improved multimedia experience (including the new BlackBerry Desktop Software 6).
The popular question of which existing BlackBerry devices would be upgradeable was also finally answered. RIM announced that BlackBerry 6 will be available for the BlackBerry Bold 9700, BlackBerry Bold 9650, and BlackBerry Pearl 3G (pending carrier certifications). RIM provided no timelines for the availability of the upgrades beyond a general “in the months ahead.”