Carriers Get First Preview of BB10

RIM’s first step in bringing Blackberry 10 to market is to bring carriers on board, after all a potentially impressive smartphone is of negligible utility value should no major carrier support it.

To get carriers on board, RIM’s chief executive Thorsten Heins held a closed door meeting in New York to give carriers a taste of a beta version of Blackberry 10.

When finally launched, Blackberry 10 will be a year late: it was first scheduled for early 2012, but is now expected by early 2013.

According to The Wall Street Journal, RIM’s CEO said that the company is “nearing the finishing line” with Blackberry 10.

“BlackBerry 10 is for real, the hardware is there and the software is there,” he said during the briefing.

Mr. Heins also confirmed to the Journal that RIM will be launching a Blackberry 10 phone with a physical keyboard — a favourite amongst the business folk who are RIM’s core users — as well as an all touch screen model.

Blackberry 10 phones will also have user-replaceable batteries, another much-loved feature of the Blackberry.

Currently, RIM is planning six Blackberry 10 devices: three with a physical keyboard and three with a touch screen.

Reportedly, representatives from carriers who have seen the phone view it as a “marked improvement” over previous Blackberry devices.

“We value our relationship with RIM and look forward to working with them on existing and new products,” said Mark Siegel an AT&T spokesperson to the Journal.