Only 20% of owners use a modern version of BlackBerry OS

The new head of RIM Thorsten Hines said in a recent interview about his plans for the competition policy of the company for the next period. He told Reuters, that only 20% of owners use the modern version of the BlackBerry OS, and in some cases - BlackBerry 5 or even earlier.

To the greatest degree of attention will be given to encourage users to switch to new phones, including special contracts with suppliers of telecommunications services, within which to provide phones bundled with applications, reported Electronista.

Contracts have been prepared, and the company needs only to "budge," said Hines.

The strategy, he said, it is important to consider both the complexities arising from the enticement of users of other platforms, most of whom are choosing Android, or iPhone, and the inherent complexity of the BlackBerry platform associated with the update. To go to the BlackBerry 7 requires new hardware, such as, Bold 9900, despite the fact that the use of the device may have only a year ago. Given that all the OS updates are regulated by the provider, not RIM, providers often release them only after a few months after the release, or they may never release an update to the phone. While at Android may have similar problems, depending on your phone, iPhone owners will receive updates immediately, as soon as Apple releases them, and often for a period of two years or more.

Hines also said that the new PlayBook receive modem, which allows to exchange data at speeds of more than 42 Mb / s, as stated in the strategic plan. Supports standard LTE 4G PlayBook, which originally was scheduled last year, will now appear in the spring. Presumably it will be equipped with high-speed processor with a clock frequency of 1.5 GHz and OS PlayBook 2.0.

Network AT & T, Sprint and Verizon will provide support for the LTE standard by the middle of the year, although it is unclear when or even whether they have accepted the tablet PlayBook 3G or 4G. RIM has promised to release 3G and 4G for virtually every service provider, but delays release and low sales led to the fact that operators are forced to abandon the proposals. The leading position occupied by the iPad, as well as the reluctance of users to pay fees for data transfer to devices other than phones could interfere with RIM to provide the confidence of service providers.