Just when you thought RIM had run out of ideas, they come back with their most ingenuous smartphone yet- the new Blackberry Z10.
But, rather than take the time to actually innovate, the beleaguered Blackberry maker has created a phone that is almost identical to Apple’s market leader in a desperate attempt to stay fresh and relevant.
The similarities between the new device and the iPhone 5, which sold over five-million units on its launch weekend, are rather astounding. For anybody aware of the hotly contested, and rather bitter smart phone market, this is clearly a ruthless bid to claw back lost ground and ultimately topple Apple once and for all.
Ostensibly, the new phone, which has the new Blackberry 10 operating system, is simply a bigger version of the iPhone and even has a voice activated function similar to Apple’s Siri.
Why any company would want to copy a function that even Apple have still not figured out yet, is rather baffling? Anybody who has an iPhone 5 or an iPhone 4S will know that Siri is about as reliable as a professional cyclist’s urine.
However, this brazen attempt to replicate a competitor’s success isn’t actually as foolish as it seems. In fact, RIM seem to have taken a leaf out of Samsung’s book. Indeed, after surviving numerous patent infringements, the Korean tech giant has now countered with their own law suit against Apple, and more specifically the new iPhone 5.
And, Samsung’s tactics seem to be working, with the company’s Galaxy S series reaching 100-million sales in three years, which is one year faster than Apple took with the iPhone.
But, RIM are hoping to side-step such judicial foreplay by skillfully varying the design of the new Z10. For instance, the volume controls on the Z10 are on the right of the phone, while the same function is on the left of the iPhone. Also, the screen is a whole 0.2-inches bigger than the iPhone, meaning only a fool would suggest that the devices look similar.
President and CEO of Research In Motion, Thorsten Heins, has insisted that their new approach is completely original.
He said: “Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities. All of this will be integrated into a user experience – the BlackBerry Flow – that is unlike any smartphone on the market today.”
Written by Mark Hodge for Mr. Geek
About Ali Gajani
Hi. I am Ali Gajani. I started Mr. Geek in early 2012 as a result of my growing enthusiasm and passion for technology. I love sharing my knowledge and helping out the community by creating useful, engaging and compelling content. If you want to write for Mr. Geek, just PM me on my Facebook profile.
