As a matter of fact, this is a rare case when a product gives the name of a company, and not vice versa. The current one was founded in 1984 and was called Research In Motion or RIM for almost 30 years, and only recently, in January 2013, it was renamed.
Research In Motion was founded by University of Waterloo student Mike Lazaridis and was initially focused on engineering problems. However, having not achieved significant success in this field in four years, the company became interested in working with wireless data transmission. This time, as they say, I got into the flow, because at that time paging communications were rapidly gaining popularity.
Despite the convenience of smartphones for the business segment, “ordinary” users considered the manufacturer’s devices to be very large and inconvenient. And therefore, in the same 2004, the company decides to expand its target audience by releasing a phone without a QWERTY keyboard. In addition, the diagonals and quality of displays are increasing, as well as memory, applications, camera, chat, etc. are appearing.
In 2007, it introduced a series of communicators, including the 8820, designed specifically for corporate users and having a built-in Wi-Fi module, and the 8830 World Edition, distinguished by its versatility.
However, in 2011 the situation worsened significantly. Despite the fact that bright and interesting devices continued to be released, competitors were doing their job, Android smartphones were taking over the world with their availability at an incredibly fast pace, and the iOS platform was gaining more and more loyal fans, thanks to its high performance and stability. In October 2011, the company absorbed NewBay, a company developing cloud technologies for telecom operators, but at the end of the year, due to lack of funds, it had to sell its subsidiary, Synchronoss.
In 2012, due to harsh criticism from investors, the company's founder, Mike Lazaridis, was removed from his position as chief executive officer, although in return he received the post of deputy chairman of the board of directors and also became head of the innovation committee.
The year 2013 began for the company with a global renewal, both in the literal and figurative sense of the word. First, RIM has finally become
The history of the manufacturer of the first business phones
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In 2009, BlackBerry (Research in Motion) was named the fastest growing company in the world. Today it is a different company with more modest goals: to keep up with the smartphone market and stay afloat. The site's observer examined the history of BlackBerry founder Michalis Lazaridis and his Canadian company, which was once the leader in business phones.
In March 1961, a boy was born in Istanbul into the Greek-Pontian family of the Lazaridises. Michalis Lazaridis - this is what his parents called the future co-founder of RIM, today BlackBerry Limited. From Turkey, the family moved to Germany for a short time. When the boy was 5 years old, they moved to Canada, to Windsor, Ontario.
Michalis's father became a turner's apprentice, and later a master in the production of dies and other tools used in production. He even opened his own store. At this time, the boy’s mother combined the work of a dressmaker and a journalist. The family's interests were varied, which especially helped their son.
From early childhood, Michalis showed mental ability and a desire to work with his hands. At age 4, he was building complex Lego models. At the age of 8, he made a pendulum clock, and it was quite accurate. The boy really liked the model railway that was given to him. The father helped his son develop in the engineering direction, explained the principles of electricity.
At school the boy performed well. But Michalis liked it better if they called him Mike. At age 12, Mike received an award for reading every science book in the Windsor library. Mike was lucky with school; the high school program included training in workshops equipped with various machines and electronic devices, which allowed him to develop further in the engineering field. He learned to work with every instrument.
Mike's urge to invent increased. While preparing for a Canadian quiz show, he made a handy signaling device for his team to accurately determine who pressed the button first. Other teams noticed his invention and asked to make the same for them. Mike and his father found a way to make extra money and sold such devices to schools.
The money he earned was enough to pay for a year of study at the University of Waterloo, where Lazaridis entered in 1979. With his knowledge and experience, Mike was able to earn extra money fixing household appliances and pay for his studies. He began developing his own projects, and at the age of 23 he won a competition for a contract with General Motors.
For an automobile corporation, Mike developed an LED warning system in factories. For this he received $600 thousand. Feeling that he could go much further, Mike decided to drop out of school and become an entrepreneur a month before graduation. He informed the rector of the university about his intention, and he supported him.
At this time, Douglas Fregin, Mike's childhood friend, was studying at Windsor University. He also wanted to be an engineer and work on something important. Together with Mike Lazaridis and Mike Barnstein, they founded their company with money from Lazaridis, parents, friends and a grant received from the state. They decided not to move anywhere and settled in a small room on the top floor of a shopping center in Waterloo. After searching through the options, it was decided to name the company “Research in Motion”, which symbolized the tireless movement forward towards new inventions.
But luck did not come to them right away. The production of LED systems for General Motors did not go according to plan, and the contract had to be abandoned. For a long time, the friends could not move forward, there were still no grandiose ideas, and the implemented projects ultimately failed.
In 1988, RIM began developing devices for the Mobitex network technology, developed in Sweden by Televerket Radio and Ericsson. RIM was the first company to work with this protocol outside of Scandinavia. At that time, the Canadian company Cantel was about to launch a network based on this protocol. RIM developed modems and software tools for it. Later, this experience will greatly help Lazaridis’ company. However, after the launch, the Cantel network turned out to be of no use to anyone at that time - the companies did not find a use for it in the existing realities.
At the same time, Lazaridis learned that the Canadian Government Film Service was looking for film reading technology. In 1990, RIM released Digisync, a device for reading digital barcodes printed on the edges of film strips. This system has greatly simplified the life of editors, speeding up their work many times over. Digisync was very popular among professionals. Four years later, RIM received an Emmy for this device, and in 1999, an Oscar for outstanding technical achievements.
In 1990, another company became interested in creating a network on Mobitex. RAM mobile Data (later BellSouth) began building its network and hired RIM as a device developer. By the end of the year, RAM decided they needed a two-way pager. At that time there were no pagers capable of communicating directly with each other.
Lazaridis had long before been interested in the possibility of creating something similar for email. Wired systems already existed at that time, only scientists used them. But a wireless device for transmitting information seemed to Mike the most important technology of the future.
James Balsillie
RIM continued to develop pagers for the Mobitex network, and Lazaridis himself was already working on the idea of a network PDA. In the early 90s, no one believed in such devices. Many companies have conducted research in this direction, but have not seen suitable conditions. Mike wanted to get ahead of everyone. But for this he needed funds.
James Balsillie, a Harvard graduate, worked for Sutherland and Schultz. After working together with RIM, they saw serious potential in it and decided to buy it. James had to complete the deal by finally convincing RIM management. But Lazaridis refused to sell. However, he paid attention to Balsillie’s abilities.
In 1992, Sutherland and Schultz was acquired by another company, and James was asked to leave with compensation. Mike decided that such a person would be very useful to them. He contacted James and offered to invest $250 thousand for a third of the company, while receiving a reduced salary. Balsillie agreed, but had to mortgage his house to raise the full amount in cash.
When Balsillie joined RIM, the company had 14 employees. This was clearly not enough to implement Lazaridis’ ambitious ideas. In order to concentrate on developing its device, RIM abandoned all third-party contracts.
To prove that wireless devices had a future, RIM introduced its Inter@ctive Pager 900 in 1996. The device allowed wireless messaging and fit in the hand. Still, it was very far from ideal; it was impossible to carry it in a pocket due to its weight, so the device did not work commercially.
By 1997, together with Intel, they developed a new, more compact and convenient device - the RIM 950. It was no longer just a pager, but a device with email that was constantly connected to the network. The keyboard has been redesigned for thumb typing. And on one AA battery the RIM 950 could work for 3 weeks.
Lazaridis continued to hit the wall of misunderstanding on the part of companies and customers. RIM was on the verge of shutting down. But at the last minute, Mike managed to convince BellSouth management with his presentation that they needed to continue expanding the Mobitex network, and not sell it. BellSouth agreed to invest in the network. RIM was saved and also attracted the attention of IBM, Panasonic and other large companies to its project.
Ordinary users still did not understand how the RIM 950 differed from pagers. To convey the essence of the device to potential buyers, RIM hired Lexicon Branding. For Lexicon specialists, the main element that could distinguish the 950 from pagers was the keyboard. The keys looked like berries. In the end, we settled on “BlackBerry” with a fairly bright sound and an emphasis on advanced functionality for text messages.
In 1999, RIM launched the BlackBerry wireless secure email service throughout North America using Mobitex networks. Balsillie sent representatives from RIM to give away free RIM 950s in Canada and the United States to people who qualified as early adopters—celebrities and enthusiasts. They began to be used by police officers, firefighters and ambulance workers. Then the devices flooded Wall Street. At first they were distributed to ordinary employees of companies, but gradually people in leadership positions drew attention to the popularity of BlackBerry. This is how RIM’s original “guerrilla” marketing campaign took place.
In the same year 1999, RIM entered the NASDAQ stock exchange, becoming a public company and receiving $255 million. With a new supply of funds, the company continued to seize the moment, improving its developments. At that time, BlackBerry had already turned into a status gadget, popular among people with a huge number of fans. Blackberries were distributed at conferences, and professionals from various fields began to use them. Demand grew at a tremendous pace, the company barely had time to produce devices, extending contracts for the supply of necessary parts and assembly.
During the events of September 11, 2001, when mobile networks in New York and Washington failed, BlackBerry devices continued to work through Mobitex, so emergency workers in the Twin Towers area could communicate with each other, and those inside the buildings could send messages to people outside. Lazaridis has always focused heavily on security and reliability, which ultimately brought BlackBerry to the attention of politicians and government officials in such a tragic way. After this disaster, RIM received an order to supply 3 thousand BlackBerry to the US government. Washington appreciated the capabilities of Canadian development.
In the wake of BlackBerry's popularity, NTP sued RIM for illegally using patents on wireless email technology. Lazaridis denied the accusations, citing the fact that he never knew about NTP, and RIM developed its technologies independently much earlier. However, NTP was able to prove that its patents appeared even earlier and demanded that sales of BlackBerry in the United States be banned. At this point, connections in the government helped - the ban on BlackBerry was asked to be postponed, because the country's leadership used these devices. In total, the trial lasted 5 years. In the end, RIM paid $612 million to the Virginia holding, and they dropped all their charges.
In parallel with the litigation, the company continued to grow, gradually improving its devices. Lazaridis and Balsillie decided to focus primarily on the corporate sector, believing that other users would follow. In 2006, RIM released the first smartphone with a camera and other media features, but remained focused on communication features for professionals. The BlackBerry Pearl family was quite popular, and new models were released until 2010.
In 2007, RIM was valued at $42 billion, BlackBerry sales continued to climb in 120 countries, and the audience numbered 9 million people. And this year Apple released the first iPhone. Steve Jobs relied primarily on the software part, while Mike Lazaridis considered that technical features, long battery life and a comfortable tactile keyboard were more important.
Analysts note that already at this moment RIM began to lose. At the start of sales of the new competitor, BlackBerry occupied a much larger percentage of the market. But Apple is targeting a wide audience, primarily ordinary users. And the iPhone began to win the market, thanks to more advanced software. RIM was still selling much larger BlackBerrys, but was late with updates.
Lazaridis believed in limitations; he believed that the company and its products must be developed within these limitations. He was worried about how to fit all the controls into a small size, how to compress and fit all the data within the limitations of the network channel, how to increase the operating time. BlackBerry's design was driven by everything that Apple chose to ignore. Conservatism began to work against RIM.
The first versions of the Apple smartphone did not damage BlackBerry; on the contrary, sales grew. In November 2008, after delays, RIM released the Bold 9000 to generally positive reviews, but the applications left much to be desired. A little earlier in the same year, Android OS appeared.
At the same time, RIM released its answer to the iPhone - Storm. It was a smartphone without a keyboard and with a touch screen, reminiscent of an Apple device. It had some technical innovations and convenient communication functions, but the operating system, according to critics and users, was much inferior to the product of Steve Jobs' company. Sales of Storm were a disaster.
In 2009, RIM remained a large growth company that could defend its position. But the prevailing culture in the company prevented this. While RIM was fighting for CEOs and politicians around the world, Apple and Google began to gain the trust of their subordinates. Organizations have allowed their employees to bring personal devices to work. And they brought with them an iPhone or an Android smartphone.
In 2010, RIM, with support from AT&T, released Torch, which suffered the same fate as Storm. The operating system and applications were inferior compared to the iPhone. RIM decided it was time to move to a new OS that could compete in a changing market.
This was the last chance to turn the situation around. Lazaridis and Balsillie felt that new technologies and specialists were needed. RIM acquired several companies, including QNX Software Systems. It was on the basis of the QNX operating system that the BlackBerry Tablet OS was created. In 2011, there was another failure - the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet sold poorly and received negative reviews, which is why prices had to be sharply reduced.
BlackBerry's popularity declined sharply in the US, Canada and the UK, but continued to grow in developing countries where people simply could not use all the features of Apple smartphones due to less developed infrastructure. In addition, not many people can afford an iPhone in these countries. That's why they bought BlackBerry there more often. Today, even in these countries, BlackBerry is losing consumer interest.
For a long time, Mike Lazaridis and James Balsillie shared the CEO position between themselves. Mike handled the technical side, and James handled the commercial side. But in the large corporation that RIM has become, this principle no longer helps. Decisions had to be made with the consent of both parties, which greatly slowed down the development process and affected the performance of employees.
The history of BlackBerry began in 1984. At that time, the company Research In Motion made communicators similar to a pager. They were designed only for text transmission. In 1997, the name "BlackBerry" was used for the first time. The device's buttons resembled blackberries, and that's how the name was coined. Communicators with a QWERTY keyboard, which was considered very convenient at that time, appeared in 2007.
BlackBerry smartphones are service devices. Their main feature is the security of data transmission according to the AES standard to protect against interception. Another development is responsible for this - Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES).
The solution is installed on the equipment of the cellular operator and the customer company. Each smartphone on the network has its own unique number, by which it is identified with the server. The intermediaries between the sender and the recipient are the company server and the mobile operator. Thus, the approach is relevant for paranoid corporations that would like to monitor the data on employees' devices.
Due to its secrecy, BlackBerrys were not officially sold in Russia for a long time - this was prevented by the ubiquitous secret services. Now Beeline is working with BlackBerry devices, but BlackBerryMessenger (a secure analogue of ICQ) is disabled on them. In Ukraine, he took up the implementation of the solution.
Today, BlackBerry has become even more irrelevant. Many smartphones can work with a VPN - a virtual private network, the encryption and protection of which you can configure yourself. In addition, there are a number of applications that can restrict access to data and its transfer - for example, Knox from Samsung.
Despite the upgrade in terms of working with text, multimedia, graphic files and improving the usability of smartphones, BlackBerry remains quite expensive. We practically didn’t deal with “blackberry” devices, but our Test Lab did get the latest model of the BlackBerry Z3 smartphone with the latest BlackBerry 10 OS update.
It is worth noting that the smartphone is truly typical for the business segment. Although this device is not the most expensive. Strict design and slightly heavy non-separable body.
The back is covered with textured plastic and prevents the smartphone from slipping out of your hands. There is also a speaker at the bottom, which, by the way, is very loud.
All buttons are on the left side. This is convenient, since you can press them with your thumb without unnecessary interceptions. There are also no hardware buttons here. Navigation through applications occurs thanks to a unified interface, and applications are closed by swiping from bottom to top.
The slots for the SIM card and MicroSD are on the right and are covered with a common plug. MicroUSB is used for connection and charging. Audio jack is on top.
Holding the middle button between volume up and down launches Intelligent Assistant. With its help, you can search on your smartphone, on the Internet, or perform quick operations (call, write SMS, etc.). In OS version 10.3.1, the assistant now has voice input. There is no support for Ukrainian and Russian languages.
Thanks to the new optimized firmware, the 2500 mAh battery lasts for several hours more than that of similar Android smartphones. With a moderate load - a couple of hours of Internet via Wi-Fi, SMS and a dozen calls - the smartphone works for almost two days.
The smartphone has a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8230 processor and 1.5 GB of RAM. Quite an old solution, but enough for the BlackBerry OS. There are no lags or brakes at all. It has 8 GB of internal memory, and memory cards up to 32 GB. True, we used the 64 GB version of the card, and it is supported without problems.
When connected to a computer, the smartphone automatically detects the operating system and offers to install BlackBerry Link from the company's website. Only after this the phone memory will be visible in the explorer. No drivers are needed for the memory card; it is immediately visible from the PC.
There are almost no programs from PlayMarket in the native BlackBerry World application store. But you can install third-party options that will allow you to use the usual Instagram, Forsquare, Dropbox, etc. Having studied the issue, we found information that it was in the latest version of BlackBerry OS that the optimization of their work was seriously redesigned. Android applications take longer to launch than expected, but are more stable than on previous versions.
BlackBerry Z3 is considered a mid-price device. The price in Ukraine is approximately 5000 UAH. Apparently, the latest OS update and the Z3 model are attempts to regain user loyalty and gain new customers. Most likely, already for flagship devices. What remains for us to say is that the decision is not uninteresting, and the means of protection may become more relevant in view of the current situation of information confrontation.
BlackBerry Z3
OS: BlackBerry 10.3.1
Processor: Qualcomm MSM8230, 1.2 GHz
Screen: 5”, 540×960, AMOLED
RAM: 1.5 GB
Memory: 8 GB + MicroSD 32 GB
main 5 MP, autofocus, LED flash
front 1.1 MPix.
Communications: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
Battery: 2500 mAh
Dimensions: 140×72.8×9.26 mm
Supplier: ASBIS-Ukraine
Grade:
Good performance
Optimization in the new OS
Autonomy
- no usual applications
It didn't come as much of a surprise. However, this is a good reason to remember the history of what was once the largest smartphone manufacturer in the North American market.
Paging (1984–1998)
In 1984, Canadian Mike Lazaridis, while a student at the University of Waterloo, registered a company called Research In Motion (RIM). Initially, the company's activities were engineering work, namely the design of devices for wireless data transmission.
In the early 1990s, Research In Motion began working with Ericsson and RAM Mobile Data, from which it borrowed technologies for wireless text transmission over the then widespread paging networks.
In 1996, the world saw the first RIM gadget - the Inter@ctive Pager 950 pager, which worked on the Mobitex network. Unlike most competing models, which could only receive text messages, the Inter@ctive Pager 950 was equipped with a QWERTY keyboard, and therefore also allowed you to send messages.
Inter@ctive Pager 950 was aimed primarily at the corporate segment, and therefore did not become a mass product. And at that time, it was not yet fashionable among young people to chat non-stop.
In 1997, RIM management decided to rebrand its products. The new line of mobile gadgets was called BlackBerry; this name and new branding were created by the marketing company Lexicon Branding, specially hired for this purpose. It was blackberries, according to Lexicon Branding employees, that the keyboard of RIM devices of that time resembled.
Smartphones are coming (1999–2006)
RIM released its first smartphone in 1999 - the model was called BlackBerry 5810. Like the company's pagers, the device was equipped with a QWERTY keyboard and a monochrome display, but with a larger diagonal. Interestingly, the first version of the BlackBerry 5810 was devoid of a speaker and microphone. To make phone calls you had to connect a wired headset. In subsequent revisions, however, built-in voice communications were added.
In 2004, RIM's first smartphone with a color display, the BlackBerry 7210, was released. That same year, RIM celebrated two significant events: the company's first million mobile gadgets were sold, and ten months later, the second. As paradoxical as it may sound today, working purely in the corporate segment, RIM grew faster than consumer-oriented competitors in the mobile market.
Inspired by success, RIM, for the first time in its history, goes beyond the corporate market and begins to create “smart” gadgets that ordinary Canadians and Americans would want to buy. In 2006, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 was announced with a simplified telephone keyboard.
In addition, the 8120 model became the company's first smartphone with a built-in camera and software media player. Pearl had four possible color options (black, grey, blue and red). It was so different from previous corporate-strict BlackBerry models.
This was a time when neither the Apple iPhone nor Android smartphones existed yet, and Nokia ruled the roost only in Europe and Asia. In reality, only Palm communicators and Windows Mobile-based solutions from different manufacturers competed with RIM in the North American market.
Golden time (2007-2010)
RIM managed to maintain its brand and grow its audience thanks to its well-developed web services for doing business. For example, BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), intended for small businesses, is responsible for real-time synchronization, data compression to speed up loading and save Internet traffic, as well as privacy.
For large businesses, a much more functional Blackberry Enterprise Server is offered, which allows data exchange between a corporate mail server and a smartphone via a secure communication channel.
By 2009, RIM managed to sell more than 50 million smartphones worldwide (only Nokia sold more), and in terms of financial growth it completely surpassed all competitors. A year later, Blackberry smartphones reached the milestone of 100 million copies sold. True, by that time Apple had already joined the arms race, as well as Google with its hardware partners (HTC, Samsung and Motorola).
Failed attempt to fit in (2011-2012)
In 2011, RIM, while still successful, realized the need to quickly adapt to the changing market for mobile gadgets. Its first reformist step was the release of a tablet PC. In terms of technical characteristics, the BlackBerry PlayBook turned out to be quite successful: a rubberized body, an IPS screen, a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and loud, bassy speakers on the front panel.
But the meager selection of applications for BlackBerry OS, built on QNX, prevented RIM's tablet from becoming a mass product. A specially created emulator for running Android applications on BlackBerry OS did not become a panacea. In emulation mode, applications ran slower than in the native environment. After some time, the PlayBook tablet was already being sold at reduced prices.
As a result, RIM's stock price fell fivefold over the year, and the company's founder and long-time head, Mike Lazaridis, was forced to leave his post. Thorsten Heyns, who previously headed the German company Siemens, became the new executive director of the company. Putting at the helm of the already problematic RIM a person who had previously suffered defeat with the Siemens mobile division is a very controversial decision.
Farewell to the consumer market (2013)
Despite the release of quite interesting smartphones BlackBerry Q10 and Z10 (the first is push-button, the second is touch-sensitive), the new management of RIM failed to improve matters. Perhaps the only thing memorable about Haynes's reign was the renaming of Research In Motion to BlackBerry. Currently, BlackBerry controls just 2.7% of the global smartphone market, trailing even Windows Phone, which came in third with 3.3% of devices.
In the summer of 2013, the intention to sell the BlackBerry company was announced, but there were no people willing to pay the required amount. Therefore, already in September it was announced that RIM was leaving the consumer segment of the mobile device market and massive staff reductions. Now BlackBerry will do what it started with: design hardware and software solutions exclusively for the enterprise sector. Time will tell whether she will be able to regain the trust of big business.
Gadget manufacturers
BlackBerry is widely known as a manufacturer of business-class smartphones. In fact, its merits also lie in the fact that it provides reliable and secure software for industrial applications and mobile device management. And most importantly: this company produces telecommunications and wireless equipment. Its hardware and software products are used by various government agencies around the world, and are also actively used by industrial enterprises and automobile manufacturers. In other words, much of the activity remains unknown to the general public.The firm was founded by Waterloo student and Istanbul native Mike Lazaridis in 1984. Initially, it was called Research In Motion (RIM), and it was she who was destined to develop and release the BlackBerry device. However, this was still a long way off.
The future founder of the company, university rector and officer was born into a family of ethnic Pontian Greeks, and at the age of five he moved with them to Canada. As a teenager, he showed an unusual interest in science and technology. At the age of twelve, Lazaridis received a prize from the public library in Windsor for having read all of its scientific books.
Having matured, Mike entered the University of Waterloo to study computer science and electrical engineering. In a few years, he will take on a project for General Motors, thanks to which he will earn $500 thousand. This will be followed by the conclusion of a contract and a small grant from the government. In 1984, the company Research In Motion was founded together with University of Windsor engineering student Douglas Fregin.
The company's early years were funded by Canadian institutional and venture capital investors in 1995. The first venture capital investment was intended to complete the development of Research In Motion's two-way paging hardware and software system.
Before the company's initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange, it raised just $30 million. RIM worked with Ericsson and RAM Mobile Data on the Mobitex wireless network, which would enable bidirectional data transfer, and on a wireless email network.
In the summer of 1998, the Inter@ctive Pager 950 went on sale.
It was the size of a point-and-shoot camera, but compared to SkyTel from . Using it, it was possible to type and send messages to other similar devices. Externally, the device resembled a pager. It had a large screen and its main function was corporate communication.
In 1999, Research In Motion introduced a device called the BlackBerry 850 pager. It was named so because one of the engineers drew a parallel between the tiny lacquered keys and blackberries. The developers liked the name and decided to use it in the future.
Thanks to its own additional server software, the device could receive push notifications from the Microsoft server. This invention laid the foundation for the company's future products. At the same time, work began on creating the first mobile device.
In the spring of 2000, the BlackBerry 957 appeared - the company's first smartphone. It ran on the BlackBerry OS platform and was actively used in business and government agencies.
That same year, Lazaridis received an honorary doctorate in engineering from the University of Waterloo. Three years will pass, and he will be able to receive the position of rector, and after a few years he will become an officer of the Canadian Order and the Order of Ontario.
Soon, the future Blackberry company (at that time still RIM) began developing mobile devices aimed at the consumer market. The first smartphone of the new model was the BlackBerry Pearl 8100. It was equipped with multimedia functions, including a camera. The Pearl series turned out to be quite successful. The number of BlackBerry users has been growing around the world.
In 2004, a mobile device with a color display was released, which was called the BlackBerry 7210. It was this model that opened the 7000 series. Most devices in this series have Bluetooth support.
At the same time, the company is releasing a device without a QWERTY keyboard. The 8700 series will be noteworthy in that the devices will be equipped with increased memory, chat, a camera and a better screen. In 2007, the company began producing communicators.
Interesting fact: During his election campaign in 2007-2008, Barack Obama constantly used a BlackBerry communicator, and since then this device has become an integral part of the image of the future president.
By the way, according to the law, American presidents are prohibited from using personal communications devices, and therefore immediately after taking office he had to abandon the device. Later, a loophole in the law was found, and Obama was still able to win the right to use his personal BlackBerry smartphone.
This was argued by the fact that in the event of legal proceedings in which the head of state is involved, his personal correspondence cannot be used, and therefore he has the right to use his own email account.
The first iPhone was released in 2007.
This was accompanied by great excitement, and it was assumed that the Apple smartphone would be a serious competitor to BlackBerry. The iPhone turned out to have a powerful mobile platform, a new touch interface and enormous multimedia capabilities.
One way or another, he was called the "BlackBerry killer" by the media. This was the impetus for Research In Motion to create their first touch-screen smartphone. It was BlackBerry Storm. This smartphone sold well, but there were many bad reviews about it.
In addition, the company faced criticism from the media, accusing it that the operating system it used was outdated and would not be able to withstand competition. Be that as it may, in the fall of 2010, the BlackBerry user base in the United States reached 21 million people.
Google's Android and iPhone devices remained its main competitors as they also continued their accelerated growth. The BlackBerry line was still successful, but it didn't make much of a splash in the international market. All this forced its creators to turn to new platforms.
Among the new competitors was the Windows Phone OS.
For several years, BlackBerry remained the dominant smartphone in many markets, especially in the United States. The advent of iOS and Android greatly slowed BlackBerry's growth rate and had a negative impact on sales. Increasingly, the media referred to this device as uncompetitive.
They also noted that RIM was unable to continue its successful operations as a separate company. Fortunately, BlackBerry was able to retain some of its positions, backed by its established user base and cost-effective plans. Additionally, the smartphone market has continued to grow across the globe.
While Research In Motion's secure networks remained attractive to enterprise customers, their phones were less attractive to the average consumer. All this caused mass layoffs of employees in 2011. In addition, in September of the same year, another unpleasant event occurred: the BlackBerry Internet server suffered from extensive outages.
This event (simultaneously with the announcement of the iPhone 4S) led to a massive outflow of users. However, RIM responded quickly. In October, it introduced a new BBX platform, which would run future BlackBerry smartphones. This was followed by accusations of the trademark borrowing the BBX name. That is why the platform was renamed BlackBerry 10.
In September, the company announced the release of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, which was surrounded by many rumors. It was the first device to run the QNX platform, also known as BlackBerry Tablet OS. In 2011, the tablet was officially presented to American and Canadian customers.
Unfortunately, it was criticized for coming to market unfinished. The tablet sold poorly. All this prompted the company to reduce its cost.
In early 2012, Mike Lazaris and Jim Balsillie stepped down as CEOs, handing over the reins to CEO Thorsten Heyns. RIM soon suffered heavy losses, and Haynes decided to restructure. He fired many employees and replaced some executives, and also delayed the release of the BlackBerry 10 platform.
After much criticism, the company officially announced a new operating system and two smartphones running it – BlackBerry Z10 and Q10. This happened at the beginning of 2013. The BlackBerry Z10 smartphone was first introduced in January 2013 and went on sale in the UK to begin with.
It was equipped with a high-resolution display and a dual-core processor. Following this, its presentation took place in the USA. The company sought to become No. 1, using its own developments in the process of creating its own operating system (rather than adapting its devices to other platforms). They should be given credit for this.
During the launch of BlackBerry 10, another important event took place: the company formerly known as Research In Motion was renamed the BlackBerry company. All this allowed us to create our own brand and attract attention to smartphones. Moreover, most customers already called the manufacturer of their devices nothing other than BlackBerry.
In the fall of 2013, the company is engaged in direct sales in the United States. Unlocked Q10 and Z10 smartphones are sold directly from the BlackBerry website. Both devices ran BlackBerry 10 OS.
The Z10 smartphone was also equipped with a QWERTY keyboard.
The company strives to survive and remain a reputable and reliable brand. In May 2013, the US Department of Defense approved mobile devices running BlackBerry 10 OS for corporate use by its employees.
In May 2014, Blackberry introduced Z3 smartphones at a reduced cost to the Indonesian market, where the brand was especially popular. The device was created jointly with Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn (they were responsible for its design and distribution). Unfortunately, it was still more expensive than most Android models.
Among the most notable smartphones of 2014 is the BlackBerry Passport with a QWERTY keyboard and a square touchscreen display. This device ran BlackBerry OS version 10.3. In just the first six hours after the start of its sales, over 200 thousand smartphones were sold.
Another great invention of the company that same year was the fully touchscreen BlackBerry Rio smartphone. It had no hardware buttons at all.
What will happen to the company next? In June 2014, CNN published an article in which it was named one of the disappearing brands in the United States. Even heading into 2015, as BlackBerry continues to grow globally, investors and the media are deeply concerned about whether it can compete with mobile platforms like Android.
One way or another, it still remains a large and well-known telecommunications company, as well as a manufacturer of communicators that have managed to carve out their own niche in the market. A modern BlackBerry smartphone has the ability to surf the web and work with email. In addition, it interacts with other remote services.
What is so remarkable about BlackBerry business smartphones? Many of them are equipped with a full-format QWERTY keyboard, and therefore it is very convenient for their owners to work with texts and enter data. Smartphones are also reliably protected thanks to the built-in message protection system.
