Dual-core, QNX-powered BlackBerry phones in the works – but don’t hold your breath

By on Jan 7, 2011 at 11:30 PM
CES January 7, 2011

Dual-core processor-packing smartphones are a hot-ticket item at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and it looks like RIM must have felt a little left out. While the Canadian phone maker didn’t have any dual-core BlackBerry phones on display at the show, RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis did confirm in an interview that a more powerful breed of Berry is in the company’s plans. Unfortunately for speed-hungry BlackBerry users, it looks like it might not happen any time soon. Lazaridis told PC Magazine that future “super-phones” will indeed have to have dual-core processors, but he noted that the current crop of dual-core CPUs are just too hard on the battery to make their way into BlackBerry phones — and we all know how much RIM loves its battery life. Hit the read link for a great little interview by Sascha Segan over on the PC Magazine website.

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  • GenTsoChicken

    My contract is up in June. They have until then to put their “Super Phone” out. If not, Hello Droid Bionic.

    • Drew

      Congratulations on your departure because you know as well as I do that RIM won’t even be close to that kind of deadline. I left RIM 10 months ago and I’m glad I didn’t wait for the WebKit browser. It did nothing to make me want it had I waited.

    • Anonymous

      what makes you think RIM will deliver by JUNE….THey are talking YEARS MY FRIEND…..dont be foolish…i made the jump 2 weeks ago….dont feel bad at all, all though i am looking forward to the Playbook

  • RealDeal

    I hate the fact that it seems to take RIM forever to release things and that they can’t seem to work on more then one major project at a time. CES has proved that dual core is pretty much status quo from here on out. Yet RIM is saying that they will release new BB’s with QNX but need dual core porocessors to do it. Guess what?? they are here already morons. There has been absolutely no leaked info about a dualcore QNX powered BB other then the fact they said they will come eventually. That tells me it is 6-12 months out. Which is way to late. I have always been a big supporter of RIM, but they are really digging their own grave here.

    • George

      6-12 months? With that time frame you can expect the Bold 9780.5 featuring a 6 MP camera, and 15 MB bump in memory. All you need to do is pay $200 for $7.50 in upgrades. Don’t miss this great offer, sign up now while the company still exists!

      • dwinsmith

        Lol. It’s unlikely to even cost them any money. With tech getting less expensive they’ll probably save $3 and still be able to slightly improve the specs.

    • Lost

      do you know how to read? He is saying that the dual-core processors out right now are too expensive and inefficient.

      • Drew

        He’s talking out of his ass… The way he is talking (past interviews), he’s not really putting an emphasis on handsets right now, he’s seemingly focusing on the tablet. They swipe up QNX and TAT to quickly spit out this marvelous tablet yet dual-core is all of a sudden expensive and inefficient for handsets. He’s full of shit…

      • RealDeal

        A company that makes smartphones can not take the stance of “we will not be making any new devices due to the fact the technology isn’t ready for our software”. Make your software work with the technology available, Google and Apple is making it work.

      • Michael Scrip

        Exactly.

        RIM might have thought they could compete with the iPhone and Android with their Storm and Torch. (they couldn’t)

        And now they just got caught with their pants down in the dual-core race.

        Oh RIM will still be around to make QWERTY phones for businesses. But as a consumer company… I think their days are numbered.

        Just look at all the new phones that were announced at CES this week. Will RIM have anything new 12 months from now?

  • George

    RIM is so technologically incompetent that it’s amazing they were even able to crank out the devices they have now. Keep waiting for the future RIM and you just not might be in it. Change or die.

    • Lost

      technologically incompetent…except…they’re basically why smartphones exist.

      good one.

      • dwinsmith

        You’re obviously confused. The modern smartphone format (touchscreen, etc.) came from Palm OS devices like the Treos and Windows Mobile, but neither of those was the first real smartphone. Nokia was first with their communicator line. Blackberries still had track-wheels just a few years ago. Treos and phones like the Samsung Palm OS devices had color screens when Blackberries were still black and white.

      • George

        Whomever is responsible for the creation of the smartphone is completely irrelevant. Companies in the technology field do not sell their history, they sell their future and the future of the industry. Compared to major competitors, both the hardware and software in which RIM is outputting is behind and lacking. Maybe incompetent is a word too strong to use considering what RIM has accomplished and brought to the table in the past, but again, that is irrelevant to their current product lineup and what they claim the future will bring. Having their co-CEO say that the technologies used in devices that are BEATING them are inefficient may be true, but it is also incredibly stupid.

      • SVELTE

        I whole heartedly agree. I for one do want RIM to do well but I can’t explain how a company can be so lax and nonchalant while the industry races past them. Talk about “forcefield of denial”… and some people thought Jobs was bad. The level of blindness to the trends surprises me. RIM could and should be leading the way here. I’m really disappointed in this company.

      • Plo Koon

        So, is this the quarter when RIM finally starts losing money and decline towards obscurity after many years of profitable growth? You talk about the past but RIM is still thrived in the present and every time people have written it off, it has somehow managed to growth, yet again (which means, in a weird Star Trek time continuum way, it has prospered in the future). It’s true that RIM is not a big player in the consumer segment and, unfortunately, most of these blogs like BGR, Engadget and Gizmodo, are consumer-centric, as are huge bulk of the readership, thus the ever present negativity towards RIM. I believe RIM will start making meaningful inroad into the consumer market well before it starts to lose its grip in the enterprise segment. Not sure when this will happen but with the QNX platform waiting in the wing, I can see something major happening within a year and, unlike most of the shared view here, one year of waiting will not detrimentally impact RIM

    • zukidrvr

      Incompetently selling 106 smartphones every minute of every day, worldwide. That number continues to increase.

      And by the way, a mobile smartphone is not mobile if it requires frequent charging. What good is a Veyron if it spends all day at the gas pump?

      • RealDeal

        Yes, they are selling well now, but they’re sales are not increasing at the same rate as the market is growing and that is not a good sign, as the market can only continue to grow at this rate for so long. When that happens RIM is in trouble, unless they get their act together. I still believe RIM can turn things around but they really have to refucus their efforts to stay with the crowd.

      • Drew

        That was really a dumb analogy… The Veyron is the FASTEST production car in the world, not the most fuel efficient. Nokia sold/sells more handsets than anyone in the world and sold 127 Million this past quarter but their mindshare in North America is “0″. In short, those numbers mean nothing to the U.S. What’s your point?? What do you mean by frequent charging?? Once during the day for 45 mins or so?? Hardly frequent…

      • zukidrvr

        My point exactly. Hotshot smartphones tied to a charger every two hours don’t sound like my kind of fun. Nokia sells more phones than everyone else, but is now losing out to RIM in many major countries in smartphones. They’ve already lost Europe, their biggest stronghold.

        It’s going to be an interesting year. There are a lot of loops ahead in the roller coaster. Wheeeee!

  • Anonymous

    So they make a 4.3″ screen phone with a gigantic battery, a la the Atrix. Problem solved.

    • RealDeal

      You are joking, but it would go a long way in the consumer market to show they are trying to deliver products to all consumers. No, not everyone wants a massive touchscreen and poor battery life, but thats exactly what other people do want and are happy with.

  • lolmoney

    What a joke, speed-hungry blackberry users ? when did this happen?

  • Lost

    Am I the only one for this?

    The dual-core stuff coming out seems rushed, and I for one do not want a phone that has to be charged every 3 hours.

    Where are the dual-core iPhones? Why is dual-core even necessary right now on phones?

    • Drew

      You don’t think Qualcomm hasn’t continued to develop mobile processors?? They’ve been shipping mobile dual core processors since June 2010 running @1.2GHz. Nothing has been rushed. Technology is just evolving at an even faster rate. It was just over a year and a half ago that we had the 1Ghz Snapdragon processor. I’m not believing that nonsense Lazaridis is trying to push on everybody. He’s not telling the truth…

    • Anonymous

      If u want to be technical the entry level optimus line are dual core. I believe one at 600mhz and another at 300mhz. Dual core improves battery life.

  • keymaker

    That’s why Apple bought a chip company that’s pretty good on power management.
    He’s right, dual core chips are a beast when it get’s to power consuption but that will change, it’s just too soon.

  • Drew

    What’s so hard about battery management all of a sudden?? No one else is coming up with these sorts of problems, yet we’re suppose to believe the PlayBook has no issues with this as purported from other sources?? Quit talking out of your ass Lazaridis…!!

  • uCosom

    It’s clear to me that BGR and most of it’s readers have little to no concept of what business needs in a smartphone. It’s also clear to me that RIM still does, and hasn’t traded me in for the masses of fart app hungry morons.

    I’m constantly on the run through airports, rental cars, hotels, meetings etc… I need a device that gives me security, excellent battery life and just plain works. RIM understands that, and understands their customers needs. I cannot afford to stop and recharge my phone every few hours or carry a pocket full of extra batteries (can’t even swap batteries on the iphoney).

    RIM, please don’t listen to the Angry Bird app aficionados.

    • Rjmjr72

      and your sooo important you cant swap a battery? please, u just plain need email and thats about all a blackberry is good for ..and unless your with a government agency “secured’ email is not nearly as needed as you think..Just plain works? lol you sound like a chessy commercial
      angry birds? never used it and never will..

    • Chet Stovepiper

      Blackberry did anything but work when I used it. Long hourglasses, battery pulls, crappy apps. Awful

    • Shadrach

      I agree with Chet above. I’ve been using a Bold 9700 for over a year now and the software is buggy as hell. I frequently lose data connectivity and the only way to fix it is to do a battery pull. If I have only a couple of things running, things really slow down. Sometimes whole words I type get omitted from texts and emails because the OS hourglassed for a second during my typing. When RIM updated to the new version of App World, it became impossible for me to connect because I get an error every time. Nobody at any level of tech support I have spoken too can tell me why and now I just have to give up on using apps (not that there really are any anyway, but I do miss being able to use Scoremobile).

      Yes, the battery life is great but so what? It better be because my phone is barely doing anything. I’ll be jumping ship in H1 of this year once more info is out about the newer phones.

  • Max

    Blackberry is an outdated joke kept alive by know-nothing tech morons who can’t live without that stupid BBM even though any number of apps replicate it perfectly.

    • Bobdonhim

      And you are an outdated troll that their sole purpose in life is to comment negatively on everything BlackBerry. Run along, your mom is calling you for dinner.

    • RetroDude

      come out of the basement and feed nana some dinner.

  • Anonymous

    This is nothing new, they have been using the same excuses for having crappy specs in their current handset line up. I was a BB die hard, tried the torch and wanted to throw it thru a wall, it made realize what Laz is saying now months ago. I ditched BB until they get it together, if they ever do….

  • http://twitter.com/ggore Glenn Gore

    It’s no wonder all these fancy new dual-core phones are the ones that have 4-inch screens. They have a HUGE need for more battery power and the bigger overall size of the phone is a way to disguise the huge battery packs they have inside. Put a dual-core processor into a normal sized current phone and it wouldn’t last till noon.

    • Max

      India may have problems plugging in by noon but Americans don’t. Indians also urinate and defecate in the street I have scores of friends who lived/travelled there who witnessed it. We plug in whenever the hell we want. Give us dual-core we’ll figure out the power. We’re not backpacking the Andes here.

      • Clamstuffer78

        I piss in the street whenever I get a chance. But, what the HELL does that have to do with charging up your phone? Retard.

      • marc

        His point is that India is a glorified third world country, so while they might care about battery and charging due to lack of electricity, here in the states that problem doesn’t exist. Therefore, there’s very little excuse why rimm can’t come out with even one super phone for it’s consumer base.

      • Bobdonhim

        Clearly you dont get out of your mom’s basement enough. I travel frequently through airports and a free outlet is always hard to find for my laptop because of all the Droid and Apple devices plugged in. I never need an outlet for my BB.

      • Scott

        That’s because they’re actually using their device ;) It’s amazing what you can do with tons of apps, a great browser and a screen that isn’t tiny.

  • Rocker

    Hey BGR, I’ve been coming to this site for a year or so now but after the biased reviews, one after the other not to mention the fact that you have NO exclusive stories, (everything is via engadget, gizmodo, wsj, crackberry, macrumors and alike), I don’t see a point to your site other than a venue for people to complain about one platform or another.

    For those that may actually like Droids or BB’s you sure don’t give them anything valuable in terms of news or updates…you merely give a tidbit of news from another site then toss in your “I hate BlackBerry”, “I won’t mention Droid” but love Apple” nonsense.
    I have yet to see a bb story without a “but it sucks” connotation attached to it.

    At the end of the day, I bet a meager 5-10% if that of the techy population actually come here because you’re worse than the National Enquirer.

    Anyways, I may come back but only if I see your site running on a Quad-Core, 4GB, 5G device running HoneySyrup 4.0, that’s what it’ll need to handle all the fart apps running here.

    Happy Saturday! Cheers,

    • My Tuh Tuh Tourrr

      It’s all in your head. BG has stated on many occasions that he’s a fan of RIM and wants to see them do well. It’s nobody’s fault but RIM’s that they’ve fallen so far behind iphone and android in terms of innovation.

      BTW, I’ve been rocking a 9630 since it first came out, and it’s a piece of shit for everything besides email and texting.

      • Idiot

        BTW a 9630 is an entry level smartphone. What were you expecting?

    • Scott

      Actually, they were pretty right on with the Olympus (aka Atrix). And who isn’t tired of seeing the same phone being spit out twice a year by RIM? And I feel like they post plenty of Android articles. If you were to actually read them, they’re very similar to Engadget in that they hate these skins on Android, which is something the Android fanboys would actually agree with. They gave the Nexus S a good review. Get off your high horse of hating BGR and go back to sleep you wanker!

  • MobileAdmin

    I think you have two things going on which most here seem to be in the younger demographic “I want the coolest tech crowd”. I hope none of you every run a global business worth billions of dollars if you don’t understand RIM’s business model.

    Do I think they need new hardware (smartphone) – no doubt. Considering they have only released one device with a decent touch screen and OS 6 (Torch) which is actually selling quite well. I would love to see rim put out a Storm device with that screen (touch aspect) but at a higer resolution, 1ghs snapdragon and a good amount of RAM amd storage space. That would be a great solution until they get QNX devices rolling.

    RIM has been very tight with any smartphone model plans. I’m guessing they will showcase some of this at WES (whatever its called now) in May. So yeah if all you care about is the smartphone hardware it’s time you move on. Hardware has never been RIM’s thing.

    Now they do have a killer mobile infrastructure that no one has so when you buy a BB you are buying into their solution. Push email, Best in class security, BBM, lower data usage etc. This has little value for the blog “I want the best device” crowd. But let me know how your data bill looks after an international trip (I’m wagering most of those complaining still live with Mom & Dad).

    RIM is still making a profit, they are still selling devices (likely most outside of the states where they were #1 for years before this exploded) so why would they just give all that up and chase hardware specs? You will never win that. Android has what 8 – 10 hardware manufactors now? Windows Phone 7 will likely be as much. That would be just bleed their capital dry.

    Once my 9650 gets OS6 it will be a nice marriage with Playbook. I get the best in class email / PIM management, Playbook provides the web, media, fun everyone has railed RIM about. I also don’t need to pay for another data plan. So as a Blackberry user what is wrong with that? They understand their market space and are executing on things users have asked for.

    • Cell_Guru

      First, Yes RIM has a hold on corporate America but for how long. I may not like Apple or SJ, actually I can’t stand the SOB!!! But I have to give him credit. The iphone is only 3 years old and its already eating at corporate America, granted small size companies. One thing I know is that the SOB will get at all corporate America. He already has hired former RIM employees and I am sure he is working on getting the iphone all over corporate offices. In my company, you see BB with every person for work. tasks. They also carry their own smartphone, iphones and Motorola Droid 2 are the ones I notice. All the points by BGR made are valid. This company has no clue. As I said, the only thing keeping them anywhere valid is corporate America and to me that’s temporary until Android and Apple get their claws on that part of the business.

      RIM is trying to get in the consumer market other than the business sector and it’s failed. They do not get, sorry let me rephrase that, they are stubborn and refuse to give what consumers want in a consumer friendly market. The fact that now as I travel to work, subway riders whip out their BB for work, they whip out their other consumer smartphones right after that. So what does that tell you, the only reason they carry it is because their company IT dept gave them one for work. You can insult all non BB lovers all you want but the fact is younger generations are evolving with the times and the new technology.

      RIM will be left behind if they don’t get their act together. Once they lose their hold on the business sector, then what? The consumers want, dual-core, AMOLD, or Super AMOLD, 4” to 4.3” screens. The 2.5 inch screens are horrendous. Unless they fully devote their energy and capital to get in the consumer market, then get out completely.

      • MobileAdmin

        Great points and you bring up a larger issue. Will the consumerization of corporate IT erase any corporate “standard”. I agree that is a huge advantage RIM has now. We are already providing BYOT for employees and it has been met with mixed results as the same users you speak of (young generations) are deciding to pass and accept the company provide Blackberry regardless what they use. There are some hard things to consider:

        - The cost of paying for the device and data plan (granted they likely already were but we have been firm on no incentive other then using their device of choice.

        - Corporate security applied to their personal device. Very strong reaction to this (ecspecially remote erase) so they understand they can’t have their cake and eat it too and device to keep their personal technology seperate from their work.

        I think some users want dual core, large screens. If that was the case why is RIM even selling devices still? Many devices are in the top 20 selling devices every month. The fact is they are not persay “media super devices” like Android / iPhone but more focused on messaging. RIM appeals to the ever growing TXT message crowd which is tripling yearly.

        Everything goes in cycles, RIM has stayed course over over 10 years in a very aggressive vertical. I agree their window is closing but they have the pieces to make the device people want.

    • Drew

      As a former BlackBerry user I understand where you’re coming from and you’ve made some good points. I guess one of my biggest gripes about RIM is… Make up your mind. If your business model is for business and Enterprise, say that it is and continue with that. I’m sure they would be successful in doing that but if you’re going after the consumer market then don’t half ass and give us consumer good looks and flash with Enterprise etiquette and conservatism. They’ve shown that they cannot DO BOTH. About a year or so ago Lazaridis said in an interview that “…touchscreens are a fad.” He is clearly not in touch with reality and is probably what is ailing RIM. He’s giving “local” excuses for “real-world” problems and those problems are that people by 1,000′s are leaving RIM to go to other platforms. They whiffed on Palm but made up for it with the QNX and TAT acquisitions. There should be absolutely no excuses coming from Waterloo on why they can’t make a decent high end smartphone. I never understood why an email powerhouse was incapable of sending attachments larger than 2.9MB. It just made no sense to me. Flip phones with 2.7″ screens in 2011 says, you’re not in touch.

  • Francis

    Hurry up RIM you should be leap frogging not catching up!

  • Bryan

    Blackberry is enterprise focused, it is their “bread and butter” so to speak. They briefly dipped their toes in the success of the consumer market, but it is not agile enough to stay with the technology curve in that aspect. They are losing market share in a very fast growing smartphone market, and the iOS and Android OS devices are increasingly being requested by the enterprise market. They appear more focused on stabilizing vs. being a technology leader.

  • Anonymous

    Why is everyone making 4.3″ screens. Am I the only one that thinks these are too freeking big!

  • RealDeal

    Also RIM thinking that data compression is a reason for not needing to move to 4G is a very scary strategy. Browsing on a 3G BB is similar in speed to 2G speeds on most websites due to the delay of the BIS request/compression/decompression. This mind set is the definition of tunnel vision.

  • Drew

    As a former BlackBerry user I understand where you’re coming from and you’ve made some good points. I guess one of my biggest gripes about RIM is… Make up your mind. If your business model is for business and Enterprise, say that it is and continue with that. I’m sure they would be successful in doing that but if you’re going after the consumer market then don’t half ass and give us consumer good looks and flash with Enterprise etiquette and conservatism. They’ve shown that they cannot DO BOTH. About a year or so ago Lazaridis said in an interview that “…touchscreens are a fad.” He is clearly not in touch with reality and is probably what is ailing RIM. He’s giving “local” excuses for “real-world” problems and those problems are that people by 1,000′s are leaving RIM to go to other platforms. They whiffed on Palm but made up for it with the QNX and TAT acquisitions. There should be absolutely no excuses coming from Waterloo on why they can’t make a decent high end smartphone. I never understood why an email powerhouse was incapable of sending attachments larger than 2.9MB. It just made no sense to me. Flip phones with 2.7″ screens in 2011 says, you’re not in touch.

    • SVELTE

      Spot on Drew… spot on. However, I do hope that RIM will somehow be able to deliver on both consumer and biz platforms, but have a sense that they will not.

      RIM is the new Palm.

      • Cell_Guru

        Good comparason SVELTE. I think of RIM as the new Palm. Palm’s stubbornness to adopt and catch up with the times led to their inevitable downfall. RIM still has a sector they do very well in but for how long? The current CEO does not get it. He is still not seeing the big picture and not adopting to the times. Good companies know when its time redesign their product.

    • zukidrvr

      BBM now has the ability to send attachments up to 6MB, by the way. Double what email can handle.

      The BlackBerry Style was created with input from Sprint. Clearly, Sprint sees a market for it. The Style may not be a barn-burner in sales, but they are selling to the demographic that they were targeted to: flip phone users that want more than a feature phone.

      • Drew

        Glad to hear that BBM is able to send such a large attachment but that wouldn’t have sufficed either as none of my friends or family currently use a Blackberry… They too have moved to other platforms.

  • Lj

    i love blackberry but it seems like their technology is 2 years behind everyone else like htc, droid and iphone. everyone is bringing out new phones with big screens, new features and new technology and all blackberry does is release the same old phones with a few small changes to them. i might be switching soon if blackberry doesnt step it up.

  • Anonymous

    Having suffered for 2+ years (both man and wife sob sob) I finally made the jump to the DINC and am delirously happy with it; couldn’t wait any longer, wife is still holding on to her S2. IMO, BB doesn’t need to build SuperPhones it just needs to build a much Much MUCH better consumer experience than what was sold to us as the Storm series. does QNX really need dual cores to run? hmmmm, too bad, I was hoping see something in the second half of this year. That’s probably why they pulled the S3 back, couldn’t see releasing it with just O6 on it and face the onslaught of powerhouses from Android like we just saw last week.

  • http://www.gpscardvd.com/wholesale-car-gps-dvd-players-car-gps-dvd-for-honda_c2470 crv gps 8 inch

    RIM might have thought they could compete with the iPhone and Android with their Storm and Torch.

  • http://caspan.com Caspan

    I love it when RIM does the right move and pisses all you BGR fans off! If you are all so smart what are you doing making posts on BGR about how smart you are on the technology? Until you get to run a multi billion dollar company then they get to make the decisions. Suck it up!

  • GenTsoChicken

    There seems to be a fundamental or structural problem with in RIM that they have not been able catch up or even keep up with the mobile industry for the last 5 some years. I remember hearing BB will never have Wifi, tethering or Bluetooth because of security reason and BB will never have backlight and 3G because of battery life. Then look what happen. Security and Battery seems to be RIMs favorite excuses why they aren’t keeping up with the Joneses. To me that is exactly what they are, excuses. At this rate BB will have a phone that can compete with the iPhone & Droids but ny then Apple and Moto will be releasing something even better. G’bye BB. It was nice while it lasted.

    • http://caspan.com Caspan

      Okay seriously why is it you think their behind the curve? Why don’t you back it with proof. Again its because you can’t!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KW6Z5KUAO7UTHT46FMHSUOQOYY Francis Pelletier

    I’d rather have a phone that lasts me more than a day that something that opens a file real quick. Good for RIM for taking their time. A lot of phones a more performant out there, but a lot of people don’t even care about watching a 1080p video on a 4inch screen.

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