RIM shows off BlackBerry 6 multimedia experience, in pictures

While there's still no (official) word on when we'll get any BlackBerry OS 6 hardware, much less that 9800 Bold, RIM has seen fit to provide us another glimpse at the software front. This time round we're looking at multimedia features, including the photo gallery, a brand-new podcasts app and YouTube, alongside extra camera controls (including a face detection mode) and roundabout confirmation that at least some new BlackBerries will support pinch-to-zoom. Oddly enough, there's no video showing off the new multimedia functionality, just a set of stills, but we suppose RIM realizes it's all been done before and Crackberry addicts will take whatever they can get right now.

[s2upid Posted Jul 21st 2010 3:34PM]

I hope it runs smoothly on my storm2. multimedia is painful on this thing

[kreatos Posted Jul 21st 2010 3:35PM]

I'm almost falling into the BB hype and this new update may just make me buy my first BB. The thing that put me off BB was the internet browser, fix that and i'm in.

[balwheeler Posted Jul 21st 2010 3:40PM]

Is this every going to happen? Stop teasing us RIM!! At this rate, Windows Phone 8 will be here by the time you release this.

[vision33r Posted Jul 21st 2010 3:44PM]

LOL at the geeks that thinks RIM is dead, yes your Dad's BB is a snorefest to you.

But guess what, this is what the President you Gen YYers elected to office uses!! Just about everyone in the govt uses one.

2 Features that it has that both Droid and iOS can't perform:

Policy groups - allows an admin to lock down the UI and selected features. Granular controls.

Remotely update the firmware and apps - Can you Android do that?

There are even software to monitor usage and up/downtime, can your Droid do that?

RIM still beats iOS and Droid with email, there's just no Smartphone as easy to use and powerful as the BB Email composer.

Go back to your overpriced Droid and iOS that can't even type accurately!

[Gazoobee Posted Jul 21st 2010 3:56PM]

@vision33r: you come across rather nutty here, but for the record ... iPhone can do all of those things. iPhone is the real threat to RIM not Droid.

Also, to those talking market-share, remember the trends are more important than the numbers. Apple's trend is straight up like a rocket, RIM's is a long slow declining slope (worldwide, and over the last three years since iPhone debuted).

[Gazoobee Posted Jul 21st 2010 3:48PM]

I hope that square over the wheat grass in the centre photo isn't a "tap to focus" square. That's 100% Apple patented with no prior art last I heard.

[Danrarbc Posted Jul 21st 2010 7:41PM]

@Gazoobee I'm pretty sure I've seen the feature on cameras before.

[Tise7 Posted Jul 21st 2010 4:09PM]

I have an iPhone4, but that looks pretty slick!

[njbianco96 Posted Jul 21st 2010 4:20PM]

Only if this came out last year

[Cringer Posted Jul 21st 2010 4:27PM]

Doesn't look half bad. The more options I have on Sprint in the future the better. I would pick webOS over anything right now, but I am open to a change for the right OS.

[Hydra Posted Jul 21st 2010 4:29PM]

It looks the same way it always does except they added a little transparent type stuff to the menus, otherwise its almost the same, FAIL

[higherdestiny Posted Jul 21st 2010 6:12PM]

@Hydra
err.. except it's a completely new UI, and they have built in some really great functionality if you actually read the source article.

I find it funny when people say OS 6 is just the same. Probably the same people who claim that Windows 7 is the same as Vista. Look into the product, read up, educate yourself and appreciate the evolution of one excellent product going to the next level.

Personally, I'm really looking forward to OS6. I'm not one for gimmicks - I want my phone to be rock solid and secure first and foremost. BlackBerry has that, and that's why it's trusted in the business world. Now they are building on that base with some really great functionality, and I think it's going to be a winner.

Good work RIM. You're listening to your customers without throwing away the things that make BlackBerry great. Looking forward to it!

[Hydra Posted Jul 21st 2010 7:22PM]

@higherdestiny And what happens when phones with 256mb of ram aren't upgradeable? The storm3 is coming, what if storm 2 and tour owners get screwed? You can bet it will happen

Even if the OS gets decent, the app world is slow and terrible most of the apps require a data connection and won't work on wifi alone. App world is slow and terrible , a huge lack of decent apps

[genomalice Posted Jul 21st 2010 5:29PM]

@NuklearPanda

I don't know about America or anyother place but here in Toronto over 70% of the younger population have BB's and over 99% of Somalis (I'm Somali) have blackberries, it is crazy popular here just for the fact of BBM. I've had an iPhone 3G,3GS, Moto Milestone & HTC Hero.

I'll tell you this, the 1 year I've had iPhones and the Androids were the most boring months of my life. You feel soo left out that I ran back to a BB 9700

[iMiiTH Posted Jul 21st 2010 5:59PM]

@genomalice From my experiences in Toronto and school, I completely agree. Just in the past week, 3 friends got a blackberry, two from featurephones and one from an iPhone.

[meeku Posted Jul 21st 2010 6:03PM]

"While there's still no (official) word on when we'll get any BlackBerry OS 6 hardware"

It's called BlackBerry 6, not BlackBerry OS 6 - please try and get it right. After all, I notice you don't seem to have any trouble recognising the fact the iPhone OS changed it's name to iOS - please do likewise for other companies' products.

[steviejobz Posted Jul 21st 2010 7:50PM]

This notion that Blackberry OS is so stable and sturdy is absurd. My Bold was a battery hog, white screened twice a week and requires 2-3 battery pulls per day due to memory usage.

Not to mention no decent media sync capabilities with a Mac.

When BB becomes an iPhone, I'll get a BB. Their incorporation of iPhoto "Faces" and "Places" is a start. I predict by 2015 it will become close to the iPhone 3G.

[JONNNathannn Posted Jul 21st 2010 11:24PM]

@steviejobz Um...Blackberry 6 already does stuff iOS can't do...

[T0astedP0Ptart Posted Jul 21st 2010 9:05PM]

It sounds like RIM has been working really hard on their next OS. I just hope they finally fixed the memory leak and that the new browser will be an excellent one so I can finally ditch opera mini/bolt and use the default...and maybe I won't have to pull the battery on a regular basis???

[R2DEE2 Posted Jul 22nd 2010 3:27AM]

This is good i can't wait for the beginning of RIMs next evolution, They are taking their time and not rushing things. One thing for certain is RIM has less catching up to do in the Consumer space than it's competitors do in the Business Space. And once The general public get ibored or turn into huminoids, then RIM should be waiting at the front gate to capture the churn.

[Joao Posted Jul 22nd 2010 7:16AM]

@R2DEE2

I was a RIM customer for the last 7 years.

The 7510 and than the 7520 with the shitty screens and lack of any type of media player.

The 8700 with the shitty screen and shitty media player.

The 8100 pearl which was actually a decent phone but felt like plastic.

The 8800 which was built like a tank but with the trackball that went to shit - what did you do with my jog wheel!.

The 9000 Bold which was probably my favorite phone, if it wasn't for the trackball it might just be the best cell phone i had ever owned.

The 9700 Bold 2 which feels as cheap as a curve and has the buggiest OS yet.

Guess what? I'm done. No more waiting on RIM to innovate. Excellent exchange support is common now. I just purchased a different phone for the first time in 7 years and couldn't be happier with my decision.

[Joao Posted Jul 22nd 2010 7:10AM]

@sir1honda

This post makes me not to buy a Samsung phone ever again!