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The first details have leaked surrounding the BlackBerry Colt, RIM’s first QNX-based smartphone.
The device is the company’s attempt to catch up to its technologically superior iOS and Android counterparts.RIM acquired QNX last year and anointed it the future OS of its mobile devices. RIM’s first QNX device, the BlackBerry Playbook tablet, made its debut earlier this year.
According to Boy Genius Report, the first mobile device to carry the QNX operating system, codenamed the BlackBerry Colt, is slated for release in the first quarter of 2012. It’s currently undergoing internal testing with RIM’s Software Verification team.
BGR‘s sources dive further into the product, though. Apparently, the BlackBerry Colt is likely to ship with a single-core processor. More and more smartphones, especially ones running Android, already contain dual or even quad-core processors. The next iPhone, which will likely make its debut next month, will almost certainly contain a dual-core processor. While the Colt could still get a dual-core processor before it launches next year, it seems likely that the Colt will already be underpowered compared to its competition.
Like the PlayBook, the Colt is not expected to include BlackBerry Enterprise Server at launch. BES, which powers the email, contact and calendar synchronization on BlackBerry OS, is proving more difficult to rewrite for QNX than expected. That is why the PlayBook lacked native email at launch. If this is true, it will negate one of the major reasons why people still purchase the BlackBerry.
RIM needs to find its answer to the iPhone and Android soon. It is cutting 2,000 jobs after weak financial results. Its software and hardware have simply lagged behind the competition. The BlackBerry Colt may be RIM’s last shot at saving itself from oblivion.
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