Blackberry maker RIM is bouncing back this afternoon after the firm’s co-CEO Mike Lazaridis confirmed the new touchy-feely BlackBerry 6 operating system will be available from this September.
RIM’s share prices were taking a bit of a beating before the announcement, dropping 2.8 percent this morning alone, as investors began voicing concerns about the firm’s future and speculating that it wouldn’t take much for it to follow in Palm’s footsteps.
But Lazaridis’ statement at his keynote to kick off RIM’s annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium– and the launch of two new phones, the Bold 9650 and the Pearl 3G – gave RIM a much needed boost, pushing shares up three percent to $72.70 each.
RIM has been widely criticized for what is seen as a failure to keep up with competitors like Apple and Google in terms of its mobile software, but analysts are already praising OS 6 as a good-looking prospect.
Indeed, screenshots
leaked last week looked promising.
The OS apparently does a much better job at rendering full web sites, is touchscreen capable and user-friendly.
Users also won’t necessarily need a new Blackberry to enjoy the operating system, as RIM says it will roll it out to older devices over time, possibly even as early as July for some, with the rollout continuing through September.
