Research In Motion ready to license BlackBerry 10 reports Bloomberg

Bloomberg is reporting that Research in Motion (RIM) is ready to license its upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system to other smartphone manufacturers. The next generation OS is expected to be available on devices starting Q1 2013.

The OS which is currently in final stages of testing is built on QNX which is widely used in automobiles and military establishments.  “QNX is already licensed across the automotive sector — we could do that with BB10 if we chose to,” said Heins. He reiterated that the company is open to licensing the operating system. Employing widespread use of gestures, a much improved web browser and the ability to quickly multitask, is a generation leap compared to the JAVA based BlackBerry 7 OS currently shipping on phones. The BlackBerry 10 platform will at first target only the higher end devices with BlackBerry 7.1 continuing to ship on its budget line up of phones.

BlackBerry 10 'incompatible' with existing BES servers: report

RIM is developing a new version of its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) for BlackBerry 10 devices because the existing offering is incompatible with the next-generation platform.

BlackBerry 10 devices are not compatible with current versions of BES. Credit: CNET.

According to a BGR report, it's why the Ontario, Canada-based firm's failed to include email and BlackBerry Messenger support at the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook device -- because the QNX-based operating system couldn't communicate with RIM's existing server infrastructure.

According to the report, RIM will cease development on the current BES server, version 5.0.3, but will issue security patches for "well into the future," according to a RIM spokesperson. BES server version 5.0.4 will be compatible with BlackBerry 10 devices only. 

The kicker? If you're running Java-based devices -- such as BlackBerry 7 devices or older -- and BlackBerry 10 devices that run the new QNX-based platform, your enterprise network will have to retain a legacy BES 5.0.3 server as well as a newer BES 5.0.4 server.

It's a move that could increase infrastructure costs in the long run because older BlackBerry versions will have to remain on the legacy BES server while newer devices will have to be hooked up to the newer BES version.

The new BlackBerry 10-compatible BES server, codenamed "NG" for 'next-generation,' will integrate Mobile Fusion and support for the BlackBerry PlayBook. 

RIM currently has 78 million customers in total around the world that use the consumer driven BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS). Governments, businesses and enterprises -- a smaller proportion -- continue to use BES for secure communication and messaging, contacts and calendar synchronization, and other business uses. 

BlackBerry 10 screen resolution got standardized by RIM

RIM standardized the screen resolution for upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS running devices. The future smartphones running the OS will come in two resolutions: 1280 x 720 pixels for full touch devices, and 720 x 720 pixels for handsets with hardware QWERTY keyboards.

RIM took the abovementioned step after taking feedback from the BlackBerry developer community, whose members have complained about having to deal with a few screen resolutions too many in the past. The new standard set by RIM is bound to make their life easier moving forward.

With the BlackBerry developer alpha unit, as well as the upcoming first consumer handset sporting the slightly different (and uncommon) screen resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels, RIM has advised the people involved in creating applications to use two possible options. The first one involves utilizing the new OS resolution, while the second requires "letter boxing" the apps to 1280 x 720 pixels, thus leaving 24 pixels unused on each side of the display.