Boss of Blackberry predicts demise of tablet computing
The boss of Blackberry says he doesn't see a future for tablet computing despite the huge rise in popularity of devices such as the iPad. Thorsten Heins predicts demand will die out within five years.
Speaking at a conference in Los Angeles, Blackberry's Chief Executive also predicted Blackberry would be the leader in mobile computing by 2018.
"In five years I don't think there'll be a reason to have a tablet anymore. Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.
"It's a crowded place, there is one company that disrupted the entire profit pool, so they are not interested in making money from the tablet. They have an interesting business model that is quite a savvy one, making money from e-commerce transactions [users] are doing on that tablet."
Apple's iPhone is outdated, according to the chief executive of BlackBerry.
Thorsten Heins made the comment yesterday on the eve of the much-delayed launch of the new touchscreen BlackBerry in the US.
Apple's iPhone is outdated, according to the chief executive of BlackBerry. Credit: Jan Haas/DPA/Press Association Images
Mr Heins said a lack of innovation at Apple has left iPhone's user interface outdated, saying,"It's still the same. It is a sequential way to work and that's not what people want today anymore. They want multitasking."
Blackberry Managing Director Stephen Bates has become a popular topic on Twitter after an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning left him unable to answer the question, "what have you learned from the iPhone."
Mr Bates appears to have been unprepared from the question and seems unable to find any answer to Nicky Campbell's repeated question during the interview ahead of the new Blackberry 10 launch.
Awful interview with someone from Blackberry on @bbc5live Nicky Campbell doing best while interviewee evades questions and reads from script
Blackberry 10 'will struggle to appeal to a wider audience'
Analysts company Ovum has said that while the Blackberry 10 has improved features, it is not enough to rescue the company from remaining a "niche player" in the market as a whole:
The Blackberry 10 platform offers a differentiated user experience in today’s crowded and homogenous smartphone market. The Blackberry Z10 and Q10 will stand out from the Android masses and look distinct from Apple’s iPhone. The user experience of Blackberry 10 introduces some nice new features but importantly builds on Blackberry’s UI heritage and therefore will certainly appeal to existing Blackberry users. However, the challenge for the company will be to attract new users and those that have already moved to alternative smartphones.
Ovum believes that despite a well-designed Blackberry 10 platform, that will certainly attract short-term interest from existing users the company will struggle to appeal to a wider audience and in the long-term will become a niche player in the smartphone market.
Getting my hands on the Blackberry 10: First impressions
by Lewis Vaughan Jones - ITV News Correspondent
The new Blackberry Z10 phone is yet another thin black rectangle. With so many other smartphones looking so similar, when I first saw it, I was underwhelmed.
But it does get better when you pick it up. Swiping with thumb or finger is something we are used to by now and this phone uses it well. It has the apps you are used to but with an easier way to get at them.
The Blackberry Z10 Credit: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire
So I sweep my thumb over the screen and see all my messages from all my different apps (Twitter, email etc) in one place. It is simple and it works.
But it does not feel like a revolution in design. It makes sense but does not thrill the senses. It is a dramatic improvement on previous models and die-hard fans of the physical keyboard will be pleased that option is available.
Predictive text has taken a step forward but is hardly a game-changer, and there are plenty of good features. The design seems a success without being as radical as they hype suggested.
So far much of the reaction and analysis of the new Blackberry Z10 and the Blackerry 10 operating system seem positive. Blackberry has come up with new features, especially 'the Hub' which allows users to store all messages, from Facebook, Twitter, emails etc in one place.
However most analysts are unconvinced that the few leaps forward Blackberry has made are enough to recover so much ground already lost to rivals like Apple.
here are some of the reactions to the new handset so far:
In an era when Apple’s iPhone 5 was a slight disappointment because it was a little bit predictable, and when Samsung is packing phones so full of features it’s hard to always find a use for them, the Z10 is merely quite good. It will find its corporate niche, and ‘too little too late’ is too harsh. But it’s not quite enough, not quite soon enough.
– Matt Warman, the Telegraph
Is the delightful BlackBerry Z10 enough to save its company?
Honestly? It could go either way. But this much is clear: BlackBerry is no longer an incompetent mess — and its doom is no longer assured.
– David Pogue, the New York Times
I like a lot of what RIM's done here.
However, BlackBerry 10 stumbles, first right out of the gate with its steep learning curve, and second with its anemic app selection that doesn't provide apps (like Vine) that deliver the full mobile experience that today's digital consumers want.
