Joe G Note:
This would be the greatest idea ever! Odds are, RIM would never go for it, though. Hopefully, BlackBerry OS 6 will be the next closest thing to running Android. Either way, if it ever did happen, I’d be the first one in line for the phone and the first one on the bandwagon!
A couple of years ago I wrote a fairly popular post titled “5 Reasons That RIM Should Make A BlackBerry That Runs Android”. Today, I feel even more strongly about this so I am doing a follow up with 5 More Reasons RIM Should Build a Device That Runs Android. I’ve changed gears just a bit and am making the distinction between BlackBerry and device in this update, but, at the end of the day, RIM is a company that makes most of its revenue by selling hardware and they need to get on board when it comes to Android regardless of if they call such a device a BlackBerry or something else…
5 More Reasons Why RIM Should Build A Device That Runs Android
- The BlackBerry OS is too utilitarian — The BlackBerry, in my opinion, is, and, continues to be the best mobile device for text based messaging that the market has ever seen. Email, SMS, MMS, IM, and most every other type of text based communication is done better on the BlackBerry than it is on any other device. This is what the BB OS was designed for along with an emphasis on security and a decreased data footprint. Unfortunately, this is pretty much the only area where the BB OS trumps its competition these days. I don’t want to say that Android does everything else better, but, it sure seems like it when you are comparing the two devices together.
- Android is proven to be a hit with consumers — BlackBerry devices still dominate in the corporate world, however, the battle for smartphone supremacy has shifted to consumers. Android is a fast moving train coming after consumers in a way that RIM has and continues to fail miserably with. It seems like RIM can’t bring the consumer aspects of the BlackBerry OS up to par with it’s competitors quickly enough while keeping its corporate base happy.
- Third party application support on the BlackBerry seems like an after thought – I don’t believe that I’ve ever heard anyone say that they like the BlackBerry because of all the cool applications that run on it. This is not to say that really good applications exist for the the BlackBerry platform, however, at the end of the day, it is so difficult to develop for the BlackBerry platform that developers simply don’t. RIM just released a brand new OS and you didn’t hear of any applications developed specifically to take advantage of it.
- Less than half of BlackBerry users want another BlackBerry– A recent Nielsen report stated that only 42% of current BlackBerry users actually want their next device to be a BlackBerry. Half of current BlackBerry users want their next device to be an iPhone or an Android device. If RIM builds an Android Device, customers may churn, but you at least have a shot at keeping them as a customer.
- BlackBerry Connect (BlackBerry Application Suite) – If RIM created an Android powered smartphone, how cool would it be if said device ran BlackBerry Connect, allowing users to access BIS / BES Mail, BBM, and PIN Messaging. RIM could even take it a step farther allowing their Android powered device to run BlackBerry Application Suite, essentially running the BlackBerry OS as a virtual machine. This would truly be the best of both worlds.
I am officially back to being a two device guy. I carry both a BlackBerry and a Droid Incredible. Though I am not terribly impressed with the BlackBerry Torch I will almost certainly move to the BlackBerry Storm3 once it hits Verizon. That being said, however, I only use my BlackBerry these days for BES , BIS, BBM, and 2 or 3 really good BlackBerry applications. My Android device is used for everything else. I would love it if RIM would just build and Android Powered Device so I could go back down to one phone…
5 More Reasons Why RIM Should Build A Device That Runs Android is a post from: RIMarkable
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