BlackBerry 6.1 Will We See a More Evolved UI? Maybe Some TAT Influence?

By Ray Nicolini

RIM promised in the recent quarterly  investors call that the next upgrade to the BlackBerry OS  will be 6.1 due in May. They also promised that it wouldn’t be an incremental upgrade but according to edngadget it will be a Major upgrade.  This could be interpreted in many different ways including that we may see a preview of what is to come with QNX. Some analyst have hinted at the the fact that RIM may create a hybrid OS from the current OS and QNX. I think that is not likely that we will see some QNX flavored OS this early, my guess would be if there are some UI changes those may come from the help from TAT.

RIM made it clear that it will be a huge upgrade, we have seen some leaked slides pertaining to new features for the OS home screen interface like the option to set favorites, and frequent apps. There are quite a few other features that will be added to this update but the main concern for most people is the user interface of the OS. People tend to react to the cosmetics part of the OS. Many who compare the visually part of IOS to BlackBerry only see the interface and that’s why they believe the OS is better than BlackBerry when in reality the BlackBerry OS leaves IOS and other in the dust when it comes to capabilities but it usually is compare to the appealing visual side and how easy it is to use.

Hopefully with 6.1 RIM has been able to find a happy medium with the UI and also the ease of use. I would love for RIM to prove me wrong and have 6.1 with QNX by this summer but I find that highly unlikely.

What are your thoughts?

Via BerryReview.com

Things I want to see in BlackBerry OS after the acquisition of TAT

By Ray Nicolini

Via Pocketberry.com

So earlier yesterday morning, it was officially announced that RIM acquired TAT (The Astonishing Tribe), which is a user interface company that specifically deals with mobiles.  After spending a full day of analyzing different videos and demos that TAT has put out, I’ve become really excited to see what’s to come of BlackBerry OS in the future.

In the announcement this morning, we were briefly informed that TAT will be putting in their efforts for the BlackBerry PlayBook and mobiles.  The PlayBook is expected to launch in first quarter of 2011 (we’re expecting it at the very end if that) and no word on any new mobiles rocking out any new OS on it besides 6.0.

So back to what I was saying before about the demos and visuals I saw today – we should have a better BlackBerry OS.  That’s really broad to say but in specific the following is to be done from my point of view:

Better overall touchscreen support including: easier keyboard to use, better pinch to zoom, multi-tasking and app switching using the touchscreen only, “swipey-er” movement without lag.

Email enhancements: I like BlackBerry’s emailing as is, but after seeing what TAT has done with an email client, it was really impressive.  I was really fond of the whole “click and drag” and image right into an email as an attachment, making it very user friendly for everyone.

Awesome 3D maps & applications: The other demos I saw included 3D effects to the menu where it looked like certain layers were coming out of the screen using shading in the background along with the motion sensor in the device.  Maps was cool to see.  While tilting the screen, the view of maps would turn 3D, allowing you to view city building and streets all around.

There’s a lot more I’d like to see but these are just some instant thoughts for the time being.  I’m definitely looking forward to what BlackBerry has to offer for tomorrow.  Because I know in the end of the day there are many of you BlackBerry users out there who do get a bit envious of iPhone and Androidusers – maybe not entirely but even just a bit.