New BlackBerry to Launch January 30

Struggling Research in Motion to release its long-awaited BlackBerry 10 platform and two new smartphones in a new year bid to reclaim its share of the wireless market.

The launch comes with RIM, once the dominant smartphone maker, rapidly losing market share. RIM's stock price has fallen to its lowest level since 2003, and in June the company shed 5,000 staff or 30% of its workforce.

The launch for the new BlackBerry 10 platform will be held January 30, as smartphone maker Research in Motion (IW 1000/240) tries to regain traction against surging rivals.

The Canadian firm said Monday the launch "will happen simultaneously in multiple countries around the world."

The struggling tech firm will unveil two new smartphones as well as the BlackBerry 10 operating system, aimed at regaining momentum against smartphones from Apple (IW 500/9) and those using Google's Android operating system.

"In building BlackBerry 10, we set out to create a truly unique mobile computing experience that constantly adapts to your needs," RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins said.

"Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities.  All of this will be integrated into a user experience -- the BlackBerry Flow -- that is unlike any smartphone on the market today."

The launch comes with RIM, once the dominant smartphone maker, rapidly losing market share.

RIM's stock price has fallen to its lowest level since 2003, and in June the company shed 5,000 staff or 30% of its workforce.

According to research firm IDC, BlackBerry's market share continued to sink, falling to just over 4% of the worldwide market by the end of the third quarter, as Android garnered 75%.

The BB10 itself was to have been launched in late 2010, but the company in June announced a delay, a move which means it will miss the critical holiday shopping period.

If it fails to impress, observers are predicting the end of RIM.

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