We have been hearing so much conflicting information on the upcoming BlackBerry OS 6.1 and OS 7 making it hard to break fact from fiction. We just heard from one of our sources who passed along the gist of CTO of software, David Yach, keynote at RIM’s internal RDX dev conference today. Here are some highlights from his keynote though he kind of jumped around a bit:
- A big portion of the talk is focusing on the benefit RIM will get from centralizing processes and tools. (what RIM’s COO of product engineering, Thorsten Heins,said yesterday)
- One of the key reasons OS 6.1 is falling behind schedule is miscommunication between teams in the critical path of the project
- He didn’t focus on the problems as much as how RIM is going to solve them by easing conflicts in the critical path
The second part of the keynote is where things got interesting talking about OS 7 and OS 6.1:
- There is a new project “Highlander” using the concept from the movies “There can be only one”
- This project is taking the best features from OS 6.1 and the QNX OS to make OS 7. This seems to be where the rumors about OS 6.1 having a QNX core are coming from
- RIM is “very happy” with OS 6.1 but it struggling with losing the features users love
- OS 6.1 is almost 10 years old and has pushed its limits
- Still they are very happy about the “Liquid Graphics” in OS 6.1 adding a WOW factor to BlackBerrys
- This new OS 7 will also be the OS for the Playbook down the road. Seeing the theme of "there can be only one" ?
- RIM is still in the “early stages” of OS 7 with a target of 2012
I am really loving the Highlander references and think RIM should actually give their OS builds a name. For example, OS 6.0 could be Phoenix… 
So what do you think of the info passed along? It is second hand so its hard to analyze properly but still I am really excited to see RIM has a plan for 2011 and 2012. Here is to hoping they execute it correctly!
JDB Not Registered
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 12:12 PM EST
Highlander!! Thats awesome. I am picturing blackberries with swords fighting each other!
Cool
beamolite ( View Profile) Enthusiast - Posts: 261
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 12:17 PM EST from my BlackBerry 9700 | OS 6.0+
“OS 6.1 is almost 10 years old and has pushed its limits” What? It hasn’t been released yet!!
Nikolaus Walch ( View Profile) Enthusiast - Posts: 602
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 12:22 PM EST
What he means is that 6.1 is built on 6.0 which was built (in some part I’m sure) on 5.0 which was built on 4.x, etc…
OS 7 should be a reboot of all of that, I hope!
@diegonei Not Registered
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 12:24 PM EST
6.1 isn’t out but it is the very same core we’ve seen in 4.5, 4.6, 5 and 6. So yes, 10 years old.
Terrence T ( View Profile) Guru - Posts: 1777
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 11:13 PM EST from my BlackBerry 9800 | OS 6.0+
Yea. They should be referring to the kernal
@diegonei Not Registered
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 12:28 PM EST
7 is Highlander, there can be only one, but it is us getting the Prize!
That all suits me well. 6.1 for the new and for the late 2010/early 2011 devices.
OS 7 for PlayBook and 7-based handhelds by 2012.
Sounds like a plan, as long as the wow factor works.
And it better as I won’t buy another BlackBerry untill 7 is out…
Nikolaus Walch ( View Profile) Enthusiast - Posts: 602
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 12:32 PM EST
I also love the name. They could do some cool marketing with that. Better than they did with the Storm and Storm 2
So I guess the PlayBook will see OS 1.x, maybe OS 2, and then jump up to OS 7? Fine by me.
mkconnors2008 ( View Profile) Enthusiast - Posts: 573
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 12:39 PM EST
like the highlander name!
kiddo2050 ( View Profile) Guru - Posts: 1717
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 1:18 PM EST
“RIM is “very happy” with OS 6.1 but it struggling with losing the features users love”
Not sure what this means, but people jumping ship should tell them that a big part of their base doesn’t care about “features users love.” I say to hell with legacy… this is what kills companies because it is outside firms that are then left to make disruptive changes.
RIM needs to get over the fear of disruptive change and go for wow!
The only thing they likely need to keep (on the software side) is secure email. If they have that, it’s still a BB. Hardware – keep their great keyboards.
papped2 ( View Profile) Beginner - Posts: 237
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 3:11 PM EST
Technically if you say “to hell with legacy” then you don’t even need to include keyboards anymore…
The trends are moving away from them, which is why I don’t really approve of that logic.
kiddo2050 ( View Profile) Guru - Posts: 1717
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 1:24 PM EST
On the positive side, it seems like we’ll get a nice UI in 6.1 — Happy!
marinovedder ( View Profile) Newcomer - Posts: 9
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 3:08 PM EST
pretty cool info!!
bishop5 Not Registered
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 3:21 PM EST
RIM needs to turn up the marketting machine. This stuff is solid Gold. What better way to galvanize the geek community than referencing Highlander!
Fubaz ( View Profile) Master - Posts: 770
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 3:53 PM EST
wow this will be interesting, I am holding off for a QNX phone… maybe RIM is going to make me wait longer!!
lak611 ( View Profile) Newcomer - Posts: 51
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 6:56 PM EST from my BlackBerry 9700 | OS 6.0+
Maybe I won’t upgrade at all this year. Sounds like 6.1 is a waste of a 2-year contract if 7 will be out next year. I probably couldn’t get much money for an obsolete 6.1 device that is less than a year old once 7 is out.
maxknux ( View Profile) Newcomer - Posts: 75
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 4:14 PM EST
I need to pick a product and stick with it so I choose OS 6.1 will be it when I leave off of OS 7.
Yeah, I agree they should use names for OS builds.
Steve Not Registered
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 4:14 PM EST
They better hurry up and cut the commercials. Sean Connery isn’t getting any younger!
kiddo2050 ( View Profile) Guru - Posts: 1717
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 6:58 PM EST
Can anyone comment on why the new OS is called 6.1 if it’s supposed to be a major upgrade and then we go to 7. I mean are they afraid of running out of numbers?
To me it just shows RIM is a tech-geek company and not on top of marketing yet.
Like look at the cool news OS on BB phones, 6.1 huh?
Look at the new OS7 on BB phones! More exciting.
Terrence T ( View Profile) Guru - Posts: 1777
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 11:14 PM EST from my BlackBerry 9800 | OS 6.0+
I think it could be due to rim wanting to reserve the next whole no for a whole os refresh. Maybe 6.1 will come for phones running 6 too..
dpr ( View Profile) Enthusiast - Posts: 467
Posted: March 30, 2011 at 10:23 PM EST from my BlackBerry 8530
I can’t wait – an OS thar combines the best features of QNX and 6.0 OS, fantastic. This will blow away any IOS Apple can come up with. Although, I don’t understand why someone would upgrade with OS 7 around the corner, unless your able to upgrade to 7.0 when it comes out. Hopefully, they get rid of the hourglass freeze for good.