Getting closer all the time

I have seen the new BB10 from BlackBerry and it is both sleek and slick. I viewed the touchscreen version and can report that the keys are bigger than the keys on either the iPhone or Android smartphones in the hopes that businesspeople will find the larger size helpful and won’t flee elsewhere.

Overall, it looks and behaves like the PlayBook. No surprise there, the two devices share the same software. The audio and the video both work well.

There are only two issues. One is that old bugbear, the developer community is slow to produce apps. Second, when exactly is availability? When you parse the announcement by Research In Motion saying the launch is January 30, 2013, it doesn’t exactly read that either or both of the initial two models will be ready for sale or even ship on that day. It could well be that the launch on January 30 is all about giving a firm date off in the future.

Meanwhile I have to be satisfied with my exciting sneak peek. To quote Watch Closely, sung by Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, “Watch closely now/You’ll observe a curious exchange of energy/Are you a figment of my imagination, or am I one of yours?”