BlackBerry Developers to Get BB10 Prototype in May

BlackBerry developers attending Research In Motion's "BlackBerry 10 Jam" event from May 1-3 will be sent home with a surprising bonus: a "limited edition developer prototype device" called the "BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha," according to an email from RIM Senior PR manager Alex Kinsella.

"This is not a BlackBerry 10 smartphone – it is a prototype running a modified version of the PlayBook OS ... which shows the path to the BlackBerry 10 OS, which has been customized to a phone," Kinsella's email says.

The Dev Alpha is not a commercial product and only software developers will be able to get one, Kinsella said. Developers can sign up for the event on RIM's Web site.

BlackBerry 10 is RIM's upcoming, QNX-based smartphone OS, which was originally supposed to be available early this year but has been delayed to the fall. In January, RIM said that BB10 will share developer tools and a screen aspect ratio with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Last month, the blog CrackBerry.com published supposed pictures of BB10's new interface.

In February, RIM announced BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0. The new update includes built-in email, calendar and contacts, as well as an update to BlackBerry Bridge, a tool which allows you to use your BlackBerry smartphone as a remote control for your PlayBook. The upgrade also updates the Print To Go and Documents To Go utilities.

BB10 is considered critical to RIM's fortunes. While RIM continues to sell many BlackBerries in Asia, the company has continued to slip in market share in North America, including in its home nation of Canada.

BlackBerry 10 Jam is part of BlackBerry World 2012, the company's big annual developer meeting and press event. We're sending Mobile Analyst Alex Colon to the event, and we anticipate lots of news about the BB10 OS.

About Our Expert

Sascha Segan

Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

My Experience

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

My Areas of Expertise

US and Canadian mobile networks
Mobile phones released in the US
iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
Mobile hotspots
Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

The Technology I Use

Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services.

My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

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