Research In Motion (RIM) hosted an exclusive blogger event last night in Kuwait to showcase the recently announced BlackBerry® 7.1 OS, the new BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0 and updates to BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™). The event was one of the first to be held in the Middle East, highlighting the importance of the Kuwaiti market for RIM.
Mohammed Al-Mefleh, Director of Product Management, Services and Platforms, RIM Middle East, said: “The new BlackBerry® 7.1 OS will further enhance the mobile experience and make life easier, from managing daily tasks to planning big adventures with capabilities such as BlackBerry® Tag, a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, BBM 6.1 and connected apps.”
With BlackBerry 7.1, BlackBerry smartphone users will now be able to share information and content by simply tapping their NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone against another NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone. They can instantly invite a friend to BBM, exchange contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content.
Other BlackBerry 7.1 capabilities demonstrated by Mr. Al-Mefleh today included:
• Wi-Fi hotspot – users can now turn their BlackBerry smartphone into a mobile hotspot that can be shared by up to 5 Wi-Fi® -enabled devices, including laptops and tablets
• FM radio – customers with a BlackBerry Curve 9360 or 9380 smartphone will be able to tune in and enjoy local FM radio stations
BlackBerry 7.1 also supports the latest version of the ever-popular BBM instant messaging service, BBM 6.1. Additional features will allow users to personalize their experience even more with support for animated avatars, a dozen new and fun emoticons to spice up conversations, and the ability to customize chat bubbles with different colors. In addition, the new BBM app allows users to add customized personal messages of up to 160 characters in their online profile, more than double the length supported in previous versions.
New features of the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0 were also demonstrated, designed to enable customers to stay even more connected and productive in their personal and professional lives.
Mr. Al-Mefleh continued, “The BlackBerry PlayBook is already recognized for delivering powerful performance, true multi-tasking, advanced web browsing and HD multimedia in an ultra-portable design. With BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, the advanced messaging experience offers a new unified inbox, multi-tasking within email, rich-text email composing and editing, and inbox management tools.”
