RIM CEO Thorsten Heins claims his new Blackberry 10 will provide his company with a “framework of growth over the next decade.” It could go down in history along with “see I told you I was sick” and “don't be silly they could not hit an elephant at that range” as some of the world's most famous last words.

Heins has been wielding the axe at RIM and thinks it can make a $1 billion of savings.  In fact it has already saved $800 million. But his cunning plan still depends on the new smartphones which will be released in January to bring back all the customers which deserted the company for more modern phones in the last couple of years. Heins thinks that the new phone's high-level security is something that business users cannot walk away from.

However customers are getting good at walking away from RIM.  In fact they are probably better at avoiding the mobile phone maker than they are at spotting the wino begger who stands in the middle of the road and shouts. RIM botched the  2011 launch of its tablet which was supposed to take out the  iPad. While it was good hardware its software was rubbish and needed multiple updates. RIM delayed the roll-out of the BlackBerry 10 phones to the first quarter of 2013 so as not to repeat the errors that surrounded the PlayBook launch. But in doing so RIM missed the Christmas sales. 

However now there are fears that it might even be out-of-date in comparison to the latest generation of phones. True they do have a miniature QWERTY keyboard popular with many BlackBerry users. Users flick a thumb or finger to maneuver from one program to another and can sneak a look at an incoming email while browsing the Internet or using other applications, a multi-tasking ability that RIM says rival devices lack.

Personal and business profiles can be kept separately, something RIM calls BlackBerry Balance. Corporations can erase only their share of the data on a device if they need to do so for security reasons, leaving personal photos, contacts and emails untouched.
The app library available at launch will not match the vast number available on other devices. Heins said RIM had chosen to focus on providing those apps needed in different regional markets. It expects some 100,000 apps to be ready at launch.

Developers tell us it is not bad, but financial analysts have mixed views on their likely reception in an ultra-competitive market.