I've written on this before but the discussion in my
Rumor thread seems to necessitate bringing it back to the forefront.
With the rumor that
full Google-style Android integration is coming in 10.2.1, let me put the bug in your ear -- again, as I did for Thor (and which he ignored) on how you can
break the glass.
See, you have about 80% of it now in QNX and the BB10 operating system. You have remote filesystem access, not just by cloud (e.g. Box and Dropbox) but also by
native support to Windows and Mac users. Nobody else does without using clunky third-party options.
You also have the security model -- including high-grade VPN support -- necessary for this to be reasonably safe in the enterprise environment.
Ok, so here's what I think you need to do:
- Open S/MIME for everyone. There's no reason not to. Right now 10.2.1 will store a personal certificate (10.1 would not) so I know the phone is capable of it. In addition BES has permitted this since the beginning. Just turn it on -- zero cost.
- Port Open Office to the native underlying OS. Now I have a quality office productivity suite. It's only somewhat-useful on a phone, of course, but the reason for this will be shortly apparent. Keep reading.
- Implement a WiFi-based way to port a display from the device. Build a dongle that has a HDMI and DVI output on the other end and a driver on the phone for it. Since QNX makes drivers all modular, this should be easy. Now I have a way to display things from the phone wirelessly. Yes, I know about Miracast and DLNA; neither does the job here really. This is not about "gaming-level" performance, it's about the average office-workers level of need in terms of display speed.
- You already have Bluetooth mouse and keyboard support. Do you see where I'm going yet?
- Final step: Allow external displays to run in their native resolution. This allows Open Office to have a full 1920 x 1080 display (or whatever is on the LCD panel you're using). Start with a "panel" inside for native phone apps that don't recognize anything beyond native applications but allow the next version of the SDK to support (but not require) the ability of an app to use the full pixel size it has available if it wishes.
- Release a large battery pack for the Z10 and a plug-on module for the Z30 and future devices that extends power. There are already 4500mah packs available on the third-party market for the Z10. They leave enough room in their "extended back" to get another 1500mah in there. Release an official one with a 6,000mah capacity.
Why, you ask?
Because now I have a tiny (and inexpensive) dongle that plugs into any existing monitor or display device (think projector, LCD panel on my desk, etc)
and with the Bluetooth mouse and keyboard allows me to replace a tablet and/or laptop for most common office uses.
This would be
vastly superior to a tablet because it also is communications hub, in that it makes calls, sends text messages, has the Hub, and similar. It also is
completely portable when I don't need to larger screen. I can carry a
screen only if I want a "tablet-style" screen with me. I can carry the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, using the plug-module, and have a
full laptop style capability nearly anywhere. Remote file access lets me have a
unified file store on my office computer or network
under my control, not on some nebulous cloud.
It's one device with a unified view and file store that replaces three devices today -- the modest desktop PC for general office purposes, the tablet and the phone.
You can do this today Chen. The only real development necessary is to port Open Office and open up the external video resolution and the latter is easy.
The rest is already done.
BlackBerry would break the entire paradigm now being marketed
wide open and change how people think about mobile computing. The additional battery size is
necessary for people in this mode of operation but we've already got a big part of it with third-party batteries for the Z10.
Consider the model here -- the executive with the CPU in his pocket that
stays there. He uses what looks like a tablet screen and in his briefcase is a keyboard and mouse for when he wants or needs it. When he doesn't want to carry the larger screen he has the small one in the phone. When he wants more screen real estate and resolution he either uses a tablet-style screen in said briefcase or he plugs an inexpensive dongle into a large-format display. In his office he has a dongle-equipped display on the desk but again,
the base CPU device -- the phone -- never leaves his pocket.
Nobody else has implemented this. Most of the other "phone" models
can't implement this without major development effort.
BlackBerry can do it right now with very little additional investment against what it already has.
It would change the world of mobile computing.
And this much I'm sure of -- if you don't do it, and do it soon, someone else eventually will.