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If I'm reading the BBX comments correctly -- and the disappointed comment from a Java developer -- it appears that support for OS 7 and earlier will eventually go away. My wife is right now considering an upgrade and we assumed she'd buy an OS 7 phone. Should we wait for QNX/BBX?
who knows really when the new and fab BBX phones will come out, then I will allow for a settleing period to sort out the bugs I'm looking at 2 years. I have only just 5 days ago bought my 9810 sim free and it is just a great piece of kit. Just my thoughts
Good question. The answer is that it is NOT obsolete. Why? Because the company has stated in the last conference call that the QNX phones are not replacing the OS7 phones but are an additional choice.
The Java developers will continue to develop apps for the OS7 devices but what OS7 devices will gain is more apps from the HTML5 and new tools available for developers across platforms.
Five years from now, we don't know what will happen but we will probably be running OS9 or OS10 and BBX 3 or 4.
Here is the bottom line. The new OS7 devices are selling very well and will be here for a long time, meaning at least five years. In the tech world that is a long time and you will be eligible for two upgrades by then.
Yes, the current Java developers will have to do more work (and they should get paid for it as well) to port their apps to BBX than they previously expected but we, the OS7 users, will see a net gain in apps is it is becoming much easier to develop for BlackBerry.
I think the real question is what you want to do with your phone. I want to get things done fast and securely. I got the Bold, my wife is more interested in media so she is waiting for the BBX phone. It may be valid to wait for it but if the reason is that OS7 is going away then that is actually just fantasy. Why would they discontinue their best selling device? The answer is they wont.
:)
OS7 will still work(!) but all future development and most new apps will be on BBX. I am waiting for my 9900 to be delivered. I have signed a 2 year deal and no doubt I will start longing for the BBX phones when they are out and settled down a bit, but who knows when that will be. RIM has a very poor history of overpromising and underdelivering. DevCon has only reinforced that impression yesterday.
RIM said they're abandoning JDE. We will most likely NOT see any significant increase in app development on the BBOS platform.
I wouldn't expect long term support for the BB OS7 and certainly not going into 8 or 9. I think by saying they are making BBX an "additional choice", they mean they won't immediately halt support of OS7 in favour of BBX. To say that would mean killing your OS7 sales.
They'll likely phase it out, and as the current generation of OS7 phones are taken out of production and leave store shelves, we'd see a full transition to BBX. Having two different operating systems on your handsets as a long term strategy makes no sense, since the apps wouldn't be cross compatible. RIM can't afford to try to split their already modest (but hopefully growing) pool of developers like that.
Edit: I didn't really answer the question. We don't know when the next generation of BBX phones are going to come out or what they will be like. If your wife has an OS7 handset in mind that she likes, then she should go ahead and upgrade. Handsets have a lifespan of 1.5-2.5 years the way the carriers do their contract renewals, so by the time the BBX phones are out and starting to take over the market it will probably be time to upgrade again anyway.
This is a good question and one I would like an answer to before I splash out the cash for an OS7 device (probably the 9790). From what I've gathered from yesterdays keynote I assume OS7 is all but dead...
This leads me to my next question is there any chance that the OS7 devices will be capable of running BBX?
I believe no chance at all.
I find that strange because the iPhone 4 (**** even the 3GS) has lower specs than the 9900 apart from the screen resolution and yet it runs iOS 5 flawlessly.
If the current devices cannot run BBX then I'm going to assume that it is a decision by RIM and nothing to do with hardware limitations.
Just my opinion, especially since I no longer tote a BB...
If you are a BB family, and she's happy with the BB experience... why not upgrade now?
Despite the build up of BBX/QNX on these forums, I'm not sure that the end experience is really going to be drastically different with the next generation of BBs. The OS will obviously be different, but it'll still be a BB.
If I were in your shoes, I'd either upgrade to a new BB or explore the other options - iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy SII/Galaxy Nexus.
For native Java apps yes, for HTML5 apps no. I bet these new OS7 phones have enough HP to run BBX, but I think us OS7 adopters bought an EOL'd product. Don't worry though at the pace RIM is pushing out BBX for the Playbook, the OS7 phones will probably still be relevant for the next two years.
iOS has had a solid OS base, with no Java Virtual Machines that more or less control the entire device, the QNX overhaul changes everything within the device, including the firmware, iOS has never released an update this massive to the OS structure, BlackBerry will be.
I understand all this but as Inichols says the OS7 devices have plenty of juice. 1.2 Ghz processors, 768 MB RAM and ample storage space.
If it is true that we should expect BBX devices during the first quarter of 2012 then I think it is absolutely useless buying a OS7 device.
I already have a Samsung Galaxy S 2 which the wife got me the other day but I haven't as yet put it through its paces.
I was watching the live feed and I thought the slide showed that OS 7 phones would be able to run the apps developed for BBX. But maybe I am old and nearing senility with major hallucinations. :D If I missed it, please correct me gently...remember I am old and having senior issues.
But if the apps can run cross platform, then the OS 7 phones would have a greater chance of viability for a longer time. It does make sense that RIM is going to go all BBX. Its like Apple with one OS...much easier to develop and improve one rather than many OS's.
Just remember that the first BBX phones are supposedly Not going to have a Physical Keyboard. So the wait for a BBX Phone with a Physical Keyboard will probably be even longer.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
One thing for sure : OS 7 is obsolete tot he competition (WP7.5,iOS5 and Ice cram sandwich )
BBX will be backward compatible with HTML5 apps, going back to OS 6.
We don't know what specs BBX will require yet, the playbook isn't an accurate indication either yet - as it isn't running BBX and we've not had proper confirmation that the current playbooks will even run BBX.
I'm going to buy an OS 7 device in November, to last me the next 2 years, HTML5 apps are good enough for me - especially considering so much can be achieved by using them nowadays, and the amount of current apps on the OS 7 platform is more than adequete for me. And at least if I do, by the time my contract expires I'll be able to get a BBX handset and won't have to worry about the most basic of features being implemented in to the BBX platform, if it lacks features that BB OS already has, and it'll probably have a lot more by the time my contract will have expired.