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We’ve seen plenty of the BlackBerry 9670, RIM’s next upper-tier OS 6 handset, over the last couple of months, and though the codename Oxford has been whispered here and there, a fresh rumour is indicating the market name will be “Style.” How well-received that name will be is largely a matter of opinion, but let’s not forget how many people scoffed when the name “Bold” and “Storm” first came out, and I think it’s safe to say they’ve naturalized quite well. Of course, the classic example in ridiculous names working perfectly well is the “Wii”, but I still can’t help but feel like BlackBerry’s trying too hard to be cool with branding like “Style”. Some would go so far to say the BlackBerry 9670′s form factor is the very antithesis of style.
Marketing aside, we’ve seen how well the Torch is doing, and can recall RIM’s last flip not doing particularly well – how will a mashup of the two fare? OS 6 is a nice visual upgrade, with the added utility of universal search, plus the external display offers some helpful at-a-glance functions, but if it has the same HVGA display, 624 MHz processor, and 512 MB of RAM as previous hardware, it may not be quite enough for the smartphone elite out there. I’m of the opinion that RIM prefers aiming for the fat middle of the market, where folks want more than a dumbphone, but don’t throw a hissy if they don’t have as many pixels as humanly possible crammed into a few inches of screen space.
As far as a release goes, we’re expecting at least Sprint and U.S. Cellular will be offering the Blackberry Style 9670, and Verizon might pick it up too. What do you guys think of the name? Fitting, or entirely inaccurate given the hardware?
[via CB]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
