BlackBerry OS
Encyclopedia
BlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system
, developed by Research In Motion
for its BlackBerry
line of smartphone
handheld devices. The operating system provides multitasking
and supports specialized input devices that have been adopted by RIM for use in its handhelds, particularly the trackwheel, trackball
, and most recently, the trackpad and touchscreen
.
The BlackBerry platform is perhaps best known for its native support for corporate email, through MIDP 1.0 and, more recently, a subset of MIDP 2.0, which allows complete wireless activation and synchronization with Microsoft Exchange
, Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise
email, calendar, tasks, notes, and contacts, when used with BlackBerry Enterprise Server
. The operating system also supports WAP
1.2.
Updates to the operating system may be automatically available from wireless carriers that support the BlackBerry over the air software loading (OTASL) service.
Third-party developers can write software using the available BlackBerry API
classes, although applications that make use of certain functionality must be digitally signed
.
A June 2011 research indicates that approximately 45% of mobile developers were using the platform at the time of publication.
__toc__
Many popular apps are compatible with BlackBerry OS 4.x or higher.
BBAlphaSans and BBAlphaSerif are based on the free software
DejaVu fonts
.
-based platform, BlackBerry Tablet OS, to run on its recently released BlackBerry PlayBook
tablet computer
.
QNX is going to completely replace BlackBerry OS as of BlackBerry 8.
Mobile operating system
A mobile operating system, also known as a mobile OS, mobile software platform or a handheld operating system, is the operating system that controls a mobile device or information appliance—similar in principle to an operating system such as Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux distributions that controls a...
, developed by Research In Motion
Research In Motion
Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
for its BlackBerry
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
line of smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
handheld devices. The operating system provides multitasking
Computer multitasking
In computing, multitasking is a method where multiple tasks, also known as processes, share common processing resources such as a CPU. In the case of a computer with a single CPU, only one task is said to be running at any point in time, meaning that the CPU is actively executing instructions for...
and supports specialized input devices that have been adopted by RIM for use in its handhelds, particularly the trackwheel, trackball
Trackball
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a cursor...
, and most recently, the trackpad and touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
.
The BlackBerry platform is perhaps best known for its native support for corporate email, through MIDP 1.0 and, more recently, a subset of MIDP 2.0, which allows complete wireless activation and synchronization with Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange can refer to:* Microsoft Exchange Server, an email server software product from Microsoft* Microsoft Exchange Client, the former companion client software for Exchange Server that was embedded into some versions of Microsoft Windows...
, Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise
Novell GroupWise
GroupWise is a messaging and collaborative software platform from Novell that supports email, calendaring, personal information management, instant messaging, and document management. The platform consists of the client software, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and the server...
email, calendar, tasks, notes, and contacts, when used with BlackBerry Enterprise Server
BlackBerry Enterprise Server
BlackBerry Enterprise Server designates the middleware software package that is part of the BlackBerry wireless platform supplied by Research In Motion...
. The operating system also supports WAP
Wireless Application Protocol
Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
1.2.
Updates to the operating system may be automatically available from wireless carriers that support the BlackBerry over the air software loading (OTASL) service.
Third-party developers can write software using the available BlackBerry API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
classes, although applications that make use of certain functionality must be digitally signed
Digital signature
A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender, and that it was not altered in transit...
.
A June 2011 research indicates that approximately 45% of mobile developers were using the platform at the time of publication.
__toc__
Version history
- BlackBerry OS debuted in January 1999, with the release of version 1.0 for Pager BlackBerry 580.
- Version 3.6 was released for the BlackBerry 5810 smartphone in March 2002.
- On April 2010, RIM announced the new BlackBerry OS 6.0 version, which was released in the Q3 2010.
- Rumours of an OS 6.1 began in 1st/2nd quarter 2011 along with images of the new software.
- On May 2, 2011, RIM announced the rumoured software as BlackBerry OS 7. The software was officially released in August 2011 making its appearance on the Blackberry Bold (9900/9930), Blackberry Torch (9810/9850/9860), and the Blackberry Curve (9350/9360/9370). Any previous devices cannot be updated to BlackBerry OS 7.
Many popular apps are compatible with BlackBerry OS 4.x or higher.
Availability
While RIM develops and releases updated versions of its operating system to support each device, it is up to the individual carriers to decide if and when a version is released to its users.| Obsolete | Discontinued | Current |
| Version | Supported devices: BlackBerry 8000 series |
|---|---|
| 4.5 | BlackBerry devices in the 8100 and 8800 series, plus BlackBerry Curve BlackBerry Curve BlackBerry Curve is a brand of entry level smartphones manufactured by Research In Motion since 2007.-Curve 8300 Series:The BlackBerry Curve brand was introduced in 2007 with the Curve 8300 series... 8300/8310/8320. |
| 4.6 | BlackBerry Pearl Flip BlackBerry Pearl The BlackBerry Pearl is a smartphone developed by Research In Motion the first BlackBerry device with a camera and media player. It was originally released on September 12, 2006... . |
| 5.0 | BlackBerry Curve BlackBerry Curve BlackBerry Curve is a brand of entry level smartphones manufactured by Research In Motion since 2007.-Curve 8300 Series:The BlackBerry Curve brand was introduced in 2007 with the Curve 8300 series... 8330/8350i/8520/8530/8900. |
| Version | Supported devices: BlackBerry 9000 series |
|---|---|
| 5.0 | BlackBerry Bold BlackBerry Bold The BlackBerry Bold 9000 is a line of smartphones developed by Research in Motion. The family includes the 9000 , the 9700 , the 9650 and 9780, both of which were released in 2010, 9788 released in 2011 and the 9900/9930, the first touchscreen Bold, released in August 2011... 9000, BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Storm 2 BlackBerry Storm 2 The BlackBerry Storm 2 is the second full touchscreen smartphone developed by Research In Motion .-Introduction:The BlackBerry Storm 2 is the first and only smartphone in the world to have a full clickable touchscreen powered by its piezoelectric sensors underneath the screen... and BlackBerry Tour BlackBerry Tour The BlackBerry Tour is a mobile phone developed by Research In Motion and is part of the 9600 device series. This high-end messaging phone combines the multimedia features of the Curve with the global roaming of the 8830 , plus a higher-resolution display, 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera, 3G data... . |
| 6.0 | BlackBerry Bold 9650/9700/9780, BlackBerry Curve 9300/9330, BlackBerry Pearl 9100, BlackBerry Style 9680, and BlackBerry Torch BlackBerry Torch BlackBerry Torch is a series of smartphones manufactured by Research In Motion. The lineup currently consists of the following:* BlackBerry Torch 9800, the first phone in the series, powered by BlackBerry OS 6... 9800 BlackBerry Torch 9800 The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is a 2010 model in the BlackBerry line of smartphones. It combines a physical QWERTY keyboard with a sliding multi-touch screen display and runs on BlackBerry OS 6... . |
| 7.0 | BlackBerry Bold 9780/9900/9930, BlackBerry Curve 9350/9360/9370/9380, and BlackBerry Torch 9810 BlackBerry Torch 9810 The Blackberry Torch 9810 was released by Research in Motion, as the successor to the original BlackBerry Torch 9800. While physically very similar to the 9800, it includes a number of significant hardware upgrades and support for RIM's updated Blackberry OS 7 operating system.-Processor and... /9850/9860 BlackBerry Torch 9860 The BlackBerry Torch 9860 is the third full touchscreen smartphone developed by Research In Motion .-Availability:In Canada, the Torch 9860 is available at Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless, Sasktel, Telus Mobility, and Videotron.... . |
| Model | Name | Input | OS | T-Mobile | AT&T | Bell | Rogers | Telus | Mobilicity | Verizon | Sprint | SaskTel | WIND Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last updated: | Oct 21, 2011 | Nov 7, 2011 | Aug 26, 2011 | Oct 11, 2011 | Aug 25, 2011 | Aug 29, 2011 | Oct 25, 2011 | Nov 29, 2011 | Sep 2, 2011 | Oct 21, 2011 | |||
| 8100 | Pearl | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.2.1.107 (8/23/2007) | 4.5.0.182 (1/15/2010) | 4.5.0.102 (11/28/2008) | |||||||
| 8110 | Pearl | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.5.0.182 (12/17/2009) | 4.5.0.102 (11/20/2008) | ||||||||
| 8120 | Pearl | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.5.0.124 (3/13/2009) | 4.5.0.182 (1/15/2010) | 4.5.0.102 (10/31/2008) | |||||||
| 8130 | Pearl | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.5.0.127 (2/27/2009) | 4.5.0.169 (9/22/2009) | 4.5.0.175 (1/21/2010) | 4.5.0.175 (11/10/2009) | 4.5.0.173 (10/29/09) | |||||
| 8220 | Pearl Flip (Kickstart) | Trackball | 4.6.0 | 4.6.0.180 (12/1/2008) | 4.6.0.293 (9/17/2009) | ||||||||
| 8230 | Pearl Flip (Kickstart) | Trackball | 4.6.1 | 4.6.1.284 (9/14/2009) | 4.6.1.284 (9/22/2009) | 4.6.1.309 (12/1/2009) | 4.6.1.309 (10/27/2009) | ||||||
| 8300 | Curve (Baby Bear) | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.5.0.182 (1/15/2010) | 4.5.0.174 (12/18/2009) | ||||||||
| 8310 | Curve | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.5.0.182 (12/17/2009) | 4.5.0.174 (11/27/2009) | ||||||||
| 8320 | Curve (Momma Bear) | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.5.0.81 (10/20/2008) | 4.5.0.182 (12/17/2009) | 4.5.0.81 (9/29/2008) | |||||||
| 8330 | Curve (Papa Bear) | Trackball | 5.0.0 | 4.5.0.127 (2/27/2009) | 4.5.0.186 (2/26/2010) | 4.5.0.191 (1/18/2011) | 4.5.0.173 (10/29/2009) | ||||||
| 8350i | Curve | Trackball | 5.0.0 | 5.0.0.807 (9/22/2010) | 5.0.0.1051 (1/24/2011) | ||||||||
| 8520 | Curve 2 (Gemini) | Trackpad | 5.0.0 | 5.0.0.900 (11/17/2010) | 5.0.0.1067 (3/24/2011) | 5.0.0.900 (11/2/2010) | |||||||
| 8530 | Curve 2 (Aries) | Trackpad | 5.0.0 | 5.0.0.1000 (11/15/2010) | 5.0.0.973 (6/28/2011) | 5.0.0.973 (10/15/2010) | 5.0.0.1030 (11/30/2010) | 5.0.0.459 (3/11/2010) | |||||
| 8800 | (Huron) | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.2.1.74 (4/23/2007) | 4.5.0.182 (1/15/2010) | 4.5.0.174 (1/6/2010) | |||||||
| 8820 | (Huron) | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.5.0.139 (4/17/2009) | 4.5.0.182 (12/17/2009) | 4.5.0.174 (12/24/2009) | |||||||
| 8830 | (Huron) | Trackball | 4.5.0 | 4.5.0.127 (2/06/2009) | 4.5.0.186 (3/29/2010) | 4.5.0.186 (4/15/2010) | 4.5.0.186 (3/26/2010) | 4.5.0.173 (11/3/2009) | |||||
| 8900 | Curve (Javelin) | Trackball | 5.0.0 | 5.0.0.900 (2/3/2011) | 5.0.0.1067 (3/24/2011) | 5.0.0.900 (12/2/2010) | |||||||
| 9000 | Bold | Trackball | 5.0.0 | 5.0.0.1067 (3/24/2011) | 5.0.0.681 (6/29/2010) | 5.0.0.900 (11/18/2010) | |||||||
| 9100 | Pearl 3G (Stratus) | Trackpad | 6.0.0 | 5.0.0.921 (10/5/2010) | 6.0.0.600 (7/22/2011) | 6.0.0.526 (4/26/2011) | 6.0.0.481 (3/28/2011) | 6.0.0.534 (5/5/2011) | 6.0.0.600 (10/21/2011) | ||||
| 9300 | Curve 3G (Kepler) | Trackpad | 6.0.0 | 6.0.0.448 (3/28/2011) | 6.0.0.668 (10/18/2011) | 6.0.0.600 (7/18/2011) | 6.0.0.526 (4/26/2011) | 6.0.0.534 (5/2/2011) | 6.0.0.650 (8/29/2011) | 6.0.0.534 (5/5/2011) | 6.0.0.600 (10/21/2011) | ||
| 9330 | Curve 3G | Trackpad | 6.0.0 | 6.0.0.524 (5/16/2011) | 6.0.0.706 (11/29/2011) | ||||||||
| 9350 | Curve | Trackpad | 7.0.0 | 7.0.0.261 (8/23/2011) | |||||||||
| 9360 | Curve | Trackpad | 7.0.0 | 7.0.0.319 (9/28/2011) | 7.0.0.464 (11/2/2011) | 7.0.0.319 (8/25/2011) | 7.0.0.319 (9/2/2011) | 7.0.0.319 (8/25/2011) | 7.0.0.319 (9/2/2011) | ||||
| 9370 | Curve | Trackpad | 7.0.0 | ||||||||||
| 9380 | Curve | Trackpad/Touchscreen | 7.0.0 | ||||||||||
| 9530 | Storm (Thunder) | Touchscreen | 5.0.0 | 5.0.0.419 (2/12/2010) | 5.0.0.419 (4/6/2010) | 5.0.0.328 (10/26/2009) | 5.0.0.866 (6/15/2011) | ||||||
| 9550 | Storm 2 (Odin) | Touchscreen | 5.0.0 | 5.0.0.517 (4/19/2010) | 5.0.0.713 (9/7/2010) | 5.0.0.1015 (11/24/2010) | 5.0.0.517 (3/17/2010) | ||||||
| 9630 | Tour (Niagara) | Trackball | 5.0.0 | 4.7.1.57 (10/08/2009) | 5.0.0.419 (2/2/2010) | 5.0.0.975 (10/15/2010) | 5.0.0.1030 (12/13/2010) | 5.0.0.419 (1/27/2010) | |||||
| 9650 | Bold (Essex) | Trackpad | 6.0.0 | 6.0.0.524 (5/16/2011) | 6.0.0.600 (7/6/2011) | ||||||||
| 9670 | Style (Oxford) | Trackpad | 6.0.0 | 6.0.0.286 (1/6/2011) | 6.0.0.415 (3/28/2011) | 6.0.0.706 (11/29/2011) | |||||||
| 9700 | Bold 2 (Onyx) | Trackpad | 6.0.0 | 6.0.0.448 (3/28/2011) | 6.0.0.668 (10/18/2011) | 6.0.0.615 (7/22/2011) | 6.0.0.666 (10/11/2011) | 6.0.0.461 (3/1/2011) | 6.0.0.650 (8/29/2011) | 6.0.0.534 (5/5/2011) | 6.0.0.615 (10/21/2011) | ||
| 9780 | Bold (r020) | Trackpad | 6.0.0 | 6.0.0.448 (3/14/2011) | 6.0.0.600 (7/18/2011) | 6.0.0.666 (10/11/2011) | 6.0.0.461 (3/16/2011) | 6.0.0.650 (8/29/2011) | 6.0.0.534 (5/5/2011) | 6.0.0.600 (10/21/2011) | |||
| 9790 | Bold (Bellagio) | Trackpad/Touchscreen | 7.0.0 | ||||||||||
| 9800 | Torch (Talledega) | Trackpad/Touchscreen | 6.0.0 | 6.0.0.600 (7/8/2011) | 6.0.0.600 (7/18/2011) | 6.0.0.448 (3/4/2011) | 6.0.0.448 (3/16/2011) | 6.0.0.534 (5/5/2011) | |||||
| 9810 | Torch | Trackpad/Touchscreen | 7.0.0 | 7.0.0.439 (10/21/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/21/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/16/2011) | 7.0.0.254 (8/11/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/16/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/26/2011) | ||||
| 9850 | Torch | Trackpad/Touchscreen | 7.0.0 | 7.0.0.374 (10/25/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/21/2011) | ||||||||
| 9860 | Torch | Trackpad/Touchscreen | 7.0.0 | 7.0.0.440 (11/7/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/16/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/16/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/18/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/16/2011) | |||||
| 9900 | Bold | Trackpad/Touchscreen | 7.0.0 | 7.0.0.250 (9/7/2011) | 7.0.0.440 (11/7/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/16/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/11/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/18/2011) | 7.0.0.261 (8/16/2011) | 7.0.0.439 (10/21/2011) | |||
| 9930 | Bold | Trackpad/Touchscreen | 7.0.0 | 7.0.0.374 (10/25/2011) | 7.0.0.241 (8/21/2011) | ||||||||
BlackBerry Fonts
The following is a list of fonts that were included in some versions of BlackBerry (note: some of them were not included in older versions):- Andale MonoAndale MonoAndalé Mono is a monospaced sans-serif typeface designed by Steve Matteson for terminal emulation and software development environments, originally for the Taligent project by Apple Inc. and IBM...
- ArialArialArial, sometimes marketed or displayed in software as Arial MT, is a sans-serif typeface and set of computer fonts. Fonts from the Arial family are packaged with Microsoft Windows, some other Microsoft software applications, Apple Mac OS X and many PostScript 3 computer printers...
- BBAlpha Sans
- BBAlpha Sans Condensed
- BBAlpha Serif
- BBCAPITALS
- BBCCasual
- BBClarity
- BBCondensed
- BBGlobal Sans
- BBGlobal Serif
- BBMilbank
- BBMilbank Tall
- BBSansSerif
- BBSansSerifSquare
- BBSerifFixed
- Comic Sans MS
- Courier New
- GeorgiaGeorgia (typeface)Georgia is a transitional serif typeface designed in 1993 by Matthew Carter and hinted by Tom Rickner for the Microsoft Corporation, as the serif companion to the first Microsoft sans serif screen font, Verdana. Microsoft released the initial version of the font on November 1, 1996 as part of the...
- ImpactImpactImpact may refer to:In science :* Impact , a high force or shock over a short time period* Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event* Impact event, the collision of a meteoroid, asteroid or comet with Earth...
- TahomaTahomaTahoma is the original form of the word "Tacoma", as in the city of Tacoma, Washington. It can refer to:Places:* Mount Tahoma, an alternative spelling of Mount Tacoma, the original name of Mount Rainier in the Cascade Range...
- Times New Roman
- Trebuchet MSTrebuchet MSTrebuchet MS is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Vincent Connare for the Microsoft Corporation in 1996. It is named after the trebuchet, a medieval catapult...
- VerdanaVerdanaVerdana is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft Corporation, with hand-hinting done by Thomas Rickner, then at Monotype. Demand for such a typeface was recognized by Virginia Howlett of Microsoft's typography group...
BBAlphaSans and BBAlphaSerif are based on the free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
DejaVu fonts
DejaVu fonts
The DejaVu fonts are modifications of the Bitstream Vera fonts designed for greater coverage of Unicode, as well as providing more styles. The Bitstream Vera family was limited mainly to the characters in the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement portions of Unicode but was released with a license...
.
BlackBerry Tablet OS
On September 27, 2010, RIM announced a new unrelated QNXQNX
QNX is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. The product was originally developed by Canadian company, QNX Software Systems, which was later acquired by Canadian BlackBerry-producer Research In Motion.-Description:As a microkernel-based...
-based platform, BlackBerry Tablet OS, to run on its recently released BlackBerry PlayBook
BlackBerry PlayBook
The BlackBerry PlayBook is a tablet computer by Research In Motion , best known for the BlackBerry smartphone. It competes against Apple's iPad and a slew of Android-powered tablets....
tablet computer
Tablet computer
A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen...
.
QNX is going to completely replace BlackBerry OS as of BlackBerry 8.
See also
- GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
Android - Windows PhoneWindows Phone 7Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
- HP webOS
- Symbian OS
- Apple iOS
- SamsungSamsungThe Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
's BadaBada (operating system)Bada is an operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It is developed by the Samsung Electronics. Its name is derived from " ", meaning "ocean" or "sea" in Korean... - BlackBerry Tablet OSBlackBerry Tablet OSBlackBerry Tablet OS is an operating system based on the QNX Neutrino real-time operating system designed to run Adobe AIR and BlackBerry WebWorks applications...
- MeeGoMeeGoMeeGo is a Linux-based open source mobile operating system project. Primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances in the consumer electronics market, MeeGo is designed to act as an operating system for hardware platforms such as netbooks, entry-level desktops, nettops, tablet...