Long-awaited devices running the BlackBerry 10 operating system will be handed out to apps developers in May, said BlackBerry company RIM in a statement on Friday, AllThingsD first reported. Up to 2,000 prototype devices will be handed out to developers at the BlackBerry Jam conference in Orlando, Florida, the Tornoto Star reported.
RIM is pinning most of its continued hopes as a consumer-facing company on BlackBerry 10, an operating system formerly known as BBX, which aims to unify RIM’s disparate tablet and mobile phone software into one seamless, touch-friendly experience.
RIM watched the market share of its once ubiqutious BlackBerry (aka CrackBerry) line erode as formerly reliable customers in enterprise and government have embraced Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices, with iPhone shipments recently eclipsing BlackBerry shipments in RIM’s native of Canada in 2011.
