Blackberry 6 Operating System Overview

Blackberry OS 6: The Next Generation of Smartphone User-Interface

The company Research In Motion (RIM) recently announced the existence and release of their newest Blackberry operating system. The Blackberry OS6 is a new iteration of their operating system that retains many of their trusted and beloved features while adding on bold new innovations. The Blackberry OS6 features a completely redesigned user interface that melds the capacity to use the touch screen and trackpad seamlessly. There are also expanded messaging capabilities which will simplify the management of social media and RSS Feeds. The advanced multimedia WebKit-based browser renders pages on the web in an efficient and swift manner.

What's New?

The interface of the device has been redesigned in a manner that makes it both easier to use and more intuitive overall. It contains sleek visuals and naturally intuitive navigation. The design scheme allows the user to utilize the interface via either the trackpad and keyboard or the touch screen. The fluid movement between the two styles of interface is one of this new operating systems hallmarks.

This new operating system offers multiple viewing types that will aid users in better organizing their content and applications. Icons on the Blackberry OS6 are arranged via the Home Screen through five customizable views. The views are All, Favorites, Downloads, Frequent, and Media. These icons are rendered even easier to navigate via simple finger swipes. A user of this new operating system can organize the location of their icons and add contacts or shortcuts to their web pages of interest directly to their revamped home screen.

The Blackberry OS6 features a powerful and user-friendly Universal Search tool which is readily accessed from the Home Screen. By clicking or tapping the search icon a user will be able to search for any manner of content they wish via their handset. This includes both the web and the new Blackberry App World. The latter searchable database is considered an integral part of the Blackberry OS6 experience.

On a further note, the newest Blackberry OS iteration contains a visually-rich and context-sensitive set of Action Menus. A user can click and hold the trackpad while using a given application to bring up the most common actions and tasks of said application to the immediate surface. Users can also seamlessly multitask with this new OS by holding down the Menu key. This action will pop up a visual grid that contains all of the currently running applications for easy switching.

Web browsing on Research in Motion's newest Blackberry OS is performed via a very intuitive system based on the WebKit browser. This browser features easily utilized tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously, and an auto-wrap text zoom feature which intelligently wraps text into a easily read column. It performs this wrapping feature while maintaining the placement of that particular page's key elements. The user can simply pinch to zoom in.

The socially oriented individual might find that text messaging and social feeds are the most important aspect of owning a smartphone in the modern era. The latest operating system from RIM simplifies the management of social networking and RSS feeds by providing integrated access to several key social sites and the internal e-mail of the phone. The social sites and messengers included are Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, AOL Instant Messenger, and the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) just to name a few. The most desired feature in this system is the ability to both view friend activities across multiple streams and to post updates to their own sites across those streams as well.

Multimedia on the Blackberry OS6 is designed to grant the user a higher level of engagement with their device while streamlining the experience. This new OS integrates media sync software for the ready ease of synchronizing photos and videos. It also syncs up iTunes and Windows Media Player music with the smart phone it is built into. Several other notable features of the multimedia capacity of this device include Wi-Fi music sync, a unique feature. This feature allows the users entire library to be usable from their blackberry while creating or editing playlists. They can also select music for download to their handset. When in range of their home Wi-fi or when networked using a USB cable these changes are synced and the songs will automatically download to the mobile phone at need.

Included with the multimedia changes come a wide array of camera model changes as well. The Blackberry OS6 allows users to capture higher quality images. It also improved the editing, organizing, and sharing of those pictures after they are taken. The new podcast feature application is useful for locating or managing audio and video podcasts. The user will be able to view all of their saved podcasts and browse a catalog of the available ones for download. The integrated application which allows for Youtube usage is designed to make video sharing easier than ever.

Currently the Blackberry OS6 is set to be released with the Blackberry Torch 9800 which will be available from AT&T on August 12, 2010. It is also predesigned to be able to run on select blackberry smart phones which are currently on the market and will be disseminated among them after the release.