RIM BlackBerry 10 Doesn't Work, Says Insider

Research In Motion's top brass was not honest about the reason its BlackBerry 10 smartphones have been delayed to the end of 2012, says a well-placed source cited by BGR.com.

The reason for the delay given last week by co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie is that the company is waiting for vital dual-core Long Term Evolution 4G chipsets that won't be available until the middle of 2012. RIM can't build the phones until the chipset is available. Lazaridis explained the delay is simply a matter of timing and not something to be overly concerned about.

But that's all a lie, says BGR's source.

Instead, BlackBerry 10 devices have been delayed because, "RIM is simply pushing this out as long as they can for one reason, they don't have a working product yet."

BGR's source is making a serious allegation.

He says the software isn't anywhere close to ready. PlayBook OS 2.0, which developers already have their hands on, is "a crystal clear window into the current state of BlackBerry 10 on smartphones. No email, no BlackBerry Messenger. Email and PIM is a better on an 8700 than it is on BlackBerry 10."

[ It's time for RIM to cut bait on its tablet, says our analyst. See PlayBook: An Anchor Dragging RIM Down. ]

BGR's source also said that BlackBerry 10 isn't as good as iOS 1.0 or Android 2.0. "There's no room for a fourth ecosystem," he stated, "and DingleBerry also works on BlackBerry 10." (Dingleberry is the recent tool developed by researchers that breaks into the PlayBook OS.)

If true, that's not good news at all.

Obviously, these could be the words of a disgruntled employee, or someone with a bone to pick with RIM's management. RIM has yet to respond to the report, though I'd say it should, as calling the CEOs liars is a pretty big deal.

Speaking personally, I'd love to see RIM stage a major comeback with incredible software and devices, but all signs are beginning to point to the opposite.

HERE IS RIM'S RESPONSE:

"RIM made a strategic decision to launch BlackBerry 10 devices with a new, LTE-based dual core chip set architecture. As explained on our earnings call, the broad engineering impact of this decision and certain other factors significantly influenced the anticipated timing for the BlackBerry 10 devices. The anonymous claim suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and uninformed. As RIM has previously explained, and as Mike Lazaridis reiterated on the earnings call, we will not launch BlackBerry 10 devices until we know they are ready and we believe this new chip set architecture is required to deliver the world class user experience that our customers will expect. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false. We appreciate the interest in our future platform and we will continue to work hard to deliver that platform as soon as possible. At the same time, we also remain very excited with the success of our recently launched BlackBerry 7 smartphones and we believe these products offer a very compelling choice for both new customers and the almost 75 million BlackBerry users around the world."

According to our Outlook 2012 Survey, IT should expect soaring demand but cautious hiring as companies use technology to try to get closer to customers. Also in the new, all-digital issue of InformationWeek: Inside Windows Server 8. (Free registration required.)