This is a follow-up (as covered by itWorldCanada) to a previous post about ongoing developments in RIM’s blackberry product line.

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The question that needs to be asked is: is RIM is too far behind the iPhone and the Android to be the product choice for consumers?

Worse, the true competition is not iPhone: it’s the Android. This argument is illustrated by strong sales in Motorola’s android-based phones in the most recent quarter, and overall share growth for android-based phones in general.

Last week, a WES 2010 (April 27-29) keynote was delivered. In it was a teaser video for the Blackberry 6 operating system. Most blackberry users will be painfully aware that RIM’s current handicap is its web browser. Even Opera Mini, while it is a better browser upgrade to RIM’s own browser, has its limitations. This includes navigating around pages with a menus and entering values in text fields.

This consumer-perceived “flaw” should not be viewed in isolation to RIM’s strength: messaging.

RIM’s messaging system and data delivery is without a doubt superior: data flow is managed through RIM’s BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server). Security is centrally managed, and web page data is compressed and processed to minimize the amount of data transferred to the blackberry. Conversely, the iPhone is a nightmare for carriers, especially in the United States (AT&T) whereupon something like 1-10% of the iPhone users account for most of the data consumption.

Is OS 6 sufficient for RIM to stay relevant in the smartphone space? If I make an analysis on RIM OS 6 based solely on this advertising, then the answer is ‘no.’

Ads can make or break a product. Throughout the year, Palm pushed its Pre product by using obscure ads. These ads did not illustrate what Pre was capable of doing for the customer. This story was covered at mobilesyrup, entitled “Palm ends relationship with ad agency Modernista.”

The ad was so poorly designed that even an ad produced by a Pre fan (for no cost) was better-received.

Sales continue to be weak for Palm, and last week, Palm sold out to HP.

Some of the new features for the RIM Blackberry OS 6 (based on the commercial) are as follows:

  • Extended search in media player (will RIM users care? Media playing is not a selling point for the blackberry)
  • New YouTube app (looks like iPhone)
  • Pinch to zoom for photos
  • New application switcher
  • New quick menu for Contacts: ‘touch’ a contact name to email, phone, or to TXT
  • New webkit browser
  • Social Feeds application for twitter and for facebook (with RSS option)
  • Improved integration of messaging features for GoogleTalk, AIM, Live Messenger,

OS 6 is a much needed, incremental upgrade for blackberry. It is not a game-changer for RIM, nor should it be. RIM succeeded in building its franchise through strong messaging services. Yet, it finds itself in need of growing its applications, its OS, and its webkit browser.

Ironically, as the music video lyrics suggests RIM is :

“I’m [consumers are] so 3000 and 8, you’re [blackberry] so 2000 and late.”