New BlackBerry phones to support Android?

Hit by weakening sales, Research In Motion plans to add Android support to next year's lineup of new BlackBerry smartphones, Bloomberg reported yesterday.



Is RIM adding Android support to next year's BlackBerry phones?

(Credit: RIM)
Citing information from "three people familiar with the plan," Bloomberg said that the new Android-compatible phones will run the company's QNX software and debut in early 2012. A story earlier this month from the blog Boy Genius Report said that RIM will launch its first QNX-powered BlackBerry, code-named Colt, during the first quarter of 2012.

The move toward Android support is designed to enhance the appeal of BlackBerrys and shake up sales, which have taken a dive due to tight competition from the iPhone and Android devices.

A ComScore report from September of last year showed RIM with a leading 39 percent share of the U.S. smartphone market. A more recent ComScore report, released last month, found RIM now in third place behind Google and Apple with just 24 percent of the market.



Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20097125-93/new-blackberry-phones-to-support-android/#ixzz1W3NOJZb4