RIM says BlackBerry 7 OS devices will not get update to BlackBerry 10 OS

You love your BlackBerry Bold 9900 and would never part with it. Ok, we get it. The device has a fabulous QWERTY keyboard and a responsive touchscreen as well and there is a reason why the model (along with its CDMA brother, the BlackBerry Bold 9930) is the flagship smartphone of the Canadian manufacturer. But when you saw those quick videos showing off the new BlackBerry 10 OS, you thought how cool some of those new features will look on your 'Berry. We hate to be the messenger of bad news, but on Wednesday RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said that both BlackBerry 7 and BlackBerry 10 are not compatible. In other words, devices running BlackBerry 7 OS will not be getting an update to BlackBerry 10 OS.

When Heins says that the two operating systems are incompatible, he is not talking about a trial separation here, he is talking about a bitter divorce with teams of attorneys. Apps made for one of the OS versions will not work on the other, which was one of the reasons that RIM handed out those rubber slabs to developers on Tuesday. Loaded up with BlackBerry 10, the "Alpha Developer's phone" is an attempt to get the code jockeys to start writing apps in advance of the launch of the BlackBerry London, or whatever the name of the first BB 10 phone will be. Launching a new handset without stocking the shelves of your online application store is corporate suicide (ask Palm and Microsoft).

The good news is that RIM promises to support BlackBerry 7.1 for a while, and we don't believe that its fingers were crossed behind its back. As for all of those apps on BlackBerry App World, RIM says it will try to port some over to the new OS. This is make or break time for RIM and the clock has started ticking.

PhoneArena.com