Blackberry Does a 180 and Appoints Alicia Keys as New Global Creative Director

With the much-awaited and imminent release of BlackBerry 10, there have been new as well as exciting developments for the product. However, there are also certain points about the new BB that might make you think twice about getting it. Of course, if you are a hardcore fan of the brand, it won’t make any difference to you. Then again there are two big updates regarding the brand that will take you aback.

Research in Motion Changes Its Name to BlackBerry

Research in Motion or RIM, the developer of BlackBerry has recently dropped its name. So what are they called now? It’s simply BlackBerry and that’s that. Their motives for doing so could be the same as any other corporation looking to make their mark in this world. While Apple is recognized worldwide, RIM needs a second looking before people realize they are BlackBerry. So doing this rebranding move could very well be favorable on their part.

BlackBerry Appoints New Global Creative Director

While news of RIM being known as BlackBerry now and the anticipated release of BB 10 is quite big news, they are overshadowed by the recent appointment of the global creative director for BlackBerry. No, it’s not some bigwig software engineer or a well-known player in the industry, but one who is world-famous as an entertainer. Ladies and gentlemen, your new global creative director for BlackBerry is Alicia Keys. Yes, the very same singer who gave fans hits such as “Empire State of Mind” and the new song “Brand New Me” is now part of the BlackBerry family and claims to do “hands-on” work with the company.

News of her being the creative director is a surprising move but not that shocking, as other brands have taken to celebrities and giving them the same roles in their company. Keys’ husband Swizz Beatz was named as the creative director for Lotus in 2011 and Lady Gaga was given the same role for Polaroid back in 2010. Of course, with their celebrity status, it won’t come as a surprise that Keys will also be the new face of BlackBerry. Along with that role she has been given, she will most likely be in various ads and promotions for the product.

BlackBerry 10 – What’s New?

Since its official launch, BlackBerry has also released the first unit that carries the BB 10, which is the BlackBerry Z10. It is a fully touch-screen phone and the initial release is a white model which had people exclaiming awesomeness. Other than that they also released the Q10, which is a BlackBerry with a full QWERTY keyboard. So far the release date for the public is said to be towards the end of February. However, it could also be delayed to as late as March of this year.

BlackBerry 10: What it Does not Have

If you are a big fan of watching movies on your mobile phone, say goodbye to your hobby. BB 10 does not carry Netflix and the company is said to be “in talks” in order to make the world-famous app available for this product. Hipsters and food photographers are also bawling their eyes out as the news of Instagram not being available for BlackBerry 10 has shattered their amateur photographer dreams. BlackBerry is also in talks with Instagram to make it available sometime in the near future. For now, we all just have to bear with the fact that the sepia effect for our photos will have to be edited somewhere else. Plus, also missing is a YouTube application, Hulu for video streaming, Pandora and Spotify.

Photo Credit: BlackBerry@CES2011