Can Blackberry BBX Save RIM?

[Rapid Response] Our panel of experts from GigaOM, PC Mag, and RIM respond.

With RIM's recent announcement of its Operating System, BBX, The Mark reached out to several technology observers for their reaction. Do you think BBX can turn the fortunes for RIM? Leave your comments below.

Jamie Lendino, Senior Mobile Analyst, PCMag.com

BBX looks good, but it's already late, and there's still no sign of when we'll see the actual product. It'll be tough for RIM to regain market share – massive delays can cripple a platform's chances even if it is well designed (see: webOS, Windows Phone 7). Aside from a renewed commitment to enterprise security, much of the announced feature set mirrors what's already available on Android and iOS devices today.

Kevin Tofel, Mobile Editor and Senior Writer, GigaOM

RIM's introduction of BBX for smartphones is welcome, but long overdue: The company's transition to bring the QNX platform to handsets is a late reaction to a rapidly changing market. This lateness will likely discourage BlackBerry developers, causing them to migrate to other platforms such as iOS, Android, or even Windows Mobile. Ultimately, RIM needs to give potential customers a reason to try the platform over a newer one. BBX may be the company's last chance to do so.

Jamie Ernst, RIM Spokesperson

We are very excited about BlackBerry BBX – our next-generation mobile platform for smartphones and tablets. BlackBerry BBX embraces the best of the BlackBerry and QNX platforms to create a brand new platform that extends the BlackBerry DNA of collaboration, communication, and immediacy. BlackBerry BBX will offer developers more opportunity than ever, as it will include development environments designed to support HTML5 and native developers. It will also include the new BlackBerry Cascades UI Framework for advanced graphics.