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The long awaited PlayBook OS 2.0 is set to have a guest appearance at this months Consumer Electronics Show (CES) RIM has been sending out invitations to an "intimate event" that will allow attendees to experience the BlackBerry PlayBook's new OS 2.0. This also suggest RIM is not going to have a very strong presence at the years biggest electronic show.

Back in October we heard that PlayBook's OS 2 would be delayed until February. Does this mean that we could see an early release? Over the past few months we have seen glimpses of OS 2.0 and have been really impressed. I was able to get hands on at the BIF 2011, and I can confirm it is everything that has been missing from OS 1.0 and much more. The release of this OS is a make or break for the PlayBook device so I am looking forward to updating to OS 2.0.

The most recent news that the BlackBerry community has gotten wind of was that Research in Motion has plans to show off the new BlackBerry 10 operating system at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain from February 27th through March 1st.

A spokesperson at RIM has stated:

"2012 will be the year of BlackBerry 10 so we'll be showcasing the capabilities of our future operating system as well demonstrating the power of BlackBerry 7, with a particular focus on NFC and BBM connected apps. Research in Motion will be there in force."

While this doesn't necessarily mean that the actual phones will be set up to be played with, having official details on how the new OS will work is a definite plus. That may hold off the riots for a little while longer. On top of the reveal of BB10, BB7 seems to be another popular aspect of RIM's revival plan. I'm curious about the new operating system, sure, but those phones could be a long way out. I'm more excited to see how much more I can get out of my BlackBerry Bold 9900. Research in Motion says this is "The year of BlackBerry 10", but the year is young, and we've got a long way to go. Hopefully their determination stays strong and continues for a long time down the road.

Speaking with BlackBerry's PR people at the BBM Ugly Sweaters event in NYC last month, one thing they kept on reiterating is how badly they are trying to connect with the BlackBerry community and each individual user. Today BlackBerry has shown how they are trying to do this as they introduced the BlackBerry Fan of the Month program with their first fan of the month: Brian.

The BlackBerry Fan of the Month is exactly what you expect it to be, an interview with a hardcore BlackBerry fan. I definitely disagree with this assessment as I felt I was the BlackBerry fan of the Year to be completely honest (I mean I am @AgentBlackBerry), but regardless Brian definitely seems like he's worthy of the honor as well.

According to the BlackBerry Official Blog:

Now all this is great, but RIM needs to take a serious look not only at their loyal fans that have positive things to say about BlackBerry but also at the die-hard BlackBerry users that point out the areas in which they can improve. Only then will they be able to realize that, even though there have been many positives, the way things have been going these last couple of years as a whole are simply not acceptable. If they can couple that negative but constructive feedback with positive PR generating programs like this one, BlackBerry's future can be bright.

Could this picture end up being a reality sometime in 2012 or 2013? Could we end up seeing BlackBerry 10 on HTC, Samsung and other hardware manufacturers' devices? According to Jefferies' Peter Misek this is definitely not only a possibility but talks have already started to make it happen.

Why would RIM even think about doing this? Well if you think about it, the costs of manufacturing hardware would be cut down as less phones would need to made and they would instead take a more Google-like approach and rent out their OS per say.

Both HTC and Samsung run Android and WP7 OSes and have been successful doing so. The chance of them taking on another OS with such an uncertain future as the BlackBerry 10 OS could be unlikely. Also the hardware compatibility issue is big one as well as BlackBerry 10 sounds like it'll be a gesture-dependent OS for which who knows if HTC or Samsung could develop hardware.

That being said, the perspective of having BlackBerry email and BBM as anchors to this new OS could make it very enticing for some of these companies to adopt BlackBerry 10.

I love rumors, especially during such a slow time of the year with BlackBerry news. We'll see if anything comes out of this one in the near future.

One of my personal favorite apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook, Blaq, has been updated this evening to v1.6. This new update brings some new features along with plenty of bug fixes that should make this great app even better for its users. Check out the change log below.

Application

Options

Services

Don't worry if you're not prompted for the update right away as its making its way to everyone's PlayBook in the next 24 hours.

Local Porsche Design stores have begun decorating for the upcoming release of the BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981. The intended date isn't 100% set, I think, but the Porsche Design stores have said one day in the last week of February 2012. The price is steep, set at $1,700, but if your wallet is willing and your heart aches enough for one of these beautiful BlackBerrys, find the closest Porsche Design store to run over and pre-order one of your very own! If you're feeling in the generous spirit, it's almost my birthday and I'd be more than willing to accept such a wonderful gift!

Research In Motion has been under extreme pressure from its shareholders to shake things up from top of the latter on down. While we've seen a couple of different Senior VPs step down in the last few months, the two headed co-CEO tandem of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsielle has up until this point been left untouched.

Back in July, 2011, RIM said in a statement it would form a committee to investigate how the structure of the company could possibly be changed in order to improve it. Today, the Financial Post is reporting that this shake up will indeed happen and that Barbara Stymiest (pictured above) is the leading candidate to be appointed lead chairman of RIM's board. According to their sources, the investigation is still under review and the company could opt to go a number of different ways but Stymiest is being considered the top choice due to her background work as COO of Royal Bank of Canada and later head of the TSX Group Inc.

The decision and outcome of the evaluation process will be announced by the company's independent directors recommendation report on January 31st of this year. With news of this possible structural change for RIM, their stocks have risen 8% this morning to $15.67.

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