BlackBerry

Today, with much fanfare, the company formerly known as Research in Motion introduced the world to BlackBerry 10. This product launch will most likely save the company but I don't think BlackBerry will ever be on top again.

I have not seen or touched a new BlackBerry yet. From what I hear, it is a great handset. In fact I really like the idea of BlackBerry Balance. With this feature you can basically have two units in one. The user can have his work and his personal interface on the same phone and the data will never touch each other. Since I have a personal iPhone 5 and a work BlackBerry Curve that I often have to carry with me after hours and on week-ends, I truly appreciate this feature.

From what I have read, I think there are enough new and useful features to sell a lot of handsets. I think it will be enough handsets to keep the company going for the foreseeable future. However, BlackBerry will never regain top spot in the smartphone world because, not only are they late to the integrated ecosystem party, they haven't even showed up yet. Meanwhile their competition is locking in long term customers because their lives are becoming fully integrated.

The grand-daddy of them all when it comes to integration is Apple. To ensure full disclosure I will mention that I use Apple. If I take a picture with my iPhone it automatically syncs though iCloud to my iPad and my Mac. Also it becomes part of my screen saver when Apple TV is on but I am not viewing anything like right now. I'm listening to music streaming from my iPhone on my home stereo. If I buy a song off of iTunes it automatically downloads to my other devices except my iPod Nano that doesn't have a wifi antenna and still has to be plugged in. All my content is backed up to the iCloud and on my Time Capsule. 

However, Apple isn't the only ones doing things like this. If you have an a phone running Android from Google, not only is it highly integrated with Google's online world, many of the streaming functions can be accomplished if you have a TV and computer from the same manufacturer, or in Sony's case, a PlayStation 3 will do just fine. Microsoft is doing much the same with their Windows phone from Nokia and the new Surface tablet.

However, BlackBerry is way behind and with each ticking day more people are joining another ecosystem. You can share easily between the Playbook and the phone but how do you get your music onto the best speakers in your house and the video onto the biggest screen?

BlackBerry built a good business tool in 1999. Email on your phone was revolutionary. It changed communication forever but they didn't see the big picture while others like Apple, Sony, and Samsung did. They saw the phone as a piece of the puzzle not as the end state. If they could get consumers to buy the phone, eventually they will buy a lot more, with a better margin, from them too. It worked and that's why BlackBerry won't die but it also won't ever lead the race again.