Research In Motion (RIM) has announced that it will now operate around the world under the iconic name BlackBerry, effective immediately.

The Company will adopt the name of its revolutionary BlackBerry smartphone to coincide with the launch of its new mobile computing platform, BlackBerry 10. The move consolidates the company's brand into a single cohesive global presence.

"This change from Research In Motion to BlackBerry comes at a defining moment in our company's history," said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO. "RIM created the first BlackBerry smartphone and changed the way millions of people around the world stay connected. We have used that same ingenuity and innovation to redefine mobile computing with BlackBerry 10. As we launch BlackBerry 10 around the world, now is the right time to adopt the iconic BlackBerry name."

As part of the move, the Company will now trade as "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "BBRY" on the NASDAQ. The changes to the company's ticker symbols will be effective at the start of trading on Monday, February 4, 2013. The company's website ( www.rim.com ) has changed to www.blackberry.com and soon company email addresses will migrate to @blackberry.com suffix.

BlackBerry's reinvigorated marketing efforts will now consistently represent the BlackBerry brand.

"Outside of North America, we are known solely as BlackBerry and the strength of the brand has opened doors in new and emerging markets. We now represent a company with a clear global brand and cohesive global marketing approach," said Frank Boulben, Chief Marketing Officer, BlackBerry.

"The BlackBerry name is synonymous with the company and its products and this move is a logical step forward as the company launches new devices and the BlackBerry 10 platform," said Danielle Levitas, Group Vice President of IDC's Consumer, Clients & New Media Research.

Blackberry 10 Anouncement:

BlackBerry today also launched BlackBerry(R) 10, the re-designed, re-engineered, and re-invented BlackBerry platform that creates a new and unique mobile computing experience. Available on two new LTE-enabled smartphones, the BlackBerry(R) Z10 (all-touch) and BlackBerry(R) Q10 (touch with physical keyboard) smartphones powered by BlackBerry 10 offer you a faster, smarter and smoother experience than any other BlackBerry you have used before.

BlackBerry unveiled the new BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones at events held simultaneously in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Dubai, and Johannesburg.

"Today sees a re-invented BlackBerry launching an entirely new mobile experience," said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of BlackBerry. "We are thrilled to be introducing BlackBerry 10 on the new BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones, to deliver a faster, smarter experience that continuously adapts to your needs. Every feature, every gesture, and every detail in BlackBerry 10 is designed to keep you moving."

Highlights of BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry 10 is a robust and reliable platform that is smooth and responsive. It has a modern design and a gesture-based interface that is highly discoverable. It is designed to support, learn, and adapt to the way you work and share with features like:

        
        --  The ever present BlackBerry(R) Hub, which is a single place to manage
            all your conversations whether personal or work email, BBM(TM) messages,
            social media updates or notifications, and the ability to "peek" into
            the BlackBerry Hub from anywhere, so you're always only one swipe away
            from what matters to you.
        --  BlackBerry(R) Flow, where the BlackBerry 10 experience excels by
            enabling features and apps to flow seamlessly together, helping you
            complete the task at hand effortlessly and efficiently. For example, you
            can tap on an attendee listed for a meeting to see their latest tweet or
            LinkedIn profile. Or tap the thumbnail of a picture you just took to
            launch the Picture editor and quickly apply a transformation or filter,
            then instantly share it with your contacts.
        --  A keyboard that understands and adapts to you, that learns what words
            you use and how you use them, then offers them up to you so you can type
            faster and more accurately.
        --  BBM (BlackBerry(R) Messenger), which allows you to share things with the
            people that matter to you in an instant. BBM in BlackBerry 10 includes
            voice calling and video chat, and introduces the ability to share your
            screen with another BlackBerry 10 contact.
        --  BlackBerry(R) Balance(TM) technology, which elegantly separates and
            secures work applications and data from personal content on BlackBerry
            devices.
        --  Time Shift, an astonishing camera feature that lets you capture a group
            shot where everyone is smiling with their eyes wide open. Story Maker,
            which lets you bring a collection of photos and videos together, along
            with music and effects, to produce an HD movie that you can instantly
            share.
        --  The new BlackBerry 10 browser, which sets the industry benchmark for
            HTML5 support on smartphones, is incredibly fast. Scrolling or zooming
            is fluid and responsive. The browser includes many advanced features,
            supports multiple tabs, lets you browse sites privately, includes a
            reader mode, and integrates with the platform for easily sharing
            content.
        --  BlackBerry(R) Remember, which combines memos, tasks and much more into a
            single experience. It helps you organize and manage information you have
            on your smartphone around projects or ideas, letting you collect content
            such as websites, emails, photos, documents, and other files, and then
            like a To-Do list, lets you create tasks, assign due dates, and track
            your progress. If your BlackBerry 10 smartphone is set up with a work
            account, your Microsoft(R) Outlook(R) Tasks will automatically be
            wirelessly synced with BlackBerry Remember. If you have configured an
            Evernote account with your smartphone, BlackBerry Remember will sync
            Evernote workbooks as well.
        --  BlackBerry(R) Safeguard technology that helps protect what is important
            to you, and the business you work for.
        --  Built-in support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync(R) so your BlackBerry
            Z10 or BlackBerry Q10 smartphone can be simply connected and managed as
            other ActiveSync devices in a company, or enabled with BlackBerry(R)
            Enterprise Service 10 to gain secure access to work email, "behind the
            firewall" applications and data, and benefit from other security and
            enterprise mobility management features.
        --  The BlackBerry(R) World(TM) storefront, which now includes 70,000
            BlackBerry 10 apps and one of the most robust music and video catalogs
            in mobile today - with most movies coming to the store the same day they
            are released on DVD. In addition, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and
            Foursquare apps for BlackBerry 10 are preinstalled, and BlackBerry 10
            customers will have access to leading applications from across the
            globe. Leading application providers including Disney, Cisco,
            Foursquare, Skype and Rovio have committed to the platform.

"At Foursquare, we are extremely excited to launch our new BlackBerry 10 application and to continue developing on the platform," said Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder and CEO of Foursquare. "Our team built the app just for BlackBerry 10, and the result is an amazing Foursquare Explore experience to help people around the world make the most of where they are."

"We're delighted to bring Angry Birds Star Wars to BlackBerry fans around the world," said Petri Jarvilehto, EVP of Games, at Rovio. "It's a great platform that gives a fantastic gaming experience, so fans can experience the struggle of Rebel Birds vs. Imperial Pigs to the fullest!"

"Bringing Where's My Water? and Where's My Perry? to BlackBerry 10 smartphones will introduce some of Disney's most popular mobile games to new audiences," said Tim O'Brien, VP of Business Development, Disney Games. "The new BlackBerry 10 platform is an exciting opportunity to expand Disney's network of mobile players."

"We're proud to extend Cisco's WebEx technology to the BlackBerry 10 platform letting customers of any size join, start, view content, and stay connected to WebEx meetings right from their BlackBerry 10 smartphone," said Raj Gossain, Vice President of Product Management, Cloud Collaboration Applications Technology Group at Cisco. "Our customers access Cisco collaboration capabilities, such as instant messaging, IP voice calling and conferencing on BlackBerry smartphones to stay connected anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. RIM and Cisco have worked together to develop an application that is user friendly and meets the needs of our global customers."

"We are excited about our plans to bring Skype to smartphones running the brand new BlackBerry 10 platform," said Bob Rosin, VP & GM of Business Development for Microsoft's Skype division. "We are working closely with BlackBerry to ensure Skype runs great on BlackBerry 10 devices. This will give BlackBerry 10 users a great Skype experience, including free voice and video calling, sending instant messages and text messages, sharing photos, videos and files, and calling to landlines and mobiles at Skype's low rates."

BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 Smartphones

The new BlackBerry 10 smartphones are elegant and distinctive, and the fastest, most advanced BlackBerry smartphones yet. They feature 1.5 Ghz dual core processors with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and an expandable memory card slot. They include the latest enhancements in high density pixel and screen technology to display clear, sharp, and incredibly vivid images. Both feature a micro HDMI out port for presentations, and advanced sensors such NFC (near field communications) to support mobile payments and the exchange of information with a tap of the smartphone. They also have a removable battery.

Models of the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 will be available from carriers to support their respective 4G LTE or HSPA+ networks, and all the available models include connectivity support for global roaming. The BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones will also each come in White and Black. For more information about the new BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones powered by BlackBerry 10 please visit www.blackberry.com/blackberry10 .

A range of accessories for the new BlackBerry 10 smartphones, including the new BlackBerry(R) Mini Stereo Speaker as well as a variety of carrying and charging solutions including a unique charger that provides on-the-go charging, will be available from select carriers and retailers.

Pricing and Availability

Worldwide, we have several key markets that are revealing pricing and availability today, including the UK, Canada and UAE.

        --  In the UK, the BlackBerry Z10 will be available beginning tomorrow on
            pay monthly contracts and pre-pay plans from EE, O2, Vodafone, Phones
            4u, BT, 3UK and the Carphone Warehouse. BlackBerry Z10 smartphones will
            be available fully subsidized on competitive monthly pay contracts.
            Price points will vary according to carriers and retail partners.
        --  In Canada, the BlackBerry Z10 will be available on February 5th. Pricing
            will vary by carrier partner, but it will retail for around $149.99 on a
            3 year contract.
        --  In the UAE, the BlackBerry Z10 will be available on February 10th.
            Pricing will vary by carrier partner, but unsubsidized it will retail
            for AED 2,599.
        --  In the U.S. market, we expect availability with most carriers for the
            BlackBerry Z10 to be in March. Today, U.S. carriers will start
            announcing pre-registration and price plans.

Many of our global partners have already launched or will be launching pre-registration and pre-order sites today.

We expect the first global carriers to launch the BlackBerry Q10 in April. We will announce new pricing and availability information as carriers roll-out around the world.