I’m guessing the sub-head has already given you some idea about the second point, and you are correct if you’re assuming that the latest BB10 platform will have a walking, talking (well, not walking) character named Viki. It’s needless to say what a huge success Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Siri has been, plus it’s been a contributing factor toward the success of the iPhone 4S. Maybe, with Viki now on board, BlackBerry will be able to pull off this difficult, but interesting, stunt. Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has managed to get support from an Indian start-up to develop an app for its latest platform, which would act like a personal assistant and compete with Siri. Viki comes with nine touch point options, and also has voice-based input recognition. Arun Ravi, VP of Agrima Infotech, the Viki-maker, believes Viki to be better than Siri.
“What makes Viki different from Siri is its ability to update database constantly by learning the user’s behavior. For example, if the user loves classical music, and when he asks for music, it plays him classical music. It would also pick a vegetarian restaurant if the user is a vegetarian,”
– Arun Ravi
When Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) introduced Siri, it was able to attract a huge number of old iPhone users and tempt them to migrate to the latest iPhone. Apple innovated and peers followed. Soon (though not very soon) after Siri, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) came out with Google Now, which aimed to offer what Siri was offering, and this new feature got incorporated in the latest Android Jelly Bean OS. Now, BlackBerry can adopt this strategy to get its old BB7 users to move to the BB10 platform. The users will be able to post on social forums, send emails and texts, call up a contact, manage meetings and reminders, and stay updated with the latest news and events information. The Viki app was initially planned to be launched for the BB10 platform on April 23 with a price tag of $3 per year, which seems to be pretty tempting for anyone to ignore. However, upgradations and algorithm checks conducted for the app before it was made available for use resulted in the launch delay.
Concluding thoughts
The Canadian phone-maker is banking on the Z10 and the Q10 to make a sales recovery and to bite off a substantial share of the smartphone market from its peers, Apple and Samsung. The company is on its toes to incorporate the necessary changes. Now, one can basically say that Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) now has all the correct ingredients. It has security, it has an easy and interesting operating system, it has apps that can make users’ lives easier, and now it also has a voice-enabled artificially intelligent input system. Plus, let’s not forget the millions of users or the increasing demand for its offerings. All these features combined together paints a pretty nice picture of BlackBerry’s possible future.
The article This Will Aid BlackBerry’s Growth originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rita C.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
