Last week when I posted our follow-up BlackBerry 9630 Review and took a look at OS 4.7.1, I made note that from what I had been hearing it appeared 4.7.1 in its current form on the 9630 would essentially be the same as OS 5.0 running on the Bold and Curve 8900 once updated (essentially, 4.7.1 will get re-labeled and become 5.0 at some point, as will 4.6).
Well we can wonder no more to similarity of 4.7.1 and 5.0 as the proof is in the pudding.. or.. err... more like the video after the jump. A fan of CrackBerry's got us some footage of OS version 5.0.0.83 running on a BlackBerry Curve 8900 that I've pieced together and uploaded for your viewing pleasure.
BlackBerry OS 5.0 Running on a BlackBerry Curve 8900
** note: at the end of the video is a msg to 'click video for more info'...
just ignore that. clicking just plays vid again. my bad! **
Like the 9630's 4.7.1 operating system, OS 5.0 on the Curve 8900 shows off all the same new improvements - trackball 'flicking' through photos, media memory statistics screen, Storm-like menu buttons, and more. We're hearing the web browser is still making incremental steps forward (it's apparently better at allowing you to scroll down the page even before things are fully loaded) and I think the coolest part of 5.0 is the new start-up screen. It still takes a while for the BlackBerry to load up, but gone is the 'white screen of death' in favor of a black screen with a BlackBerry logo and an actual indicator which shows the boot progress. BlackBerry Messenger also gets some tweaks.
For those not familiar with 5.0, you'll want to check out the BES 5.0 article Craig put together back in February after the RIM Enterprise briefing we attended in NYC. In the enterprise space, when RIM rolls out BES 5.0 (Argon), RIM devices will also get an update to 5.0 software just to keep things simple and in alignment. We've previously looked at some of the improved end-user functions coming in 5.0 like better mailbox and folder management and follow -up flags... now it's nice to see some of these other new tweaks will be included as well. Good on RIM for keeping the lineup current - it's nothing revolutionary, but it's yet another nice evolutionary step. RIM has been gearing-up for a BES 5.0 roll-out for WES this year (gotta love these acronyms!) so it won't be long before we're hearing a lot more 5.0 news.
