Posted January 31, 2013 by Mufaddal Fakhruddin in

RIM changes its name to BlackBerry

At yesterdays BlackBerry 10 launch event, RIM CEO Thorten Heins announced that the company has changed it's name to BlackBerry and will use the stock symbol BBRY from now on.

""We have reinvented the company, and we want to represent this in our brand," he stated.

Certainly a surprise announcement, the move comes at an opportune time when RIM really need to shake things up to improve its dwindling brand image in the smartphone market. BlackBerry is more recognizable than RIM, anyways, so it is indeed a smart move.

At the event, BlackBerry also announced two smartphones using the latest BB10 operating system: a full-touch screen Z10, and the keyboard model Q10. The latter is set to launch sometime later this year, however the Z10 will be available on February 10 in the UAE.

UAE telecoms Etisalat and du have already begun their pre-order campaigns for Z10, which will cost AED 2,599.

For more on Z10, check out our extensive review here.

Mufaddal Fakhruddin (follow @mufaaf on twitter)

Mufaddal Fakhruddin is a Marketing Degree unlocker'er, but decided he would rather criticize products than sell them. So he became a writer. With Tbreak Media for the past 7 years, Mufaddal writes for Tbreak Tech and sister site, IGN Middle East.