WES 2009 is only 2 weeks away and we’re expecting the launch of the BlackBerry OS 5 in the near future. BGR has put together a nice roundup of information that we know pertaining to OS 5, so why not take an advanced look at what to expect.
Messages
With BlackBerry OS 5, when scrolling through a long list of emails, the date header will remain stationary thus making it impossible to lose track of which days emails your looking at. This feature is great for anyone who may leave their BlackBerry to accumulate emails for a long time.
When sending photos, OS 5 will give an option to resize individual photos to 1024×768, 800×600 or 640×480 is given. This will save space and reduce data transmisssion costs.
Other changes to the message system include the ability to flag emails and define them by request, color, status and due date as well as create, edit and delete folders from the device itself.
Calendar
Calendar entries will be able to be forwarded, and users will also finally be able to view attachments that are attached to calendar invites. Conference call information can also be plugged into Calendar, which means you can get plugged directly into the call from the notification.
Browser
We already mentioned that Google Gears will be supported in OS 5.0, but now we’re told that videos will be able to be streamed inline within the browser itself. A bunch of new AJAX formats are also supported.
Maps
RIM has updated the Maps application to render around two times as fast as they did in the past. In addition to this, scrolling around and zooming in should no longer result in lagging.
Built into the message system, addresses will be automatically sniffed out by the OS and a simple click will bring up the location in Maps. This feature will likely only work in the US and Canada at first.
The BlackBerry Maps app has also been updated to include almost every city. This is great considering geotagging will be available with pictures so you can show all your friends that trip to rural America.
General Notes
Here is a quick breakdown of more features you will see with OS 5:
- Users will be able to set their default download folder, wallpaper, theme and reset the icon layout of a theme to its default layout from “Homescreen Preferences”
- Holding the Menu key will bring up Application Switcher as it currently does on the Storm/newer Bold OS builds/etc
- When an item is highlighted in a menu setting, hitting the Menu key will select it as it currently does on the Storm
- If the device is running low on memory, a message will pop up that not only informs the user of the low memory buy also recommends rarely used apps for deletion
- Users can decide if they want to have sounds when the device is booting up, shutting off, plugged in to charge, unplugged from charging, when the battery is full and when the battery is kaput
- Users can now individually encrypt email PIN messages. All that is needed is for the sender and receiver to know the encryption password which is done via S/MIME
- Storm users will be able to get the full-QWERTY keyboard in portrait mode.
We’re looking forward to the official announcement and hopefully this keeps you informed until then.
[Via]
