(CNN) -- The makers of BlackBerry devices, Research in Motion, are gearing up for a fight they can't afford to lose. On Wednesday at a press event in New York, the company will finally unveil its new smartphone operating system, BlackBerry 10, and a pair of new handsets -- one with a physical keyboard and another that's all touchscreen. But are there enough BlackBerry fans left out there to embrace a new kind of smartphone from a company that has fallen woefully behind the competition, both in sales and innovation? Many BlackBerry users in the United States are stuck with the device because it is issued by their employer, which has led to a cumbersome trend of people carrying two devices: a work phone and a personal one.
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New BlackBerry 10 operating system being unveiled at RIM event Wednesday
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The company must appease its corporate base while winning over Android and iOS users
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This could be the company's last opportunity to cling to its No. 3 spot in the smartphone market
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It's a different world now than when the first waffle-shaped @placeholder caught on in the early to mid-2000s.
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Eventually the the new school of touchscreen smartphones won out, thanks to powerful features the @placeholder couldn't touch, such as stocked app stores, stunning games and full Internet browsers.
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App selection is another key area that @placeholder must address.
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However, many big developers will likely wait to see the initial reaction to @placeholder before sinking money into creating apps for the new system.
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RIM will have to convince existing users that @placeholder and its new phones are worth sticking around for, but those last vestiges of BlackBerry's fan base probably won't be enough to keep the company afloat.
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RIM will have to convince existing users that BlackBerry 10 and its new phones are worth sticking around for, but those last vestiges of @placeholder's fan base probably won't be enough to keep the company afloat.