BlackBerry OS

BlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system developed by Canadian company BlackBerry Limited for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices. The operating system provides multitasking and supports specialized input devices that have been adopted by BlackBerry for use in its handhelds, particularly the trackwheel, trackball, and most recently, the trackpad and touchscreen.
The BlackBerry platform natively supports corporate email, through Java Micro Edition MIDP 1.0 and, more recently, a subset of MIDP 2.0, which allows complete wireless activation and synchronization with Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise email, calendar, tasks, notes and contacts, when used with BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The operating system also supports WAP 1.2.
Updates to the operating system may be automatically available from wireless carriers that support the BlackBerry over the air software loading (OTASL) service.
Third-party developers can write software using the available BlackBerry API classes, although applications that make use of certain functionality must be digitally signed.
Research from June 2011, indicated that approximately 45% of mobile developers were using the platform at the time of publication.
BlackBerry OS was discontinued after the release of BlackBerry 10 in January 2013; however, support for the older OS continued until the end of 2013.
Release history.
BlackBerry 9720.
The BlackBerry 9720 runs a version of BlackBerry OS 7.1 with updates to the user interface that mimics the BlackBerry 10, this includes a new lock screen, redesigned Application Switcher, Music, Pictures, Videos and Phone apps.
Availability.
While BlackBerry Limited develops and releases updated versions of its operating system to support each device, it is up to the individual carriers to decide if and when a version is released to its users.
BlackBerry fonts.
The following is a list of fonts that were included in some versions of BlackBerry (note: some of them were not included in older versions):
BBAlphaSans and BBAlphaSerif are based on the free software DejaVu fonts.
BlackBerry Tablet OS.
On September 27, 2010, BlackBerry Ltd. announced a new unrelated QNX-based platform, BlackBerry Tablet OS, to run on its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer.