A short history of the BlackBerry: gallery

As Research In Motion (RIM) prepares to lift the lid on BlackBerry 10, we look back on the varied history of the BlackBerry device.

On Wednesday, a little more than a year since CEO Thorsten Heins took over from Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, RIM is set to unveil its long-awaited BlackBerry 10 OS at a media event in New York.

The announcement is welcome news for loyal BlackBerry fans who've long bore the brunt of jokes from iOS and Android users. Yet, it's also good news for the smartphone industry as a whole. RIM, after all, played a leading role in creating the smartphone and the QWERTY keyboard. It produced more than its share of groundbreaking and influential devices, so even if it's just for competition's sake, I'm eager to see whether the company can reinvent itself. But while we're waiting, let's take a look back at a decade of BlackBerry devices. We'll skip the pagers, but what follows is a sampling of the company's handset successes and duds. So join us for a bit of BlackBerry picking.

(Credit: Jessica Delacourt/CNET)

Meet the new crew

As we wait to see what RIM unveils formally for BB10, let's look back at the history of the BlackBerry device.
(Credit: RIM)

BlackBerry 5810

The very first BlackBerry device with a phone, the boxy 5810, wasn't a looker even at the time. Sure, you got enterprise email support, text messaging and a WAP browser, but without an integrated microphone or speaker, you had to attach a headset to make calls. Needless to say, that was a drawback.

Released: 2002
(Credit: RIM)

BlackBerry 6210

Thankfully, the 6210 put the microphone and speaker inside the device. The new hardware style eventually continued through a series of models that came both in blue (as pictured here) and basic black, though a colour display was still a few months off. These early devices also popularised the nifty scroll wheel.

Released: 2003
(Credit: RIM)

BlackBerry 6510

Coming a few months before the 6210, the 6510 was the first BlackBerry to run on a network other than GSM. Naturally, with its iDEN support and push-to-talk features, this device ended up at Nextel (still three years from its merger with Sprint). All early Nextel BlackBerry handsets featured the stubby external antenna.

Released: 2003
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry 7210

The design remained about the same, but AT&T Wireless' 7210 and T-Mobile's 7230 were the first BlackBerry handsets with colour displays. And at the time, the 240x160-pixel, 65,000-colour screens were considered high resolution. The 7210 and 7230 lacked a speakerphone, but they won CNET's Editors' Choice Award.

Released: 2003
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry 7750

One of the earliest CDMA models, the 7750, eventually landed at Sprint and Verizon Wireless. It had the same basic design as the earlier models, though it was taller and a bit narrower.

Released: 2004
(Credit: RIM)

BlackBerry 7270

A curious device by any measure, the 7270 supported only Wi-Fi networks.

Released: 2004
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry 7100t

The 7100t broke new ground by offering a slimmer design and the 20-button SureType keyboard. Later models in the series were the first devices to support 3G out of the box. Yet, we still didn't get up-and-coming features like Bluetooth. Instead, that feature would come later the same year with the BlackBerry 7290.

Released: 2004
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Pearl 8100

After first broadening its reach beyond from the corporate market with the 8700, RIM went after the average consumer again with the Pearl 8100. In addition to the smaller design and the SureType keyboard, it was the first BlackBerry with an integrated camera, video and music playback and expandable media. Wi-Fi, however, was not an option and a trackball (hence the Pearl name) replaced the popular track wheel.

Released: 2006
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Curve 8300

The "smallest and lightest" full-QWERTY BlackBerry yet, the 8300 also started the Curve series. We got a few new features, such as a refined spell checker for email and memos and audio technology that automatically adjusts call volume in noisy environments.

Released: 2007
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry 8800

The trackball migrated to a QWERTY handset and the design continued its evolution to what we see today. It didn't have 3G or Wi-Fi, but the feature set was plentiful just the same.

Released: 2007
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Flip 8220

The display was brilliant, the interface was new, and the camera resolution was increased to 2 megapixels, but the biggest story here was the flip design.

Released: 2008
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Bold 9000

It was called the Bold for good reason, as the 9000 offered a brilliant half-VGA display and an updated OS. The design was sleek, the back cover had a soft-touch texture, and the multimedia performance was excellent.

Released: 2008
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Storm

As the first touchscreen BlackBerry device, the Storm marked the biggest change from RIM in years. Excitement was palpable when it debuted with Verizon Wireless, but the SurePress technology proved to be clunky and the virtual keyboard was cramped. It was sluggish as well, and call quality was uneven.

Released: 2008
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Storm 2

Fortunately, RIM offered improvements on the Storm 2. Though still not perfect, the SurePress interface was more precise, with key rollover and limited multi-touch capabilities. It also added Wi-Fi, more memory and an updated operating system.

Released: 2009
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Torch 9800

The design got yet another makeover with a touchscreen, a physical keyboard and a slider design. What's more, the Torch was the first device with the new BlackBerry OS 6, which brought a better user interface, universal search and an improved browser and multimedia experience.

Released: 2010
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Style

RIM went back to a flip-phone design, but kept the full QWERTY keyboard. It also had a new WebKit browser and BlackBerry OS 6.

Released: 2010
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Playbook

Born to much fanfare and high expectations, the PlayBook was RIM's first attempt at a tablet. The operating system was smooth, pretty and efficient, but the device was hampered by its small display and frustrating controls. And, even worse, some stalwart features were available only when pairing it with a BlackBerry phone.

Released: 2011
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry 9900/9930

One of three OS 7 devices introduced in August 2010, the 9900/9930 combined the signature keyboard with a touchscreen. It had pinch-to-zoom touch gestures, decent graphics and media features and a 1.2GHz processor. What's more, RIM positioned it as the thinnest (0.41 inches thick) BlackBerry to date.

Released: 2011
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860

It was back to a full touchscreen after the uneven fortunes of the Storm and Storm 2. Fortunately, this was a better effort. Besides OS 7, features included a 3.7-inch display (the largest yet on a BlackBerry), a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture and a 1.2GHz processor.

Released: 2011
(Credit: CNET)

BlackBerry 9370

Though not quite as refined as the previous BlackBerry 7 OS devices, the 9370 sported near-field communication (NFC) and a 5-megapixel camera.

Released: 2012

Via CNET.com