Next Generation of BlackBerry Smartphones to Play Android Apps

After a rocky summer, Research in Motion appears to be righting the ship. And consumers will have one big surprise with the release of new smart phones: some of the devices will play Android apps. But there’s a catch: the new smart phones won’t hit the market until 2012.

Running on a new operating system, called QNX, the devices are the result of a partnership with Google. The collaboration gives BlackBerry users access to some 250,000 Android apps. The new version of BlackBerry’s mobile OS is a “radical overhaul” of the BlackBerry interface, says TG Daily’s Raven Lovecraft.

Still, for analysts and critics, there remains one question: Will this be enough to help RIM keep pace with the rest of the mobile market?

Samsung Unveils ChatON Service

Samsung has announced that it will be rolling out a new messaging service that will allow users to chat across multiple devices, reports SlashGear. ChatON, which will compete with iMessage on iOS 5 and the BlackBerry Messenger service, supports photos, video, voice messaging, location, contact sharing, calendar, and other multimedia content.

The company says the service will be supported on all major platforms including tablets, feature phones, personal computers, and Bada, Samsung’s smartphone platform.

ChatON will support group chat, direct linking between specific friends, and will have an interaction rank that prioritizes users based on how often they interact with you. It also stores files and content to share with others and lets you communicate with contacts using animated messages.