What is BlackBerry OS?

BlackBerry OS 5 (on a BlackBerry Bold 9000)

BlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system, developed by Research In Motion for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices. The operating system provides multitasking and supports specialized input devices that have been adopted by RIM for use in its handhelds, particularly the trackwheel, trackball, and most recently, the trackpad and touchscreen.

Updates to the operating system may be automatically available from wireless carriers that support the BlackBerry OTASL (over the air software loading) service.

Third-party developers can write software using the available BlackBerry API (application programming interface) classes, although applications that make use of certain functionality must be digitally signed.

While RIM 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. On April 2010 RIM announced the new BlackBerry OS 6.0 version, which was released in the 3rd quarter 2010.