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What: Shares of Research In Motion (BB 1.79%) have gotten crushed today, down by 11% at the low, after the company unveiled its new BlackBerry 10 operating system platform.
So what: The launch of BB10 has been years in the making, and CEO Thorsten Heins showed off two new devices at a special event in New York. The Z10 is the flagship model that is built entirely around a touch interface, while the Q10 is similar to previous BlackBerrys with a hardware keyboard. The entire company is riding on the success of BB10.
Now what: The biggest negative surprise for investors today was that neither device will launch in the significant U.S. market for at least two more months. The Z10 is expected to see a stateside launch in March after U.S. carriers complete testing, while the device will be available within a week in the U.K. and Canada. The Q10 should arrive shortly later in April. Investors have expressed optimism in recent months, with shares nearly tripling from lows lately, but are disappointed that the pair of smartphones are not ready for the U.S. market yet.
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