RIM sees Active Frames multitasking feature as one of BlackBerry 10′s difference makers

[Corey]

So RIM (RIMM) is showing off some of its BlackBerry 10 features at CTIA’s MobileCon this week and VentureBeat reports that the company is banking on its new Active Frames feature as a key differentiator that will set it apart from rival devices. The concept behind Active Frames is pretty simply: No one likes minimizing apps on their smartphones and then flipping through different screens to open up new ones. So Active Frames creates a series of minimized windows on users’ screens that show them all the apps they’re currently running, and it lets them easily flip through them without having to return to a central home screen and clicking on separate icons.

“What we’re trying to do is streamline [the multitasking] process, break down the silos that exist between a lot of those applications … and introduce a new flow to the whole user experience paradigm,” Jeff Gadway, RIM’s senior manager of brand and marketing communications, told VentureBeat. “That’s something we’re confident is going to set us apart… It’s all about trying to put information that you’re going to need at your fingertips so you don’t have to go looking for it.”

All of which sounds terrific, but VentureBeat notes that this feature won’t be a game-changer if RIM can’t get support for key apps such as Instagram on its new smartphones right off the bat. Gadway told VentureBeat not to worry, however, because 99% of developers who have been given developer prototypes “have indicated that they’ve started work building for BlackBerry 10.”

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