BlackBerry Chief Executive Officer Thornsten Heins headed a meeting to the press Sept. 25 in San Jose, California, during which he claimed that BlackBerry 10 will renew the influence BlackBerry wielded over the previous decade.

"We recognize the need for change. There is a new energy and a lot of fighting spirit at RIM," Heins said. BlackBerry 10 represents a reboot for the operating system and company; BlackBerry versions 8 and 9 are being skipped altogether.

Heins announced that apps can be submitted for the platform from Oct. 10, and Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare are building services into the platform. Data revealing that iOS sees over 700 apps submitted per day, and 700,000 apps in total, eclipses BlackBerry's current total of 105,000.

Courting developers, RIM launched a music video describing the company's "hard times." While the video drew laughs at the conference, according to Associated Press, media reaction has been negative thus far. The feeling among some is that RIM may not know how to compete with the leaders in the market, namely Google and Apple.

"We are committed to making BlackBerry 10 an inflection point in mobile computing," Heins remarked.

One feature of BlackBerry 10 is that running apps are represented in thumbnails, rather than through cards, or a multitasking 'tray' like in iOS. BlackBerry Balance also allows consumers to switch between a professional and personal set of applications. This is similar to having profiles in feature phones.

RIM and Heins appealed to the enterprise crowd with more security features, improved calendar management, and "more ways to connect with other workers," according to Associated Press. Despite RIM's lagging fortunes, it seems to be holding onto enterprise users and consumers relying on unique services like BlackBerry Messenger.

"We are convinced this platform will shape the next 10 years as profoundly and positive as BlackBerry shared this week," Heins also said. Ultimately, consumers will decide if RIM's claims prove true.

BlackBerry 10 releases in the first quarter of 2013; Heins revealed on Sept. 25 that the devices will sell in the first three months. The difficulty for RIM may be that consumers will be tied into 18- and 24-month contracts with other newly-released smartphones before RIM launches the devices.