RIM unveils long-awaited BlackBerrys

Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled new, versatile BlackBerrys after excruciating delays allowed Apple, Samsung and others to build commanding leads in an industry that is redefining society. But the first phone won't come out in the United States until March, and one with a physical keyboard will take at least a month longer.

The stock fell 12.01 percent after Wednesday's kickoff, despite mostly positive reviews about the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. There's concern the phone isn't coming out sooner, and there's worry BlackBerry 10's advances won't be enough to turn the company around.

In a move underscoring the stakes riding on its make-or-break product lineup, RIM used the occasion to announce that it is changing the company's name to BlackBerry. It's a pioneering brand that lost its cachet not long after Apple's 2007 release of the iPhone, which reset expectations for what a smartphone should do.

As rivals came out with a new generation of phones that could do more than just email and messaging, RIM promised a new system to catch up. But it has taken more than two years to unveil new phones that are redesigned for the new multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers are now demanding.

CEO Thorsten Heins, who a year ago replaced longtime executives who had presided over BlackBerry's fall, formally unveiled the smartphones and software Wednesday in Manhattan.

The first device in the new crop of revamped BlackBerrys will be the Z10, with only a touch-screen keyboard. Although the Z10 will go on sale Thursday in the United Kingdom and next Tuesday in Canada, it won't be available in the United States until March.

The Q10 will follow and will have a physical keyboard, a feature that has kept BlackBerry users loyal over the years because it makes typing easier. RIM said the Q10 will go on sale on some global carriers in April, but it couldn't say when U.S. carriers will have it.