BlackBerry CEO says Apple's iPhone is old news

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins believes that Apple's iPhone is about to be old news. According to the Financial Review, Heins said the "rapidly advancing global smartphone market has left Apple's iPhone in its wake." He reportedly predicted that BlackBerry will have some 100,000 native apps up for grabs as part of its big U.S. launch, slated for later this week. 

Heins apparently thinks that BlackBerry 10, along with other non-iOS devices like Android-based smartphones, are enough to make Apple's iPhone more of an afterthought, as opposed to a prime choice. The BlackBerry CEO went on to reflect on the company's latest moves.

"He said BlackBerry was making early strides in encouraging users to switch from other mobile platforms to its own, that a follow up to its commercially unsuccessful PlayBook tablet was a long way off and that developers of big name apps like Instagram and Netflix were being won over by the reaction to its new BlackBerry 10 (BB10) operating system," the Financial Review reported. 

And then Heins managed to simultaneously praise and slam Apple in one shot when he said this:

"Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market ... They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that. History repeats itself again I guess ... the rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don't innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about is now five years old."

According to Heins, BlackBerry already trumps Apple's iPhone when it comes to multitasking capabilities (not that our brains are capable of handling that, anyway). While the BlackBerry 10 isn't looking too shabby, it's still going to need a lot more love if it truly hopes to compete with the top dogs in the mobile market. Simply slamming Apple's iPhone won't do the trick. BlackBerry will also have to keep up with the likes of popular Android-based rivals like Samsung's Galaxy lineup, including the recently unveiled Galaxy S4. Apple is also expected to release an iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 later this year.