RIM: BlackBerry Enterprise Server will support all devices; we goofed

Earlier today, I wrote that Research in Motion is developing a new version of its BlackBerry Enterprise Server offering because its older version is incompatible with the next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform. This was based on a BGR report that was circulated earlier in the day.

Half right, but also half wrong. We goofed, and we're sorry.

Here's the deal. 

A RIM spokesperson got in touch later today to say that the smartphone maker is working on "developing BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) 10," which will "support existing BlackBerry devices, including the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and new devices running on the BlackBerry 10 platform."

They added:

BES 10 will be the ultimate management solution for all BlackBerry platform devices, as well as iOS and Android devices. BES 10 will launch simultaneously with the first BlackBerry 10 devices in [the first quarter of 2013].

RIM will also provide an upgrade to BES 10 for existing BES customers, so enterprises will have the most up-to-date offerings to manage their users.

One of the concerns with the original report was the suggestion that enterprises would require two servers -- one new, and one legacy -- to support newer BlackBerry 10 devices, and legacy BlackBerry 7 and earlier devices. As RIM made clear later today, that's not the case at all. 

Here's the old post so you can perform your own post-mortem. Thanks to all the comments in the original piece that pointed out the error. It's a credit to the ZDNet community that we're blessed with expert readers from all areas, platforms and environments that can point out when we get something wrong.