BlackBerry employees counting down to the official launch of the BlackBerry 10 devices.
It’s been a long time coming but finally, the day of the BlackBerry 10 devices have arrived. Now, RIM’s (now renamed as BlackBerry to avoid confusion) BB10 devices and the new OS has been an open secret for quite a while now and has been quoted to be the crux to BlackBerry’s revival in a day and age saturated with Android and iOS devices.
The OS is no stranger to coverage on our website of course – back in December last year, we took a good look at BB10 during BlackBerry Jam Asia 2012. The OS strives to conform to a natural experience and hence, all physical navigation buttons have been stripped down, resulting in a gesture-heavy experience. To meet the current needs of a constantly-evolving smartphone climate, emphasis has also been placed on creating a visually-pleasing user interface, a major shift from its traditionally text-heavy UI.
The Hub – the hive of activity on BB10. BlackBerry Hub is essentially what the People
Hub is to the Windows Phone 8 platform. In here, you get all your connections in
one place, be it your emails, contacts, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
We have mentioned it before but the BB10 experience is all about three keywords, flow, peek and hub. In a nutshell, content should “flow” continuously with users always able to “peek” at ongoing activity and notifications, without users having to go back and fro -; important information is, literally, at your fingertips in one central “hub”. Here’s a recap:
The BlackBerry 10 announcement has shown that what we first saw last year remains mostly unchanged, with a few updates on the current BB10 situation. For one, over 70,000 apps are available for BB10 OS right now, including popular apps like WhatsApp, Angry Birds and Skype. The new BlackBerry World app store will complement the growing pool of apps with the ability for users to purchase movies, music and other digital content. Eight major movie studios and music labels will be providing content in the BlackBerry World at launch.
In a bid to extend its diminishing stronghold on entreprise services, BlackBerry 10 comes with BlackBerry
Balance, a feature that allows you to switch from personal to work profile with a single swipe.
Demonstrating BlackBerry ScreenShare, a feature which allows you to share your screen
with the person you are calling/video chatting via BBM.
The introduction of BlackBerry-flavored apps/features have also been added to the lineup, including BlackBerry ScreenShare, which allows you to share your screen with the person you are calling via BBM; BlackBerry Remember, a note-taking app that’s similar to Evernote and is integrated with your Evernote account; and BlackBerry StoryMaker, an app that allows you to create full-fledged slideshows with music, photos and videos. Of course, the new BBM, as its beta has already revealed, will allow users to voice as well as video chat with other BlackBerry owners for free over Wi-Fi.
Unveiling Of BlackBerry Z10 & Q10
BlackBerry Z10 and its Q10 QWERTY-equipped counterpart.
The flagship BlackBerry Z10 will be a full LTE-enabled touchscreen phone that will be offered in both black and white. While it comes with a dual-core processor, it stands pretty on par with the rest of the Android and iOS offerings, as you can see from below. The device will come onboard with 16GB of internal storage and the option to expand it via a MicroSD slot.
There’s no specific dates on local availability and pricing but BlackBerry has mentioned that by the end of February, BlackBerry will be completing Z10 lab testing with 110 carriers worldwide, Singapore included. Interested buyers living in UK are luckier – selected retailers will be selling the Z10 from tomorrow onwards. Pricing will vary from region to region, but to give a rough gauge of what to expect, price-wise, the Z10 willcost around $149.99 with a three-year contract in Canada and $199.99 on a two-year contract on Verizon in US.
Less information has been revealed about the LTE-enabled Q10 (previously known as the N Series and the X10), and much from what we already know were reiterated during the event, including emphasis on its familiar QWERTY keyboard and 3.1-inch, 720 x 720 display. The device will also be running on BlackBerry 10 of course, and will offer an identical software experience like its Z10 counterpart.
At this point in time, no specific pricing or availability has been revealed but the phone is set for a later retail date somewhere in April around the world.
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