Critics be damned, the BlackBerry Z10 is a knockout

BlackBerry takes a risk with its latest smartphone design, and breaks some understood conventions of the typical mobile device.

BlackBerry is, and will probably continue to be, a polarizing name in the mobile industry. After a long run as the darling of the business world, BlackBerry became everyone’s favorite punching bag in 2012. Once a status symbol, owning a BlackBerry device like the Bold or Curve is now a source of embarrassment. Those QWERTY devices were stunners though, compared to the so-bad-it-was-offensive BlackBerry Storm or the garish Torch – Frankenstein’s monster of smartphones. But 2013 brings with it a new start for BlackBerry with brand new hardware and a reconstructed operating system, both with a renewed focus on attractive and functional design.

The Hardware

Early reviews have pegged it as bland or boring, but the critics are wrong. The Z10 is a knockout. It looks like it’s been pulled straight out of a science fiction flick. The edge-to-edge screen makes it look positively futuristic while its top competition, the iPhone 5, looks like a half-hearted update to a three-year-old design.

Let’s get down to specifics. BlackBerry has learned from its mistakes. The company has discarded its past love of chrome accents and leather and stripped the Z10 of excess details. By minimalizing the casing, and making it only visible on the top and bottom of the display, it makes the screen even more of a focus as the center of the device. The Z10 is all about the display and BlackBerry captured this truth very well, putting the emphasis where it belongs.

The design is understated, yes, and that’s probably why so many people may find it boring. But it isn’t dull; it is practical, utilitarian, and quite comfortable. There are no bells and whistles, no blinking lights, and no capacitive buttons ever-present at the bottom. The casing reaches down from the top and up from the bottom only to hold the screen together. The back is unadorned, only broken by the iconic BlackBerry logo. It is what a smartphone should look like, no useless embellishments for the sake of “design,” but instead a device meant to handle your virtual life.

This approach to design is refreshing. To compare it to bigger players out there, Nokia’s Lumia 920 puts huge emphasis on hardware flourishes that can be distracting. The 920 is bulky and features a heavily promoted camera. It is difficult to interact with the device without being distracted by its physical features. It is the same with cheaper-feeling devices like the Galaxy S3 with its plastic body detracting from the software experience, a glossy exterior that shines with greasy fingerprints.

We refuse to praise the Q10 with attached keyboard because it is more of the same from the company and feels like a compulsory device rather than an exciting one. We will say that the Q10 is a welcome update to the once-great BlackBerry Bold, but it’s no more than a slicker version of what has come before. Just download SwiftKey and be done with it already.

The Software

Never in a million billion years would we have expected to be impressed with BlackBerry 10 enough to mention it in an article applauding design. But the Canadian smartphone-maker has done something new here, pushing the reliance on touch gestures for navigation to a whole new level while challenging some conventions in the industry.

For starters, the homescreen for BB10 is a 4×4 grid of your recent apps, breaking from the tradition of first showing users a list of installed apps. Touch an app to open it up and swipe up from the bottom to return home – there is no main button to do that for you. And there doesn’t need to be. From the recent apps, you can swipe from the left or right to access different functions. Swipe to the right and you’ll see the expected, seemingly unavoidable, app grid with all of the apps you’ve downloaded from BlackBerry World, which already has 70,000 apps on it. Swipe to the left and you’ll find the Hub, BlackBerry’s answer to the notification center, and it does the job well. The Hub keeps a time-sensitive list of actions you’ve performed, pulling in BBM, text messaging, email, Twitter, etc., to catch you up. A context menu, usually depicting quick settings, can be pulled down from the top of the screen. There is also an interesting, though gimmicky, feature called Peek that literally lets you glance at what you were doing previously.

The touch-centric user interface is how we’ve always wanted smartphones to work. Using capacitive buttons is cheap, buying into archaic remnants of a time when fingers and screens hadn’t met yet. Reaching the homescreen by flicking upwards is a succinct gesture that also reflects a real world action like you are tossing the app off the screen or pushing it off your virtual desk. The remaining gestures are equally simple, reminiscent of Windows 8, with swipes from each edge of the screen doing something specific. Questions of stability and speed aside, BB 10 has implemented compelling work here.

Of course, we still haven’t done a full review – but that doesn’t change the solid ideas being presented. Whether or not BB10 succeeds in revamping the dying brand, we can’t say BlackBerry didn’t give it 100 percent. The BlackBerry Z10 is gorgeous and a bold (not “Bold”) step forward for the company now known simply as BlackBerry.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/blackberry-z10-is-a-knockout/

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It could be too late for BlackBerry 10

RIM is dead, long live BlackBerry – but it faces an almost impossible task to win over smartphone users.

It's fashionable for technology journalists to criticise BlackBerry no matter what it does; actually, non market-leading company that has the audacity to tell the world it actually can make a success of its new product. Nokia was, and to a degree, still is the master at this trick (LOOK! You can use it with gloves! It's the future!) and there was something almost apologetic about CEO Thorsten Heins taking to the stage to announce something that's already been shown off many times around the world.

• BlackBerry Z10 review

The only vague surprise actually came from the handsets, but even those had been leaked for months – so we were subjected to slightly awkward asides from Heins while Vivek Bardwaj smoothly showed off a number of features most of the audience had already seen.

But it's important not to be an armchair critic with things like this – let's look at BB10 without the years of increasing failure to innovate RIM has forced us to endure. It is a new company after all.

If you lined up all the main mobile operating systems, you'd argue there are four areas of innovation that the others don't have: BlackBerry Hub, Peek, stronger multitasking and Balance.

The Hub is the unified inbox of old but with a more prevalent nature: the ability to see all your notifications with a 'simple' up and right swipe (which actually can be a little hard to activate each time with accuracy). It's a nifty feature though, although one that Android Jelly Bean has eclipsed with even greater info.

But BlackBerry Balance is the area that the company can build the most differentiation, there's no doubt about that. Bring your own device (BYOD) is becoming enormously popular with staff that were once forced to carry a BlackBerry to get the security their company demanded, and was partly the reason that the company began to fall in the first place as the iPhone or Android devices became so strongly requested.

So the Balance is the ultimate way to achieve this: all the info and apps you want, and all the safety and security in a separate partition to stop your IT department losing sleep - although many will have to upgrade systems to use it. It's an excellent addition, although Windows Phone offers the full Office suite on the go, which is something that a lot of workers are relishing at the moment.

But… well, that's it, and once you see past that smaller demographic of BYOD-ers you get to the crux of the problem BlackBerry is facing: convincing the person on the street who just wants the best smartphone that a BB is the one for them.

The keys on the Q10 will help. Users still love keys. But the user who might want an iPhone, or might want a Samsung Galaxy because they've heard that's a 'good' phone to have – what would pull them toward BlackBerry? Fancy gestures? Average-looking hardware and specs?

And let's not forget a massively understocked app store compared to the rivals – these are the things that matter to consumers. And the price isn't cheap either, which makes buying a BlackBerry phone another tricky sell.

Speaking to Andrew Bocking, Senior VP software product management for RIM, he gave a very vague sense of the user the company was looking at: "We're building for the very connected, the very socially aware, those that are very communication driven; they're focused on getting things done, they're doers, acters, closers."

You can read between the marketing lines here: BlackBerry is looking for the user that wants an organised life, information on the go, but a decent smartphone experience too, and there's no doubt that with BB10 BlackBerry has delivered on that aim. It's clear to see that the new range is among the best integrated on the market.

But the rivals have pretty much offered that already; the iPhone or most top Android phones are more than capable of keeping your life in check and have the added advantage of apps and a mature ecosystem to boot.

Add to that the lack of a budget BB10 handset at launch, and BlackBerry has alienated another massive part of the market (although Bocking tells us to 'sit tight, you'll see it' on that area) – BBM flourished in the PAYG markets, but some research points a decline in use for the once-dominant app so by the time budget BB10 appears, the likes of iMessage might have sucked users away.

In short, BB10 is a decent enough product that doesn't add enough to impress the smartphone buyer on the street. The new phones don't ooze a premium feel or instil gadget lust, and while the gestures are cool they will perhaps put off many as well who want a simple experience.

And the price is simply too high to start, something BlackBerry has traditionally already struggled with. RIM talks a lot about the loyal BlackBerry fanbase, but it lost a lot of that loyalty with the massive outages of recent years, and just changing the name isn't going to make that all better overnight.

Users need trust in a system – it's surprising that BlackBerry didn't make more of the fact the new OS would help massively reduce the chances of outages.

What if Apple made BlackBerry?

Before some screech that we're just bashing BlackBerry, consider the platform in a vacuum. If BlackBerry 10 was unveiled by Apple as the new iOS, we would have scratched our heads that such a design-led company had created a more workman-like OS.

If it was done by Samsung as an overlay to Android, we'd urge it to bring back the more simple TouchWiz, as we don't need the extra gestures or work and play modes. And if Nokia did it – well, it would probably get as much development as MeeGo, the most underloved OS of all.

We're not saying BlackBerry has no chance – it just has to find a way to make a dent in a market that's dominated by Apple and Android, to the tune of 92 percent – but as Bocking said: "We're not entering the [smartphone] market, we're already in it, so we don't have to crack the congested space."

BB10 is good. It's slick and performs well. It just doesn't seem to offer a game-changing experience or a reason for consumers to ditch their incumbent device, nor does it do so at a decent price point. The embarrassment of Stephen Bates' appearance on British TV and radio served to highlight that the company was desperate to talk about how it was changing but missed the crucial element of admitting it had made mistakes in the first place.

If we're lamenting the death of BB in a year's time, it will be a huge shame as a market with innovation is one to cherish – but if it does happen, it will be because the much-needed redesign came just too late.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/it-could-be-too-late-for-blackberry-10-1128496

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Everything you need to know about BlackBerry 10 and its devices

BlackBerry 10 OS was fully unveiled today along with the Z10 and Q10 phones that will run it. To help you sort out all the details, we’ve gathered the pertinent facts together in one, handy place. If you need to know about BB 10, this is your place.

Research in Motion has announced the release of BlackBerry 10 and two smartphones, the Z10 and Q10 during a live streamed, global event. There has been a lot of information released today, so here’s our quick guide covering all you need to know about BlackBerry 10.

It’s not RIM anymore, it’s just BlackBerry

BlackBerry 10 isn’t just a re-invention of an operating system. To show its commitment to change, Research in Motion (RIM) has changed its name. Now, RIM is officially known as “BlackBerry.” Using the tagline, “One brand, one promise,” CEO Thorsten Heins said, “We have transformed ourselves in and out.” That’s quite a promise, so does BlackBerry 10 live up to its introduction?

BlackBerry Z10

You may feel as if you already know the Z10, as it has been leaked so extensively. This is BlackBerry’s full touch phone and it boasts a 4.2-inch touchscreen with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 16GB of internal memory and an 8-megapixel camera. It also has 2GB of RAM, a microSD card slot, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. At 9.3mm thick it’s not the slimmest smartphone available, and at 138 grams it’s not the lightest either. See how the Z10 compares to the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 here.

The Z10 is compatible with 4G LTE networks all over the world, and will be offered in black and white color schemes, although the latter will be exclusive to Verizon in the U.S. and Phones4U in the UK.

Read our full hands-on impressions of the BlackBerry Z10.

BlackBerry Q10

RIM (or “BlackBerry”) couldn’t get away with ditching the traditional QWERTY BlackBerry phone, which according to Thorsten Heins, was a must-have piece of hardware for the firm. Not much is known about the technical specification of the phone yet, only that it has a 3.1-inch touchscreen, a 720 x 720 pixel resolution and a glass-weave back panel, which is supposedly lighter and stronger than plastic. Early reports indicate the Q10 shares the same dual-core, 1.5GHz processor and 2GB of RAM as the Z10. Unlike the Z10, its availability hasn’t been announced; however, during the Q&A session after the BB 10 launch event ended, it was revealed the U.S. should see the phone in April. See how the Q10 compares to older BB phones here.

Read our full hands-on impressions of the BlackBerry Q10.

BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry 10 the software is what BlackBerry the firm is pinning its future hopes on, and like the Z10, it has been previewed, tested and leaked until there was almost nothing left to reveal at the launch event. However, it was good to see it up and running in its final version on stage and the smooth, gesture controlled user interface is sure to have won it many fans.

The new operating system promises an excellent keyboard, a super-fast web browser, easy one-thumb controls, the ability to keep your work phone and personal phone separate on the same device using Balance, plus 70,000 applications, plus movies and music available inside the BlackBerry World store at launch.

In addition to all this, we were treated to a demonstration of BBM Video, where a BlackBerry Messenger conversation was instantly turned into a video call, plus the a screen sharing session showed BBM Video’s versatility. BlackBerry Remember, an all-encompassing personal organizer was shown, as was the camera’s clever time-shift feature. BlackBerry 10 will operate in exactly the same way on both the Z10 and the Q10 and there will be no difference in features either.

The Competition

Despite BlackBerry not acknowledging the iPhone exists, it does and it’s very much BB 10’s competition, as is every top-end Android smartphone from the Samsung Galaxy S3 to the HTC One X+. What’s more, BlackBerry has said it will be updating BB 10 hardware every 12 to 15 months, so the phones we’ve seen today will be with us until at least this time next year.

Under normal circumstances, this isn’t a big problem, but in-between now and then we’re almost certainly going to get a new iPhone, the Galaxy S4 and the new HTC M7, plus new Windows Phones. The same can be said on the software front, as Android 5.0 and iOS 7 are on the cards for later in 2013. BlackBerry 10 needs to be very good indeed if it’s to stay fresh in amongst all this new hardware.

If anyone should be looking over their shoulders it’s Microsoft, as BlackBerry 10’s ability to appeal to both business and personal users – through features like Balance – could be the level of versatility needed to attract those who don’t want to get involved with Apple or Google.

BlackBerry’s understated Q10 could be its a dark horse, a device which really doesn’t have any competition, as the QWERTY Android phones that do exist aren’t worth buying. If the firm is right, and there really is still demand for this form factor, the Q10 could be a winner for BlackBerry.

Should you put your money down?

This is a tough one, as BlackBerry 10 is completely new and comes from a manufacturer that despite appearances, is still on the brink of having to sell off parts of the business to survive. Hardcore BlackBerry fans won’t care though, and those wanting something different should take a look.

Potential buyers in the U.S. won’t need to make a decision yet, as the phones are still at least a month away from going on sale. It’s a different story in Canada and the UK, as they’ll both get to buy the BlackBerry Z10 over the coming week. UK network O2 is offering a slightly reduced tariff on the Z10 for the first two weeks – from £42 per month down to £36 – making it a good choice. In Canada, Telus, Bell, and Virgin are all pushing the Z10 for $150 with a frightening three-year contract, which could have the unfortunate effect of prompting anyone wavering to look elsewhere.

Adopting BlackBerry 10 at this early stage is more of a risk than choosing Android or iOS as your mobile ecosystem, but could be seen as comparable to adopting Windows Phone. More than any before it, BlackBerry 10 is a try-before-you-buy OS, but there’s a good chance it could turn out to be what you’re after. Exactly how many people will think this way remains the big question.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/blackberry-10-the-z10-and-the-q10-what-you-need-to-know/

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Hands on: BlackBerry Q10 review

The BlackBerry Q10 is the second handset to come running the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, but it's the first to offer a physical QWERTY keyboard alongside.

Although it was announced alongside the flagship, fully touchscreen BlackBerry Z10 the Q10 won't go on sale at the same time.

BlackBerry told TechRadar that the BlackBerry Q10 will arrive six to eight weeks after the Z10 hits stores as the Canadian firm wants to concentrate its efforts initially on the handset which will have the widest appeal.

Indeed the Q10 won't have the same appeal as the Z10, but there are still people out there who swear by a physical keyboard on their smartphone.

It's certainly a much smaller market to aim at, but one which the BlackBerry Q10 has an excellent chance of succeeding in as the BlackBerry brand is synonymous for providing top quality QWERTY keyboards on its phones.

Currently there's no firm BlackBerry Q10 release date or price, and even the specs are being kept under wraps for now as the handset isn't completely finalised.

What's immediately noticeable upon picking up the Q10 is the size of the display – it's defiantly the biggest screen BlackBerry has put on a keyboard handset.

BlackBerry refused to give us the exact screen size and resolution, but sitting it side by side a BlackBerry Bold 9900 with a 2.8–inch display and you can plainly see the Q10 is bigger, and it's expected to clock in at around 3.1-inches.

The display is much squarer on the BlackBerry Q10 than on previous BlackBery handsets which sported landscape screens above the keys.

BlackBerry 10 looks crisp and clear on the screen of the Q10 and we reckon it has a similar pixel density to the 355ppi on the Z10.

A noticeable absence on the front of the BlackBerry Q10 is the menu keys and trackpad just below the screen, as BB10 is fully controlled via the touchscreen with the keyboard only coming into play when you need to tap out a message.

This puts an end to the tedious scrolling which plagued the BB OS7 handsets, with the tiny trackpad making moving down long lists a real chore.

Despite its larger dimensions the BlackBerry Q10 is well weighted, balancing nicely in the palm and not feeling top heavy when your hands are gripping the base of the handset as you use the keyboard – this reduces the fear of dropping the handset and that's all good in our book.

Round the back the Q10 is made of a sturdy and attractive material which BlackBerry is calling a "glass weave" and the edges are rounded making the handset fit snugly in the hand.

There's a camera and single LED flash round on the back, while on the front of the BlackBerry Q10 there's a front facing snapper - perfect for video calls especially since the launch of BBM Video.

While the official specs of the cameras have not been revealed we wouldn't be surprised if it was packing the same 8MP and 2MP combo found on the Z10.

On the right side of the Q10 the triple button setup is present with volume switches separated by a central key which can be used to play and pause tracks and launch the voice control app when held down.

Up top you get a centralised power/lock key very similar in position and style to the Bold 9900, which is neighboured by a 3.5mm headphone jack.

BlackBerry is really pushing connectivity on its new BlackBerry 10 handsets and the Q10 is equipped with microUSB and miniHDMI ports on the left side, while under the hood there's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC – plus we hope a microSD slot has made the cut as well.

The BlackBerry 10 OS runs smoothly on the Q10 and we were able to breeze through applications without any issues.

"Peaking" at notifications was pretty simple thanks to the responsive touchscreen, but the slide-up motion from the bottom of the display didn't always register as there's not a lot of space for your finger to play between screen and keyboard.

The BlackBerry Q10 we got hands on with was running a development build of BB 10 and from time to time you could tell as certain applications didn't display properly on the square display, as the OS has been developed primarily for the longer screen of the Z10.

You can expect those display issues to be sorted before the BlackBerry Q10 goes on sale - we just hope app developers also adapt their offerings to utilise the squarer display.

We were able to test out the web browser on the BlackBerry Q10 which appeared to be in full working order and as impressively fast as the Z10 when loading both desktop and mobile sites.

The camera app was also a snappy affair with rapid shutter speed and the clever Time Shift feature making it an intriguing proposition.

However the main reason, if not the only reason someone would purchase the BlackBerry Q10 is for its physical QWERTY keyboard, a feature which is very much love or hate for a lot of users.

Each row of keys are separated by a silver fret which spaces out the buttons making it easier to type and letters themselves are all angled to different degrees to improve travel and speed.

The keyboard itself has grown in size which in our opinion is a good thing as we always found the tiny keys on the old BlackBerry handsets a bit too fiddly.

With the physical keyboard though you lose out on the typing smarts you get on the Z10, with next word prediction not available here meaning you're left to your own character by character input method.

Early Verdict

The BlackBerry Q10 will appeal to a few but likely be overlooked by many as the touchscreen era is now in full swing.

For those who simply can't live without a full keyboard on their smartphone the Q10 is an enticing proposition with a decent size keyboard and larger touchscreen coupled with the new BlackBerry 10 OS making it a far more powerful and diverse handset.

BlackBerry is targeting a very exact market with the Q10 and we're sure that market will be more than happy to receive this latest offering, but we don't expect the BlackBerry Q10 to be making huge waves in the mainstream arena.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/blackberry-q10-review-1128349/review

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Hands on: BlackBerry’s Z10 is solid, but is it a savior?

Our initial impressions of the BlackBerry Z10 are positive thanks to the smoothness of BlackBerry 10 and great design. Savior of the brand? Maybe. A solid contender in a crowded smartphone market? Definitely.

There’s a lot riding on the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. It’s the first device to launch with the Blackberry 10 operating system and will be the standard-bearer for the revival of the brand. It must stand out in a sea of similar-looking Android phones and convince people that it’s modern enough to compete. And its parents probably want it to go to Harvard and become a doctor someday.

If you project too many expectations on any device it can fall flat. But from our first impressions, the BlackBerry Z10 may be able to stand up to the pressure and fulfill some of the hopes pinned on it. This phone has a solid design, speedy performance, and runs a slick, well-organized OS. Will it be able to stem the tide of BlackBerry defectors and maybe entice new users? Keep reading to find out.

The BlackBerry Z10′s design is reminiscent of the iPhone 5, mostly because it’s about the same size. It feels good in the hand thanks to the gentle curve of the edges on the back and the overall narrowness of the body. The 4.2-inch display extends to the right and left edges, giving the front of the phone an uncluttered, zen-like look. The whole design is like this, from the subtly textured back to the minimal buttons on the edges. The focus is, as it should be, on the display itself.

We’re impressed by the 4.2-inch display’s bright colors and crispness. The pixel dense 1280 x 768 pixel HD resolution also helps. It’s a good canvas for the BlackBerry 10 interface. In the demos, the touchscreen proved sensitive and responsive; however, we did note that the screens got smudgy pretty fast and that impacted performing gestures.

The entire interface is gesture based and can take some getting used to. The gestures themselves are simple and easy to understand and remember, so the learning curve won’t be too steep. Overall, the OS looks like it’s designed to make navigation faster and get users where they want to go efficiently. This is a big plus.

Best example of this? The BlackBerry Hub. BlackBerry has always appealed to messaging fiends most. For those users, the Hub will not disappoint. We like that it can pull messages together from multiple sources – email and BBM to LinkedIn and Facebook – but doesn’t look messy or disorganized or overwhelming. Same goes for contacts and calendar. Messages, appointments, and your connections flow together in a way that makes it easy to parse the tons of data thrown at you everyday.

Another way the Z10 helps calm the chaos is by dividing work and personal stuff with BlackBerry Balance. We’ve seen separate profiles before and like the idea in general. The difference here is that there’s a firewall between the work and personal halves of the phone. Even if you’re assigned the Z10 by your IT department, your boss still won’t be able to peek at what’s going on over on the Personal side. And the Work side is protected by a password and other security measures.

The Blackberry faithful didn’t react well to the last touchscreen-only device from RIM in paert because so many still love the physical keyboard. There will be a phone for those people soon enough (the BlackBerry Q10), but don’t write off the Z10 just because it doesn’t have a keyboard. Our first impression of the new keyboard is very positive thanks to the predictive text, the ability to flick words, and other gestures that make typing easier and faster. It won’t offer the same tactile sensation as a physical keyboard, though accuracy is less of an issue than on other touchscreen devices. That’s the key here.

Setting aside all the baggage of the past and the hopes for the future, our first impression of the BlackBerry Z10 is very positive. The interface is everything you’d expect from a modern smartphone, it’s backed by a ton of apps, the design is light, comfortable, and attractive. Oh, and the screen is beautiful. It’s well worth checking out when it finally comes to U.S. carriers in March.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/blackberry-z10-hands-on/

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BlackBerry Z10 photos: Pics of the first full-touch BB 10 phone

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The first touchscreen BlackBerry 10 phone, the Z10 is out and we’re on the scene to check it out. Here are our hands-on pictures of the new phone.

A few weeks back during CES 2013, we had the chance to play around with BlackBerry 10 and were quite impressed with it. Now the OS has officially been launched and has a couple devices to call home. Perhaps the most exciting of the new handhelds from BlackBerry is the Z10.

Positioned as the flagship phone for BB 10, the Z10 takes the road less travelled for a BlackBerry product and offers a sizable and vibrant touchscreen display. The 4.2-inch screen is packed with pixels with a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels. While the screen is impressive, it’s the operating system that is the real point of interest on the Z10. We snapped some pictures of the device and it’s fresh OS to give you a look at what to expect if you’re one of the planned early adopters just waiting to get your hands on it.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/blackberry-z10-pictures/

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BlackBerry Q10 photos: Pics of the first BB 10 phone with a full QWERTY

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Two new BlackBerry phones were unveiled today and we were on the scene to check them out. Here are some pics of the BlackBerry Q10, the first BB 10 phone with a QWERTY keyboard.

BlackBerry is making its comeback attempt starting today, and it’s bringing an old friend along for the ride. The QWERTY keyboard is back – whether you want it or not. One of BlackBerry’s launch devices, the Q10, has a physical keyboard prominently featured on the device.

Though BB 10 is supposed to be a new starting point for BlackBerry, the company just can’t leave every part of its identity behind. The Q10 has the same look as the famous BlackBerry devices that came before it. Equipped with a 3.1-inch screen and that QWERTY keyboard, it’s a device that was built for those who want to appear like important businesspeople. While the look of the phone isn’t too much of a departure from previous BlackBerry handsets, it’s all about the operating on this one. Running the new BlackBerry 10 OS, the phone looks like it can overpower and out-task its predecessors. Check out our gallery with the Q10 to get a feel for it before it hits store shelves this February and March.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/blackberry-q10-pictures/

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