BlackBerry Launches Q10 for Younger Audience

Waterloo, ON – BlackBerry® (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB) today introduced the BlackBerry® Q5, a new youthful and fun BlackBerry® 10 smartphone for selected markets. The BlackBerry Q5 smartphone features a QWERTY keyboard with discrete keys in a stunning youthful design that is confident, fun, and bold. Every feature, every part of the BlackBerry Q5 has been built to provide a fast, effortless experience that flows and moves with you to help you explore, create, and share while on the go.

“BlackBerry is excited to bring a new BlackBerry QWERTY smartphone, the BlackBerry Q5, to our customers in selected markets around world,” said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of BlackBerry. “The BlackBerry Q5 gives you the best of everything with its cutting-edge BlackBerry 10 functionality and a physical QWERTY keyboard. It is for youthful fans that are passionate, confident and bold, and it makes it easy for them to have fun, create, share and stay connected.”

As part of the BlackBerry 10 experience, the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone offers a powerful and unique mobile computing experience that continuously adapts to your needs. Features and apps work seamlessly together, allowing your every move to flow into the next. Highlights of the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone include:

The evolution of the classic BlackBerry Keyboard

The BlackBerry Q5 features a classic BlackBerry Keyboard with discrete keys that has been re-engineered and elegantly designed to help you type fast, accurately and with the least amount of effort. Plus with Instant Action shortcuts you can type to perform tasks faster. The BlackBerry Q5 smartphone gives you the best of both worlds – a classic QWERTY keyboard for optimized communications and a 3.1” touchscreen for all the rest.

Create the perfect shot with BlackBerry Time Shift mode and Story Maker

Create the picture perfect shot with BlackBerry® Time Shift mode, then create and share your story, weaving together your photos, videos and music into a movie with BlackBerry® Story Maker.


Share and be seen with BBM Video with Screen Share

Instantly switch your BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) chat to a BBM Video conversation and catch up face-to-face. You can even share your screen, whether it’s a photo, a page in the browser, an idea, or a view from your camera.*


Stay close to what’s important to you with BlackBerry Hub

With BlackBerry® Hub, all of your messages and social conversations are only one swipe away. There’s no need to stop what you’re doing. Simply peek into the BlackBerry Hub from anywhere with a swipe to effortlessly flow in and out of your messages and conversations.


BlackBerry World delivers a rich, thriving app and content ecosystem

Discovering and sharing great apps and content is easier than ever with recommendations based on similar purchases, and access to more than 100,000 apps on the BlackBerry® World™ storefront.


Pricing and Availability

The new BlackBerry Q5 smartphone will be available in selected markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia (including the Asia Pacific region), and Latin America, with expected availability beginning in July.



BlackBerry Issues Update for BlackBerry 10 with Battery Life, Camera Improvements

BlackBerry announced on Friday that it published its first update for the company’s newBlackBerry 10 operating system.

Build 10.0.10.85, a 150MB download, includes several enhancements, including improved performance for third-party applications, a fix for Gmail calendars, improved call-log tracking in BlackBerry Hub, camera enhancements for low-light shooting, performance enhancements within the browser for handling video and improved battery life.

BlackBerry Z10 owners can apply the update by navigating to settings > software updates> check for updates.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Confirmed: Jelly Bean update planned for BlackBerry 10 Android runtime

It's official: BlackBerry 10's Android runtime layer will be updated to Jelly Bean. Reports of the announcement, which should please users looking to shore up the platform's app selection, surfaced this morning, apparently stemming from the company's developer-focused BB Jam Europe event in Amsterdam. We've since reached out and received confirmation that it is indeed true, although no timetable has yet to be announced. In the meantime, current Z10 owners can continue to sideload Gingerbread-based apps -- which the runtime layer currently supports -- while they wait for those big name, third-party apps to land in the BlackBerry World store.

[Source: Engadget]

BlackBerry 10 launch event video now available for replay

 

Looking to catch up with what was surely one of the most important events for the company formerly known as RIM? You can do so with our liveblog, or you can now watch (or rewatch) the entire keynote courtesy of a video replay BlackBerry had made available. Hit the source link to get started -- the whole thing runs just over an hour.

[Source: Engadget]

Vodafone UK launches its first ‘4G-ready’ phone, the BlackBerry Z10

  • Coming to Vodafone UK: the first smartphone powered by BlackBerry 10
  • BlackBerry Z10 just £29 on a £42 a month deal with unlimited calls, texts and loads of internet
  • The first ‘4G-ready’ phone from Vodafone UK


Vodafone UK is launching the BlackBerry® Z10, the first smartphone powered by the re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry® 10 platform and the first of Vodafone’s ‘4G-ready’ handsets. The new BlackBerry Z10 is the fastest and most advanced BlackBerry smartphone yet and offers customers a powerful new mobile computing experience.

The new BlackBerry Z10 will be available from January 31, in-store, online and through telesales. The smartphone is just £29 on the £42 a month Vodafone Red Data plan, which comes with unlimited calls and texts as well as 2GB of internet. It is free on the £47 a month variant of Vodafone Red Data and costs £69 on the Vodafone Red Plan, which offers unlimited calls, unlimited texts and 1GB of internet for £37 a month. All new and upgrading Vodafone pay monthly customers also get as much internet as they want, for whatever they want, for the first three months, with Vodafone Data Test Drive.

For small business customers, the BlackBerry Z10 is available free on Vodafone Red Business from £40.83 (ex VAT) per month. Vodafone Red Business gives business users the freedom to talk and text as much as they want, enjoy loads of internet and get a landline number on their mobile so they can answer any calls when out and about. For more information, visit vodafone.co.uk/redbusiness

The BlackBerry Z10 smartphone is the first handset from Vodafone that is ‘4G-ready’. Getting one of our 4G-ready phones means a customer will be good to go as soon as Vodafone 4G arrives, bringing them ultra-fast internet and the best mobile video they’ve ever had from us. Once a customer has got their new phone, we’ll let them know the moment Vodafone 4G is available in their area. Then we can talk about adding Vodafone 4G to their monthly plan. For more information, visit vodafone.co.uk/4G-ready. We are planning to launch 4G services later this year and we intend to use a signal that travels further into a customer’s home than any 4G signal that’s available now.

Blackberry Z10 Unboxing & First Boot

Blackberry 10 launches today and before the official launch, seems like a lucky person has got their hands on the new Z10 touchscreen smartphone. Check out the video below from MrIgorTV showing an unboxing & first look.

RIM Basically Confirms New BlackBerry 10 Tablets Coming

RIM just announced that it’s going to run an ad during the Super Bowl. That’s great, but buried in the release the company also re-confirmed that BlackBerry 10-powered tablets are in the pipeline. Here’s the clip that stands out most:

RIM confirms that BlackBerry 10, its new mobile computing platform that will power the next generation of smartphones and tablets, will be featured in a commercial during Super Bowl XLVII.

We haven’t heard of any news on when RIM will launch a follow-up to the PlayBook, but we hope it doesn’t botch this tablet launch as badly as it did that one.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

LEAKED BLACKBERRY 10 SALES MANUAL REVEALS NEW IMAGES AND DETAILS

The buzz continues to mount leading up to the January 30th unveiling of Research In Motions’s (RIMM) next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform, but we’re not sure how much is left to learn. Many BlackBerry 10 features have already been announced, we’ve seen RIM’s first two next-generation handsets — the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10 — a number times, and now Rogers’ internal sales manual for BlackBerry 10 devices has leaked thanks to CrackBerry. The manual is packed full of images and it also confirms some specs reported a few months ago, and the full document is embedded at the source link below. RIM’s next-generation operating system and handsets will be unveiled during a press conference on January 30th, and BGR will be on hand reporting live.

[Source: BGR]

BlackBerry Z10 Detailed in German Video

We have a feeling we’ll be able to bring you an in-depth look at RIM’s new hardware, including the Z10, on Jan. 30 during the company’s big BlackBerry 10 event. But if you want yet another look at the hardware and the operating system, a new video has been posted thanks to a few folks in Germany. The 7:10 clip walks through the actual Z10 hardware as well as some software features. There’s even a glimpse at BlackBerry Hub, which wasn’t active on the test unit we recently filmed.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

BB 10 Twitter and Google Talk app integration leaks ahead of launch

Care for a sneak peek at BB 10's third party app integration? Well, if the screens above are to be believed (and we have reason to assume they're quite legit), standalone applications like Twitter and Google Talk could be ready to download on BlackBerry World at launch. From what we can glimpse, it appears the apps will be folded into BB Hub, the OS' new unified inbox, lending further credence toRIM's claims of a seamless "flow," as it doesn't seem likely social applications will be sandboxed. Design-wise, both apps offer a direct parallel to their current offerings on other rival platforms, albeit made to fit the straight and soft BB 10 aesthetic. We'll know much more in the weeks ahead as RIM prepares to reveal the full monty. For now, buckle in for a load of expected leaks.

[Source: Engadget]

BlackBerry 10 promises six phones, 90 per cent of major apps

Half a dozen BlackBerry 10 phones are coming this year, with 70,000 apps at your fingertips including nine out of ten of the big names.

Speaking to FierceWireless, the marketing boss of BlackBerry builder Research in Motion confirmed we'd see at least six BlackBerry 10 devices, at a range of prices.

RIM also said that BlackBerry 10 will have 70,000 apps, including 90 per cent of the top 600 apps on rival platforms.

BlackBerry 10 is the much-anticipated next generation of software for the clicky-keyed phones popular with business types and messaging teenagers alike. There's a lot riding on the new lineup of phones and software as RIM's market share is in serious trouble, after coming under pressure from the iPhone and Android in recent years.

One of Android's strengths is that you can buy Android-powered smart phones at almost any price. By selling low-cost phones as well as premium models BlackBerry can appeal to the BlackBerry Messenger-loving teen market as well as the business-loving serious types.

RIM better hurry up though -- Samsung is aiming to swoop into businesses, investing in security and reliability to replace BlackBerry as your next work phone. 

The first two BlackBerry phones will be unveiled with the new software at the end of this month. One will sport a traditional BlackBerry keyboard, while the other will have a full touchscreen. There won't be any deals to make them exclusive to one particular network.

[Source: CNET]