Hasta La Gadget!

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins had said earlier this year that the company will release an “exciting new flagship.” Given the amount of recent leaks regarding an unreleased BB device, it is believed that he was referring to the company’s first ever phablet. Long associated with the A10 codename, it is now being rumored that the BlackBerry Z30 will be launched in Asia next week. The phablet is expected to make its way Stateside within 2-3 weeks after its initial launch.

Last week BlackBerry sent out invites to an event on September 18th, the event takes place in France, Malaysia and India. As per rumors, the company might finally unveil the Z30 at the event. A lot of pictures of the BlackBerry Z30 have already leaked online, according to rumors, it may have a 5 inch Super AMOLED display that touts a 1,280×768 pixel resolution. Under the hood, a 1.7GHz dualcore processor is expected alongside 2GB of RAM. The Z30 is also rumored to have Qi wireless charging, an 8 megapixel rear camera, 16GB internal memory with external expansion support via microSD card and a 2,880mAh battery. The device is said to ship with a leather backed case, when its front cover is flipped open, the device’s display will light up automatically. BlackBerry Z30 will be the company’s fourth BB10 powered device.

BlackBerry Z30 Allegedly Launching In Asia Next Week original content from Ubergizmo.

After its previous look at strategic alternatives yielded little fruit, BlackBerry is once again going back to the blackboard. Its board is currently considering "possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the Company or other possible transactions" to help boost the performance of BlackBerry 10. So… any takers?

Read more…

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins confirmed this past May that BBM would come to iOS and Android “this summer”, which of course means that advertised launch window is rapidly closing. There’s still no official word on when BlackBerry is going to push its cross-platform messaging app out the door, some new images released today indicate things are chugging along at a decent clip.

The first image (seen above) was obtained by BGR and depicts a seemingly near-final version of the app running on a Samsung Galaxy S III… though it doesn’t shed much light on what the BBM Android experience is actually like. Those early impressions should be trickling out any day now, as BlackBerry has also begun extending BBM beta invitations to certain Android users whose devices run 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or later.

Frankly, it’s still a little confusing to me that BlackBerry is taking this approach in the first place. I mean, for a long while there, BlackBerrys were the smartphones to own and at least part of its appeal hinged on its curiously hardy (well, mostly hardy) messaging system. Of course, making the leap to alternative platforms presents its own set of issues, not least of which is the fact that iOS and Android are already saturated with free or freemium messaging apps.

Then again, BlackBerry may just be banking on BBM’s prominence as a way to build more buzz around the BlackBerry brand. It could honestly use some help, especially in light of some strained financials. Company representatives said during BlackBerry’s most recent (and none too confidence-inspiring) earnings call that roughly 40% of its device shipments over the past quarter were its new BB10 phones, which works out to 2.72 million units moved. That’s more than double what the company shipped in the previous quarter, but the folks in Waterloo apparently didn’t think enough of the number to break it out in an earnings release. The same goes for BlackBerry’s subscriber base, which dipped by some 4 million users between Q4 2013 and Q1 2014 (before you assault me in the comments, BB’s fiscal calendar is a little weird like that) with nary a mention in the initial release.

But still, pushing out a messaging app into two marketplaces that are already full to the brim with them is a very curious move indeed, and one that on the surface seems like something of a stinker. Maybe I’m wrong — maybe bringing BBM to the masses just might be what BlackBerry needs. Fortunately, it looks like we won’t have much longer to wait before we see how things actually work out.

One of game development’s most used engines is adding support for Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Blackberry 10 today in its latest version, 4.2. Some support was already offered in the latest version’s beta run, but today Unity 4.2 drops out of beta and into primetime. That brings Unity’s mobile platform support up to four: Android, iOS, Windows Phone 8 and BB10 (for both free and paid version of the engine). Of course, the implications here are what matters — Unity powers major mobile titles like Temple Run 2 and Republique, not to mention the new Deus Ex mobile game. As for Windows 8, games like Surgeon Simulator 2013 (trust us — look into that one) and Interstellar Marines are powered by Unity. There are also a smattering of previously paid functions going free — head past the break for the full list.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Mobile, Microsoft, Blackberry

Comments

Hot on the heels of the BlackBerry Z10 getting an update to BB 10.1 and price cuts at various retailers, a future model to come out of Waterloo has apparently been leaked. In a video posted to YouTube, accessory maker Vivix gives a brief look at what’s purported to be the A10 “Aristo.” According to N4BB, the device sports a five-inch touchscreen, dual-core processor with a quad-core GPU and an eight-megapixel camera — not to mention it matches up with a previously leaked image. Details are sparse beyond all that, but you can at least grab look for yourself in the video after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry

Comments

Via: N4BB

Source: Vivix (YouTube)