Skype’s BlackBerry 10 app still on its way, will be an Android port

Skype's BlackBerry 10 app

We’ve been told that nearly 40 percent of all BlackBerry 10 apps in BB World are Android ports, but what about some of the big-name apps boasted on stage at the launch event last week? In its latest blog post, Skype revealed its dirty secret: the service is “working closely with BlackBerry to ensure the Skype for Android app runs great in the BlackBerry 10 environment.” Indeed, one of the most anticipated programs announced on January 30th — which we’re told should be available soon — is a repackaged Android port; this leaves us a little skeptical of its performance, though we’ll save final judgment for when it’s finally ready to download. Let’s just say we’re hoping that Runtime adds Jelly Bean support sooner rather than later.

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Via: The Verge

Source: Skype

Nikkei: BlackBerry to stop selling phones in Japan, no longer able to justify the cost (updated)

It looks like Japan won’t be a part of BlackBerry’s BB10 launch plans now or anytime in the foreseeable future. According to a report from Nikkei, BlackBerry has decided to stop selling phones in the country, at least in part because it wasn’t able to justify the cost of making the necessary language modifications to its new operating system. As Nikkei also notes, however, BlackBerry has seen a particularly steep drop in market share in Japan, where it now stands at just 0.3 percent. We’ve reached out to BlackBerry about the news and are awaiting comment.

Update: We’ve received a statement from BlackBerry confirming that it has no plans to launch to launch BB10 devices in Japan at this time, although it adds that it will continue to support its customers in the country. The complete statement is as follows:

We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 in countries where it has already launched. Japan is not a major market for BlackBerry and we have no plans to launch BlackBerry 10 devices there at this time. However, we will continue to support BlackBerry customers in Japan.

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Source: Reuters

T-Mobile Aiming To Be First With BlackBerry Z10 Launch In The U.S. With Mid-March Release

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T-Mobile says that BlackBerry’s new Z10 smartphone is “more stable than … anticipated,” and could potentially get a faster-than-expected launch on the network. As it stands, the new BB10-based smartphone looks to be on track for a mid-March release, according to statements made by T-Mobile USA Head of Business Sales Frank Sickinger speaking to Bloomberg today. The company anticipates it could be the first U.S. carrier “out of the gate” with BB10 as a result, according to the report.

Anticipated launch dates for the BlackBerry Z10 in the U.S. had pointed to a March 27 launch on T-Mobile, according to a leaked roadmap published by TmoNews earlier this week. While that date may have originally been accurate based on the carrier’s assumption of how long the Z10 would take to clear testing, Sickinger’s words today suggest that the timeframe has been pushed up.

The Z10 is already out and available in the Canadian and U.K. markets, and BlackBerry has been issuing reports of early sales success in both countries. The launch in Canada on Rogers is reported to have seen initial sales numbering in the “thousands,” making for a record launch day for a single BlackBerry device, and in the U.K. many outlets report being sold out. That said, BlackBerry still isn’t releasing any specific sales numbers, which casts some doubt on how successful sales have actually been, in relative terms compared to the larger smartphone industry.

The Z10 will retail on T-Mobile for $199 with a new two-year agreement, and will be offered to business customers ahead of its consumer launch, with about a week’s worth of lead time. If T-Mobile can get the Z10 in customer hands a bit faster than its competition,  that might help it win over some more business customers to its cause. But this could just spur other carriers to try to speed up their own testing processes, which should please the eager U.S.-based BB-heads out there.

The U.S. Likely Won’t Get Its Thumbs On The Hardware QWERTY-Sporting BlackBerry Q10 Until May Or June

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When BlackBerry unveiled its new BB10 line of devices and mobile OS, the company showed off both the Z10 and Q10 smartphones. The Z10 was released shortly after the announcement in many markets (the next day in the U.K., this week in Canada) and will hit the U.S. in March, but the Q10 with its hardware QWERTY keyboard was said to be hitting markets beginning in April. The key word there was “beginning,” however, as in a follow-up interview BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins reveals Americans likely won’t get the device until May or June.

Heins told the Associated Press in an interview (via AllThingsD) that the Q10 is likely to arrive in the U.S. some eight to ten weeks after the Z10 hits the U.S., which is supposed to happen around mid-March. That means it will be until May or even June before U.S. customers are able to buy the Q10, some simple math tells us.

The delay isn’t all that surprising. The Z10 is also arriving stateside later than it is coming to other markets, something Heins attributed to the extensive carrier testing required to get it approved for use on major networks in the U.S. from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. The same thing is to be expected for the Q10, with perhaps a bit of a shorter testing period required since it’s running BB10, which the carriers are seeing in final shipping form for the first time with the Z10′s round of testing.

The delay isn’t great for BlackBerry, which would no doubt like to have the QWERTY handset out as soon as possible, after giving the Z10 a chance to find a foothold with consumers. The Q10 remains among the last real hardware keyboard smartphones, and it’ll be interesting to see how BlackBerry blends that control mechanism with BB10′s largely gesture based navigation interface, and how that combination works for consumers.

BlackBerry Q10 with physical keyboard given May-June release window for US

If you thought March was far away, be prepared to thumb your calendar to an even further date for the BlackBerry Q10. According to AP, CEO Thorsten Heins has said that the physical keyboard iteration of BlackBerry’s new OS will arrive around 8-10 weeks after the Z10 makes its eventual appearance on American shores. Heins added that release dates would vary between the major carriers, but the company maintains that the Q10 will arrive in other markets (likely including parts of Europe) some time in April. Guess we’ll hold onto our aging Bold until then.

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Via: AllThingsD

Source: AP (Mercury News)

Editorial: BlackBerry 10, the waiting and the damage done

DNP  Editorial BlackBerry 10 the waiting and the damage done

I’ve never been a BlackBerry user. But I’ve seriously considered one at a few points over the years, and I’ve been genuinely curious to see how the first BlackBerry 10 device fares. Last week’s launch event didn’t sell me on one, but I’m still curious to try it. Unfortunately for BlackBerry, née RIM, the event also served to again highlight some of the problems that have plagued the company in recent years.

You’ll get different opinions about when those problems really started, but you can directly trace last week’s launch event back to one date almost three years ago: April 9th, 2010. That’s when RIM announced it was buying QNX Software Systems, the company whose operating system would ultimately provide the basis for BlackBerry 10 (and the PlayBook before it). At the time, the acquisition didn’t signal a massive shift for RIM — it mostly talked up things like in-car infotainment systems and “intelligent peripherals.”

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Editorial: BlackBerry slumps into history of Super Bowl tech ads

Editorial BlackBerry slumps into history of Super Bowl tech ads

The comparison is obvious: BlackBerry‘s already-infamous “Can’t Do” commercial in this year’s Super Bowl vs. Apple’s legendary “1984” spot in the 1984 game. Let’s do the comparison anyway, and consider some other tech advertising over 35 years of Super Bowls.

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Confirmed: Jelly Bean update planned for BlackBerry 10 Android runtime

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.

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Via: CrackBerry

Was BlackBerry’s Super Bowl Ad the Dumbest Tech Ad You’ve Ever Seen?

BlackBerry’s Super Bowl ad from last night was… uh… interesting. The company claimed that in 30 seconds, it was easier to show us what BB10 couldn’t do—which is perhaps some of the laziest marketing ever. More »

The Weekly Roundup for 01.28.2013

The Weekly Roundup for 12032012

You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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