We’ve been hearing about BlackBerry’s upcoming update to its BlackBerry 10 OS, called BlackBerry 10.1, over the past couple of weeks. We saw a leaked image of some of the improvements we’ve been expecting for the updated BlackBerry 10.1, and today, BlackBerry’s […]
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Well before BlackBerry announced its new BlackBerry 10 operating system and two new devices in January, analysts were saying that this would be a make it or break it moment for the company. The company’s stock has lost its value substantially over the past couple of years, there have been management shakeups at the top and quite a number of employees have been laid off as BlackBerry tightens its belt. Some analysts had also claimed that the company’s Z10 smartphone was seeing disappointing sales in the U.S., a statement which BlackBerry firmly spoke out against. As far as overall sales figures are concerned, the Q10 smartphone is believed to outsell the Z10.
Macquarie Capital’s Kevin Smithen believes that BlackBerry Q10 will make up for a substantial amount of overall BB10 smartphone sales. He believes that the company will ship 4.3 million BB10 devices this month. The Q10′s advantage over Z10 is that it sits well with traditional BlackBerry users who just can’t get over the physical QWERTY keyboard, which as per reviews, is amazing on the Q10. The particular smartphone is also deemed favorable for enterprise customers which account for over 13 million of BlackBerry’s user base. Did you buy a new BlackBerry 10 device for yourself? If yes, which one was it?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Android 4.2.2 With Sense 5.1 Leaked For HTC Butterfly, Hipstamatic Launches Oggl, Looks To Compete With Instagram, 
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As it stands iOS and Android are currently taking the number 1 and number 2 spots in the smartphone operating system market, leaving the third place to be contested and based on what we can see, both Blackberry 10 and Microsoft with their Windows Phone operating system are no doubt currently vying for that spot, presumably as a stepping stone while they try to overthrow iOS and Android, but who will take 3rd spot?
According to an article on Seeking Alpha
, the writer “jaberwock” seems to believe that Blackberry could be set to win the 3rd spot in the mobile phone operating system wars. His prediction is based on charts and figures that show the steady sales of the Z10 along with the release of the Q10 in other markets, thus creating a very promising environment for the company. Considering that the Q10 sold out in less than 2 hours at Selfridges, it looks a promising start for Blackberry and might make Thorsten Heins’ prediction come true. What do you guys think? Does Blackberry have a better shot than Windows Phone at nabbing the 3rd spot?
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The BlackBerry R10, what’s tipped to be the first mid-range BlackBerry 10 smartphone, has been caught in the wild once more, with a launch tipped to take place sometime in Q3 2013. The R10, keeping with BlackBerry tradition and offering a physical keyboard, has a 3.1-inch display according to DGtle, and a 5-megapixel main camera.
There’s also apparently a fixed, non-user-accessible 1,800 mAh battery, together with 2GB of memory and 8GB of storage. The display apparently runs at 720 x 720 resolution, just as per the BlackBerry Q10, and runs BlackBerry 10.1 OS.
So far we’ve seen the R10 leak in black, white, and red, which suggests either BlackBerry is having some fun with its color schemes or, alternatively, the company will be offering multiple colors at retail. Given the BlackBerry R10 is presumed to be the BlackBerry 10 equivalent of a Curve-series phone, that would make sense for the youth market traditionally keen on Curve variants.
Although touchscreen text-entry has found favor on most platforms, and indeed BlackBerry 10 itself has a refined on-screen system for the Z10, the Canadian company is reluctant to step away completely from physical ‘boards. Expectations for the Q10 are high, within BlackBerry at least, with ambitions of “tens of millions” of the phone being sold.
[via MobileSyrup]
BlackBerry R10 leaks with Curve-style specs is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
So in terms of smartphones launched with the latest Blackberry 10 operating system, we know that there is the Z10 and the Q10, both of which are high-end devices, but what about mid or low-ranged Blackberry 10 smartphones? Well we do know that Blackberry is working on another smartphone as part of its R-series, and thanks to a photo posted on Instagram, it seems that we might be looking at the Blackberry 10 R-series captured on camera in a red finish.
While we personally cannot verify the legitimacy of the photo, the folks at N4BB seem to be pretty sure that this is the real thing. The R-series is expected to be an entry-level Blackberry 10 device which will cater to users who want the QWERTY Blackberry 10 experience but don’t want to pay the full price for a Q10. The exact specifications of this R-series smartphone remain unknown at this point, nor are we sure when Blackberry will be announcing it, but stay tuned for more updates in the future! In the meantime what do you guys think of it?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: US Cellular Confirms Carrying iPhone And Apple Devices In The Near Future, The Alleged BlackBerry R10 Now Spotted In Black, 
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As we reported yesterday, the Department of Defense has been preparing to approve Samsung‘s and Apple‘s devices for use by agency employees. While both still await approval, Blackberry received it earlier today for Blackberry 10 smartphones and its PlayBook tablet. The thumbs-up comes after weeks of testing in Defense Department labs.
Department of Defense employees can now use both Blackberry 10 smartphones and the PlayBook in conjunction with Blackberry’s Enterprise Serivce 10 on the agency’s networks. This approval covers both the Blackberry Z10 and the Blackberry Q10 handsets, both of which are now listed on the DISA’s Unified Communications Approved Product List.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal yesterday, both Samsung and Apple will be seeing approval separately for their devices. Reportedly, Samsung will get approval for use with the agency’s internal email, and Apple will get approval for iOS use with “nonclassified communications” methods that weren’t specified. With Blackberry getting its approval today, it is reasonable to assume the other two will be seeing theirs shortly as well.
Blackberry’s Senior Vice President of Blackberry Security Scott Totzke said: “BlackBerry 10 is ideal for our government customers because it offers a rich, highly responsive mobile computing experience … This approval will enable DoD customers to connect their BlackBerry Z10 or BlackBerry Q10 smartphones to DoD networks and securely access assets from work, while enjoying the wealth of consumer-oriented functionality that BlackBerry 10 brings to market.”
[via Blackberry]
Department of Defense approves Blackberry 10 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A new report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that the Department of Defense is going to approve Apple iOS and Samsung Galaxy devices over the next couple of weeks, for Pentagon officials. This is yet another hit to BlackBerry, as its latest devices will be receiving some stiff competition from these popular devices in this particular section of the market. BlackBerry has always touted its secure platform, but the DoD’s impending approval shows that the market leaders are making products that are just as good for secure use.
Samsung Galaxy devices that come with Knox security software installed will be vetted to see if they comply with The Defense Information System Agency’s Security Technology Implementation Guide. Military agencies are reportedly going to be allowed to use iOS 6 based smartphones and tablets for nonclassified communications and web browsing, though it is not known what modifications Apple will be making to iOS so as to gain this clearance, perhaps it won’t even be required to. Approval for BlackBerry’s latest platform is also pending, it is expected that it will be cleared for secure enterprise use by Q3, 2013, despite recent rumors that approval process for BlackBerry 10 has been halted due to insufficient budget.
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The recent struggle of BlackBerry to turn itself around is no secret. Back in January they revealed their latest OS, BlackBerry 10, and also announced two new devices that are powered by it. Initially only the BlackBerry Z10 was available, while the Q10 went on sale in the last few days of April. Numbers from Net Applications reveal that off the back of Z10 sales BlackBerry has made a nominal gane in the usage, browser and operating system that is, share.
Currently it only accounts for a minute 1.51% of the global usage share. To put things in perspective, iOS reigns over every other platform with 59.04%. BlackBerry’s share is actually lower than that of Symbian, which currently stands at 1.73%. BlackBerry has gained from 1.38% in March 2013 to 1.51% in April 2013. While its a very nominal gain, it does provide a good momentum for the company’s second new smartphone, which has apparently been selling like hot cakes in the U.K. Some analysts had claimed that the Z10′s sales were disappointing in the U.S., though the company took strong notice of that and stated that sales were in line with their internal expectations. It remains to be seen how much of an improvement does the Q10 bring in these numbers.
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BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has dismissed the long-term potential for tablets, arguing that time is running out on slates and – perhaps still stinging from the PlayBook failure – suggesting they’re a bad business model. Heins, who had been suitably ebullient about the likely success of the recently-released BlackBerry Q10, predicting sales in the tens of millions, was equally critical of tablet options. “In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore” he predicted.
Speaking at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles this week, Bloomberg reports, Heins vaguely outlined his reasoning behind the dark prediction. “Maybe [you’ll have] a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such” the CEO suggested. “Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”
You certainly can’t blame Heins for being pessimistic about slates, given the failure of the BlackBerry PlayBook. RIM – as it was known back when the PlayBook was released – launched its 7-inch iPad rival back in 2011 as a companion device to BlackBerry 7 handsets, but the tablet’s limited standalone functionality left consumers non-plussed, and by the time the OS – a precursor of the BlackBerry 10 platform on the Q10 and Z10 – was reworked, the company had already resorted to slashing prices in order to clear shelves.
Heins has since suggested that, while a tablet isn’t necessarily off the table, BlackBerry will need to see the opportunity to do something uniquely special before it’s tempted back into that particular market. “I want to gain as much market share as I can,” he said in an interview back in January 2013, “but not by being a copycat.”
The negativity around slates has led to suggestions that BlackBerry is in no hurry to – and may in fact never – replace the PlayBook, despite originally arguing that one of the strengths of the QNX-based BlackBerry 10 OS is its cross-platform flexibility across phone and tablet-scale devices. One possibility, meanwhile, is that increasingly powerful phones could be used to drive the “big screen in your workplace” Heins mentioned; the Z10 and Q10 already support HDMI output to a separate display.
BlackBerry PlayBook sequel unlikely as Heins slams tablets is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
![Future Blackberry 10 Devices May No Longer Feature Removable Batteries [Rumor]](https://i0.wp.com/cdnrss.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/blackberry-q10-tmobile-640x360.jpg?resize=640%2C360 "Future Blackberry 10 Devices May No Longer Feature Removable Batteries [Rumor]")
Back in the day, phones with removable and interchangeable batteries were the norm, but that started to change in more modern phones whose batteries are fixed and sealed in a unibody chassis, resulting in the user having to deal with the size of the battery and be careful about their use to prevent the phone from dying on them in the middle of the day.
Thankfully there are still smartphones out there that still have removable batteries, Blackberry phones for instance, such as the Blackberry Z10 and the upcoming Q10. However a rumor picked up by the folks at BBOS might see such a trend die out in future Blackberry 190 products. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Potentially New Windows Phone Devices From Huawei, Samsung And Nokia Spotted In Logs, Rumor: Samsung Galaxy S4 Waterproof Edition Coming Your Way, 
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