Hasta La Gadget!

Blackberry, ever confident in its Blackberry 10 platform, threw a lot of effort into ensuring that consumers would have access to a variety of apps, including the staples everyone wants such as Facebook and Twitter. One highly popular app is still missing, however – Instagram. According to sources, the company isn’t planning on making a native Blackberry 10 app.

This information was given to the folks over at AllThingsD by sources who are said to be close to Instagram. While one source said there was a possibility – “There will be no Instagram for BB10 for now.” – they also said they weren’t sure there would ever be a native app. Fortunately, however, Instagram lovers who want to embrace the BB10 platform won’t be entirely out of luck.

It has been reported for awhile now that Instagram for Android is being actively ported for Blackberry 10, meaning that those desperate enough for it will have an option. As we have seen with many ported apps, however, it’ll likely be an inferior product when compared to the native versions running on other mobile OSs. The app won’t be optimized for BB10.

Instagram hasn’t said why it won’t be making a native app for Blackberry 10, though one can speculate that it’s due to the effort/reward ratio in doing so. BB10′s userbase is substantially smaller than Android and iOS, and Instagram’s team isn’t the largest out there. When asked about it, Blackberry stated that it is “actively engaged around Instagram support for BB10.” What do you say? Is lack of a native Instagram app something that would prevent you from adopting the BB10 platform? Let us know in the comments.

[via AllThingsD]

Instagram reportedly says no to native Blackberry 10 app is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Have you ever wondered how much it actually costs to make a Blackberry Z10 device (or any smartphone in general)? CNN Money has provided the estimated pricing of each of the Blackberry Z10′s components, and how much it all adds up to. The teardown is provided by UBM TechInsights and they go through the cost of the display, processor, cameras, storage space, battery, communication chips, ram, and other components.

The 4.2-inch display for the Z10 costs around $26.50. The 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor costs about $23.50. The 8MP rear-facing camera and 2MP front-facing camera totals about $15. The 16GB internal storage costs around $9.00. The other components, including the battery, communication chips, and RAM total $21.00. Finally, the casing, as well as the other small electronics included in the Z10 total around $59.00. All of this adds up to $154.

The Blackberry Z10 is slightly more expensive to create compared to the iPhone 5, which costs about $139 to make. But in the Z10′s defense, the Z10 has a bigger, higher resolution screen, more RAM, and a bigger battery. Blackberry hasn’t released how much the unsubsidized price for the Blackberry Z10 yet, so we can’t really determine how much profit Blackberry makes off each phone.

The Blackberry Z10 won’t launch in the U.S. until March, and it has been confirmed, at least by Verizon Wireless, that the device will retail with a subsidized price of $199.99. Blackberry is hoping that with its new OS overhaul, it will be able to compete in a market that it once used to dominate. While many people are loving the new UI that comes with the Blackberry 10 OS, it will still be hard for Blackberry to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung, who is rumored to be announcing its new, highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S IV on March 15th.

[via CNN Money]

Blackberry Z10 costs about $154 to make is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

So we’ve heard reports about Blackberry 10 devices breaking records, and if you were still skeptical, the latest YouGov report on smartphone brand perception might change your mind. According to the report, it has been suggested that interest in Blackberry devices has seen a pretty impressive surge over the last six months, starting from the spring of 2012. The data revealed that interest in Blackberry has risen from 18% to a whopping 43%, while interest in Apple’s iPhone has started to slip from 92% to 85%. Samsung on the other hand has seen an increase from 46% to 53%. This is pretty interesting, especially since Blackberry 10 was only launched last month, so there is a chance that the surge in popularity could be because of that, or it could be the leading up to the launch that has managed to garner interest along the way.

Now we’ve seen plenty of Blackberry devices launched in the past, but apart from loyal Blackberry users, it seems that most smartphone owners either went iOS or Android. However with the launch of Blackberry 10 which is a completely new operating system, perhaps Blackberry will start becoming more competitive. In the meantime if you’re wondering what the hype is all about, perhaps you might be interested in checking out our comprehensive review of Blackberry’s first BB10 device, the Z10.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC One Launch Date: March 22nd [Rumor], Scosche Lightning Connector Cables Now Available,

BlackBerry’s BlackBerry 10 launch event that occurred a few weeks back didn’t have that many head-scratching moments, in fact, we think the only time a moment like that occurred was when Alicia Keys was announced to be the company’s official creative director. It looks like that comfy new position may be open in the very near future as Keys was caught using a device that wasn’t a BlackBerry 10 device yesterday.

Yesterday morning, Keys sent out a tweet saying “Started from the bottom now were here!” which aside from its grammatical errors, is a nice enough message. The problem is she sent out that tweet from the Twitter for iPhone application even though she’s reportedly has said she will be BlackBerry 10 exclusive from now on. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: No Entry-Level BlackBerry 10 Smartphone in 2013, HBO Go Available On Apple TV Through Airplay Feature,

Blackberry is one of several to sign on a celebrity to help push its platform, having recently announced that Alicia Keys is its new Global Creative Director with the launch of Blackberry 10. All was well for a couple weeks until tweets surfaced under Keys’ Twitter account from an iPhone, her previous handset of choice. According to the singer, she was hacked.

According to the New York Times, more than one tweet was present on her Twitter account from the iPhone, as well as images recently taken with Instagram, which you won’t find on any Blackberry handset. All of the activity has since been deleted, but it nonetheless makes her response to the issue seem less plausible than it would have if only one iPhone-sent tweet was present – that she was hacked.

As you can see in the screenshot above, Keys says that she did not send out the “Started from the bottom now were [sic] here” tweet, instead blaming it on being “hacked.” Her spokesperson has a different angle to the story, however, insinuating that Keys’ posted those tweets before officially “breaking up” with her iPhone.

Said Keys’ spokesman Rhett Usry: “The Internet is buzzing with speculation as to the exact time Alicia Keys ‘broke up’ with her previous smart phone. After a transitional period, she’s officially an exclusive BlackBerry 10 user today.” Which is it? We’ll never know, but the moral of the story is either to keep your Twitter password secret, or be careful when using a handset other than the one you’re supposed to exclusively represent.

[via The Verge]

Blackberry’s celebrity director Alicia Keys tweets with iPhone, blames it on hacker is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.