Hasta La Gadget!

A couple of months back the ailing Canadian manufacturer launched its first phablet, the BlackBerry Z30. It is offered in the U.S. exclusively by Verizon, but there exists the possibility that Verizon might lose this exclusivity in the near future. A BlackBerry Z30 variant compatible with AT&T has surfaced at the FCC, and while that’s no confirmation that the carrier is going to launch the phablet, it does give some hope to those AT&T subscribers that have been waiting for this phablet to launch on their carrier.

The Z30 is a rather unique device, it is the last BB10 device to be produced under ex-CEO Thorsten Heins and produced before the company radically changed its course. It has now brought Foxconn onboard as a partner, while the company has reduced the number of devices that its going to release in 2014. Besides that, the Z30 is the first BlackBerry device to have a 5 inch 720×1,280 pixel resolution display with a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM and 16GB of onboard storage. While sales of BlackBerry devices have dipped in this year, it wouldn’t hurt the company to have its device available on another major U.S. carrier. AT&T and BlackBerry have yet t0 comment on the possibility of a Z30 launch.

AT&T Compatible BlackBerry Z30 Shows Up At The FCC original content from Ubergizmo.

As the leaves turn to gold and flutter from the trees, the Engadget team digs out their scarves and mittens to get ready for the mad rush of phone launches that take place ahead of the holiday season. We’ve seen big devices (both large and high-profile ones) enter the world over the last few months, including new heavyweights from Apple and Google. Then there’s Samsung, Nokia and HTC, which are all following the philosophy that bigger is better.

But it’s not just on the hardware side that things are getting exciting. T-Mobile’s eliminated roaming charges and Verizon is doubling its LTE speeds to a whopping 80 Mbps. AT&T is offering customers a $5 daily pass for internet and is making mobile share plans the standard rather than the exception. Of course, if you’d prefer unlimited data, Sprint is promising that its Spark LTE will beat the field — but it’s currently only available in NYC, LA, Chicago, Tampa and Miami. Whether you’re looking for a smartphone right now, or if you’re contract is about to expire, this is your guide to the best ones on the market.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Google, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, LG, Blackberry, T-Mobile

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Just one day after the full press render of the device was leaked, Verizon today confirmed that it is going to launch the BlackBerry Z30 next month for $199 on contract. Big Red tweeted that the device will be available this November, though it didn’t reveal an exact date, so one can only guess when BlackBerry’s new phablet is going to be launched within the 30 days of November. Apparently the BlackBerry Z30 is a Verizon exclusive in the U.S., there has been no indication as yet of any other U.S. carrier launching it as well.

The BlackBerry Z30 was announced back in September, it is the company’s first phablet that has a 5 inch HD display. Customers will be able to purchase it from Verizon next month for $199 along with a two year service contract. Verizon Edge plan is also available for eligible customers who’ll only have to pay $22.91 per month for 24 months. As previously rumored, Verizon’s variant of the BlackBerry Z30 also comes with support for wireless charging. The phablet has a 2,880mAh battery which is said to be good for 25 hours of mixed usage. Hopefully within the next few days Verizon will officially announce the exact release date, so prospective customers can mark their calendars.

Verizon BlackBerry Z30 Launches This November For $199 On Contract original content from Ubergizmo.

Back in September after months of being rumored and having its photos leaked, the BlackBerry Z30 was finally launched. There was no mention as to which carrier the handset will be making its way to in the states, although a leaked image did suggest that Verizon, at the very least, would be offering it. Well it turns out that is very true and not only will Verizon carry the device, it looks like they will be getting an exclusive on the handset, meaning that other carriers in the US will not be selling the BlackBerry Z30, at least not anytime in the immediate future.

This is according to a leaked screenshot which reveals that the handset will be priced at $299.99 along with a new 2-year contract, with the handset’s availability pegged for the 31st of October. The BlackBerry Z30, for those unfamiliar, will feature a 5” Super AMOLED HD display and will be powered by a quad-core chipset under the hood, along with a feature BlackBerry is calling “Natural Sound” which supposedly helps to boost audio quality coming from the device. It will also come with a decently sized 2,880mAh battery and will presumably be running on the latest version of BlackBerry 10. So, any Verizon subscribers out there planning on picking up the handset themselves?

BlackBerry Z30 To Arrive On Verizon 31st October original content from Ubergizmo.

Despite BlackBerry not exactly being the hottest brand at the moment (although they did nab a spot on Top 100 Innovators of 2013), it seems that the company still has a handful of loyal customers as evidenced in Malaysia where the BlackBerry Z30 was launched a couple of days ago on the 5th of October. The handset was offered by local carrier, Celcom, and the launch saw about 100 individuals who started lining up as early as 8am. According to the reports, BlackBerry managed to sell about 200 units of the BlackBerry Z30 in a matter of 2 hours, and we expect that the number will grow as more customers are introduced to the device over time.

We’re not sure how many Z30 units have been sold worldwide, but 200 units in 2 hours is a pretty decent effort by BlackBerry, granted it is not the eye-watering millions that companies such as Apple and Samsung have managed to rack up in the past. The BlackBerry Z30 will be BlackBerry’s largest handset to date and sports a 5” HD display and a quad-core processor, making it a more attractive device in a market where large displays are starting to become a highly desired feature. Will BlackBerry be able to replicate this success in other markets? We guess only time will tell.

BlackBerry Sells 200 Z30 Units In 2 Hours During Malaysian Launch original content from Ubergizmo.