Hasta La Gadget!

It’s finally time to take a peek at BlackBerry 10‘s first big smartphone presentation here in the United States with the Verizon iteration of the BlackBerry Z10. This device is an all-touch smartphone – that feature a given on most other mobile operating systems, but a relatively new concept for BlackBerry – and works with Verizon’s rather speedy 4G LTE network. What we’re looking at here on day 1 are just the basics: what’s different from the international edition?

In our original BlackBerry Z10 Review, Chris Davies spoke about both the hardware and the software in great detail. Lucky for you, not a whole lot has changed since that device was ready for action nearly 2 months ago. Here with the Verizon version we’ve only got the addition of big red’s 4G LTE connectivity compatibility and a couple of Verizon account apps.

With My Verizon Mobile and Backup Plus Contacts you’ll now have the ability to work with your Verizon bill and monitor the data you’ve used during the month. You’ll be able to back up your contact list with Verizon as often as you’d like. And that’s it.

This version of the BlackBerry Z10 uses the same 2 megapixel camera on the front, the same 8 megapixel camera on the back with LED flash, and the same processor under the hood. Inside you’ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, the same that exists in every version of the Z10 that exists thus far – this same processor is used in such phones as the Samsung Galaxy S III (USA edition), the Motorola DROID RAZR HD, and the HTC One X (USA edition). You’ll also find the first, most updated, and only version of BlackBerry 10 mobile OS on the market.

Up front you’ve got a lovely 4.2-inch 1280 x 768 pixel LCD display, complete with the third-densest pixel arrangement on the market. While the HTC One wins at the moment with 468 Pixels Per Inch, and the HTC DROID DNA is in second (with the Xperia Z and GALAXY S 4) with 441 PPI, the BlackBerry Z10 stands alone as holding the only display on the market with 355 PPI. Of course at that level of density, it’s nearly impossible to tell the difference between the lot with the naked eye, but it’s always fun to compare!

Have a peek at our hands-on photos above and below, keep your eye tuned to our BlackBerry Z10 tag portal for more information on this device and see the timeline below for our adventures with BlackBerry 10 up to and including this week!

Verizon BlackBerry Z10 hands-on and unboxing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The BlackBerry Z10 is BlackBerry’s newest attempt at chiseling away at market share, and while the device is out now in several countries, including the US, it could take some time to find out if the Z10 is indeed stealing the hearts of iOS, Android, And Windows Phone users around the world. In the meantime, the curious minds at iFixit have gotten a hold of the device and did what they do best.

Of course, this isn’t the first teardown of the Z10, but it’s the first time that iFixit has had a chance to pry it open. Overall, there was nothing too special with this teardown. iFixit was pleasantly surprised by the removable battery, since that’s something we no longer usually see nowadays. After removing the rear panel and the battery, there are just a handful of screws and a plastic casing that hide the internals from curious eyes.

The screws that hold the plastic midframe in place also double as screws holding the motherboard in place, so once those screws are removed, a couple of disconnections is all it takes to pop out the motherboard, meaning that there’s no glue holding the main circuitry in place. The camera module pops off the motherboard with ease as well.

As for the unit’s display, it’s held to its frame with a few screws and a dab of adhesive to keep it in place, but it was also fairly easy to remove as well. However, as with Apple devices, the digitizer and the glass are fused together, making the entire display unit extremely thin. The glass is a hardened variant, but it’s not Gorilla Glass.

The only difficult things to remove were the smaller accessories around the edges of the device, including the headphone jack, power switch, ambient light sensor, and earpiece speaker housing, which are all built into a single assembly that’s held in place with stronger adhesive than any of the other components. Overall, iFixit gives the BlackBerry Z10 a repairability score of 8/10, which is certainly respectable.

BlackBerry Z10 gets torn down by iFixit is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 are getting ready for their full launch later this month, but in order to have a great mobile platform, you have to have an ample selection of apps to choose from. Luckily, BlackBerry is making strides in its BlackBerry World app store, where there are now 100,000 BlackBerry 10 apps available for download.

What’s perhaps more impressive, however, is the fact that BlackBerry World gained 30,000 apps in just seven weeks, since the company reported back in January that they were at the 70,000-app mark. Of course, this isn’t too surprising, and frankly it’s quite expected, as BlackBerry has been offering incentives for developers who create apps for BlackBerry 10.

Plenty of popular apps are available from BlackBerry World, including Facebook, Foursquare, NOVA 3, and Angry Birds. Also, BlackBerry announced that Amazon’s Kindle app just launched today, and “in the coming weeks,” BlackBerry 10 users will be treated with even more apps, such as eBay, eMusic, MLB at Bat, Rdio, Skype, and Soundhound.

The BlackBerry Z10 will hit the US starting tomorrow on AT&T, while BlackBerry’s PlayBook tablet will receive an update to BlackBerry 10 sometime in the near future. 100,000 apps may not seem like a lot compared to Google’s or Apple’s own offerings, but it’s certainly a good start for such a new platform, and we expect BlackBerry World to keep growing over the next few years.

BlackBerry World app store reaches 100,000 apps is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Last month, BlackBerry (formerly known as RIM) unveiled the BlackBerry Z10, the company’s latest smartphone that looks to take on the flagship devices of other major mobile platforms. We already know that the new device will be making its way to Verizon, but we weren’t sure of the exact date. However, Verizon has come out and said that the Z10 will be available starting on March 28, with pre-orders beginning tomorrow morning at 8 am ET.

Verizon says that the new Z10 will be available online and in Verizon Wireless stores starting March 28, and customers will have their pick at either a black or white model, with white being a Verizon exclusive. So, if you’re wanting to show off your Verizon pride, getting a white Z10 will be the only way to fully stand out from the other Z10 owners.

As expected, Verizon will be pricing the BlackBerry Z10 at $199.99 after signing a new two-year contract, which may be a bit too steep for such a device, but we digress. Verizon won’t be the first US carrier to make the phone available, however. T-Mobile made the Z10 available to its business customers first starting on March 11, with AT&T releasing the Z10 on March 22.

Of course, the $199 price tag puts the Z10 at the same price point as the entry level iPhone 5 model, which may raise some concerns as far as whether or not the Z10 can compete with the iPhone 5, especially when they’re the same price. As for the Q10, Verizon will be offering it eventually, but no further details have been announced yet.

Verizon BlackBerry Z10 available March 28, pre-orders start tomorrow is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

BlackBerry is willing to try new things. Take BlackBerry 10 for example; it’s a completely new platform for the company and they’re willing to take risks in order to attempt to gain more market share. However, one thing they won’t do is sell phones under $50. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins says that this would be out of the ordinary for the company.

During a Q&A conference at BlackBerry’s headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario in Canada, Heins said that “you will not see [BlackBerry] getting into the 50-, 60-buck phone segment. This is not BlackBerry.” The company has no plans to manufacturer budget phones for developing countries. BlackBerry recently launched the Z10 in India for an unsubsidized $800.

Instead of budget phones, Heins mentioned that the company plans to release new phones “based on BlackBerry 10, all fully LTE-capable, the whole 10 yards, that are more geared towards those price bands where people need to be.” In other words, expect paying a couple hundred dollars for a new BlackBerry device on contract.

While $800 for an unsubsidized BlackBerry Z10 may seem like a steep price, Heins notes that the phone sold out in India after two days, even though the company supplied five days of inventory to the country based on realistic sales estimates. This may seem surprising, but India accounts for around 20% of BlackBerry’s Asia-Pacific sales.

[via Bloomberg]

BlackBerry CEO says company won’t sell $50 phones is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.