Hasta La Gadget!

When the company formerly known as RIM first announced that they’d be working on the system that would eventually become BlackBerry 10, it was a year and a half ago. It takes a long time to develop an operating system, even when it’s a mobile operating system meant to operate with far fewer abilities than a full-powered desktop OS – but that’s not where BlackBerry went wrong. The company known as BlackBerry fell apart the moment they announced a new operating system more than a week before they showed it working in the real world.

The original name for BlackBerry 10 was BBX – lost to the company when they discovered someone else that thought to put those three letters together before RIM did. Each time an incident like this happened over the past year and a half, RIM lost another brick of confidence in the public. They’ve had so much bad press between the announcement of BBX and here in 2013 where they’ve announced the OS (again) that it should be considered no less than a miracle that they’ve gotten so very many developers to join their team with BlackBerry 10 apps.

Of course about 40% of those apps are simply converted iterations of Android apps, but who’s counting? Giving away free special edition smartphones to developer initiatives helps!

Now while the all-touch half of the BlackBerry 10 party is already out in Canada and the UK with the device called BlackBerry Z10, it’s been made clear that the earliest we’ll see BlackBerry 10 in the wild in the USA will be the end of March. This is also only the Z10 piece of the puzzle. The BlackBerry Q10, that being the QWERTY keyboard-toting BlackBerry 10 hero device here at the start of the OS, has been confirmed by BlackBerry to be hitting the market in April.

According to the Associated Press article published with Mercury News, BlackBerry’s CEO Thorsten Heins has suggested an 8-10 week window between the launch of the Z10 and the Q10. That would place the release for the Q10 back to May/June. Just a few months shy of two years after the first announcement of BlackBerry 10!

That’s no way to work in this modern mobile-minded market. A successful company like Samsung releases a new smartphone every few months – weeks in some cases – and refreshes a piece of hardware at least once a year (we’re nearly up to the Samsung Galaxy S IV here in 2013 after a new Galaxy S hero phone for several years in a row.) Apple has gotten to the point where they release a new iteration of their one singular handset, the iPhone, every single year without fail.

Will you join the BlackBerry 10 party with a Z10 at the end of March or the beginning of April if it does indeed see release in the USA? How about a BlackBerry Q10 several weeks after that?

BlackBerry 10 March release: far too late is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When BlackBerry held a launch event for its new mobile OS at the end of last month, it unveiled two handsets that will be running it: the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry Q10. While the Z10 is a touchscreen-only phone, the Q10 has a physical keyboard remiscient of the devices that made BlackBerry famous. If you’ve been holding out for the Q10 and you live in the US, we’re sorry to say that you might have to wait until May or June to get your hands on one.

In an interview with the Associated Press (via ABC News), BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins gave us a rough idea of when we can expect the Q10 to launch in the US. He didn’t give specifics, but he did say that the Q10 probably won’t start popping up on carrier shelves until 8 to 10 weeks after the Z10 has launched. With the Z10 not arriving until mid-March, it could be summer by the time we see the Q10.

Of course, what Heins said isn’t set in stone. It’s more up to the carriers than anything else, as they will all want to test it before deciding to offer it. So, there’s a possibility that the Q10 will launch at some carriers in the US earlier than this May-June window. In the end, we’ll have to wait for each carrier to announce their own release dates for the BlackBerry Q10.

It certainly sounds like the BlackBerry Q10 has a lot to live up to, as we’ve been hearing that the Z10 has been selling out in some areas in the UK and posting excellent pre-order numbers in Canada and UAE. Reviews seem to be generally positive as well, so if BlackBerry can hit it out of the park with the Q10, the company will be in good shape. Be sure to check out SlashGear’s hands-on with the BlackBerry Q10 to hear our initial impressions!

BlackBerry Q10 may not launch in US until May or June is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at BlackBerry have sent out a whopping 12,000 BlackBerry Z10 Red edition smartphones to developers across the world. Packages have been sent this with a note thanking these developers for “taking a leap of faith” in working with BlackBerry before and through the release of BlackBerry 10. This device appears to be exactly the same as the standard BlackBerry Z10 (see our full review here) device save the limited-edition red color casing.

The “Limited Edition Process” can still be seen on the official BlackBerry website for developers with a mystery package at the end of a timeline. This set of instructions shows that it was developers working with BlackBerry 10 apps and submitting a qualifying app to the company before January 21st, 2013, that were able to get in on this hot red party. This process was originally shown to have been delivering a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device which was then requested back before the BlackBerry 10 Launch Event.

UPDATE: Developers can still get in on the action as the BlackBerry team has extended the deadline for the Limited Edition Z10 to February 28th – head to that Limited Edition Process link and get your coding fingers out!

Amazingly it appears that a “6-8 week” launch window has been broken to pieces by BlackBerry (still called RIM when this whole process began) as developers have already begun receiving what up until now was still a mystery package. The package was described as simply “The Limited Edition device” and was noted as being “a specially designed fully functional BlackBerry 10 device built to help recognize those developers that helped launch the BlackBerry 10 platform by submitting quality 3rd party applications.” Rather simple and entirely enticing.

This is now one of three different editions of the BlackBerry Z10 that will be on the market, the first being a standard black version and the second being a white edition offered only through Verizon (thus far). There will of course also be different editions based on the radios required for each different mobile carrier both here in the United States and abroad – and it’s looking like the end of March is going to be the delivery window on the whole – can’t wait!

[via BlackBerry]

BlackBerry Z10 Limited Edition Red sent to 12,000 developers for free is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

BlackBerry has a lot riding on the release of its newest mobile operating system, and it seems that one of its latest handsets – the BlackBerry Z10 – is getting off to a respectable start in some areas of the world. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said in a note to investors today that the BlackBerry Z10 has launched to great consumer reception in the UK, selling out in some places. It isn’t doing too bad in other regions like Canada and UAE either, so BlackBerry might just have a winner on its hands.

Misek said that major UK carriers like EE, O2, and Orange are seeing high demand for the new handset, while Carphone Warehouse is actually experiencing “widespread sellouts.” He also claimed that sell-through rates could be as high as several hundred thousand in the UK, which is definitely a good sign for the struggling BlackBerry. Canada and UAE are two places where the phone is enjoying high pre-order numbers, though Misek didn’t talk specifics.

If Misek’s estimates are accurate, then the BlackBerry Z10 is off to an excellent start. Apparently, the white variant of the device is a bit more popular than the black variant, with the white ones in particular selling out at Carphone Warehouse. That doesn’t mean the black variant is unpopular, however, as that one is also experiencing limited stock in some places.

BlackBerry 10 is the company’s best shot at climbing out of the rut it’s worked itself into over the past few years. It used to be that BlackBerry phones were all the rage, but then Android and Apple came along to steal massive amounts of market share. Can this new OS and the Z10 help BlackBerry regain its former glory? It’s definitely a long shot, but things are looking good at this early stage. Stay tuned, and be sure to check out review of the BlackBerry Z1) to see what we thought of the device!

[via CNET]

BlackBerry Z10 experiencing sell outs, limited stock across UK is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

BlackBerry vowed to pull out all the stops to get BlackBerry 10 noticed — and the company certainly isn’t holding back with its promised Super Bowl spot. The ad claims that it’s easier to show what the Z10 can’t do in 30 seconds than what it can, and goes to extremes that include setting a man on fire and giving him elephant legs. We do still get a glance (or rather, Peek) at the phone itself, thankfully. Does the commercial make us want to drop everything for a Z10? Not necessarily, but we’ll likely remember what we saw. Check the clip for yourself after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry

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