Hasta La Gadget!

BlackBerry’s rich history of tactile keyboards continues in its Q10, a tiny device with a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED screen and … well, a full keyboard. We’ve already gone hands-on with the device, and you’ll get to do the same come April, but we couldn’t help wondering: how does it stack up against its spiritual forebear, the BlackBerry Bold? We snapped a handful of comparison shots to answer just that question, which you can see for yourself in the gallery below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Mobile, RIM

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Today at BlackBerry‘s launch event in New York City, we saw the company officially unveil their new BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 smartphones running their new BlackBerry 10 operating system. The Q10 is the company’s latest smartphone with a physical QWERTY keyboard (obviously), and we ended up getting our hands on the new device to see what makes this thing tick.

While we certainly love the full touchscreen of the BlackBerry Z10, those who prefer the more traditional physical keyboards of BlackBerry devices will definitely want to check out the Q10. However, it’s hybrid device of sorts, sporting both a touch interface and a physical QWERTY keyboard for those that want a little of both worlds.

The Q10 has a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution 720×720, and it’s slightly larger than the Bold 9930 that its replacing. Plus, it sports a higher pixel density of 328 ppi The screen looks to be pretty vibrant, and saturation and contrast levels look superb. The back of the device as the camera and LED flash in the upper-right corner, and the blackplate has a nice carbon fiber look and texture to it that we find quite pleasant.

Other than that, there’s volume buttons on the right side, as well as the necessary ports on the left side. The keyboard lights up as well with white LEDs that definitely give the Q10 a lot of attitude. While the 3.1-inch display may be incredibly small on paper, it really works on this device, and we can’t say that many people will have a problem with it.

BlackBerry Q10 hands-on is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the first reviews of the BlackBerry 10 all-touch hero phone are appearing one by one, and this BlackBerry Z10 (as its called) is appearing to be a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to appearing as your one true “must have” device. While we’re seeing the consensus surrounding the software to be relatively positive and the hardware to be generally OK, it would appear that this device may be what many have feared: too little too late. Hope should not be lost though on this one initial push – the final product may be just what you, the business professional, ordered.

If you’re looking at the review posted by Engadget you’ll find that Tim Stevens (with contributions from Zach Honig and Edgar Alvarez) spoke highly of the operating system once it was up and running. Noting that BlackBerry has made it clear that they want their brand to reflect the speed of the experience as “Keeping You Moving”, the final product “needs to be very quick to respond.” Luckily by their measure, “most apps apps launch promptly and, once launched, are snappy and responsive.” Unfortunately the boot-up time appares to be taking more than a minute “after the battery is removed” and up to 30 seconds to shut down – not all that positive!

Over at CNET it would appear that Jessica Dolcourt has positive things to say about the user interface as well as the camera, noting that it appears that while the device may not be able to draw users away from the iPhone or Android easily, BlackBerry users will be pleased with the experience. While the camera does improve on previous BlackBerry models, it would appear that, according to Dolcourt, “Despite the thin toolset, image quality was pretty decent.” She also notes that users should skip the device entirely if they “have no patience to learn a new UI.”

With AllThingsD you’ll find the Walt Mossberg review with a rather simple bottom line: “I believe it [the BlackBerry Z10] has a chance of getting RIM back into the game, if the company can attract a lot more apps.” That’s a “radical” reinvention of BlackBerry, he notes, but there’s no surprisingly fabulous features that stand out as above and beyond the competition.

Reviewer Kevin Michaluk from CrackBerry notes that the Z10 is “more than a bare-bones 1.0″ product, making sure to mention that BlackBerry 10 has “evolved dramatically in all directions” in the time between his first look in the summer of 2012 and now. The CrackBerry review makes no effort to hide that it’s more of an exploration of the device and the software than it is a simple review and judgement of said products, tending to hardcore BlackBerry users first – for them they add that the software “addresses basically every nagging issue we’ve ever had with the legacy BlackBerry OS.”

The general word from Joshua Topolsky from The Verge was that unless you’re specifically interested in supporting BlackBerry for your own love of the brand, the Z10 is the smartphone for you. On the other hand, the review makes it simple once again: “there are better phones on the market, and I don’t yet see a compelling reason for most customers to choose this phone over those better ones.” A review from TechRadar by John McCann gives some insight on the physical makeup of the smartphone, noting the weight specifically to be a “happy medium” between the Lumia 920 (“nowhere near as heavy”) and the iPhone 5 (“not as feather light”).

Then there’s the ABC News Tech This Out review from Joanna Stern who mentions that though “it’s not a beautiful or elegant phone” it’s still “well-made and comfortable to hold.” She also speaks highly of the speed of the device, noting that, “it gives even the best Android phones and the iPhone 5 a run for their money in terms of speed.” Sound like a win to you?

We’ll be keeping our ear to the wire for user reactions galore when this device is released around the world in the next few months, so stay tuned. Have a peek at the timeline below for more news surrounding the release of BlackBerry 10 as well as the BlackBerry Z10 and the keyboard-toting BlackBerry Q10 as well. Will you be joining (or re-joining) the BlackBerry pack this season? Let us know!

BlackBerry Z10 Review roundup: BlackBerry 10 touches the press is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Liked what you saw? Even happier then, as a Brit, you’ll likely be getting your hands on it months before your US cousins. UK networks have started to announce availability for the handset, with EE, O2, Three and Vodafone already confirmed to be stocking the Z10. Retailers that will also be selling the new BB10 hardware in the British Isles include Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U.

Retailer Phones 4U will launch both color options (exclusively, at least initially) although it hasn’t ventured a contract-free price just yet. The Carphone Warehouse, meanwhile will be offering the Z10 free on contracts of £36 per month on the major networks.

Vodafone will offer the Z10 for £29 on the £42 a month Red Data plan, including unlimited calls and texts as well as 2GB of internet. It’ll be free on the £47 a month variant of the plan, or cost £69 one-off payment on the £37 per month plan. Three UK hasn’t revealed any details beyond that it’ll be stocking the handset.

While all Z10 devices sold will be ready for 4G, according the Waterloo crew, the BlackBerry Z10 will be available to utilize EE’s existing 4G service immediately. The price? It’ll be £50 on a £41 per-month 24 month package, with 1GB of mobile data, as well as unlimited UK calls and texts. No word just yet on whether Orange and T-Mobile will be offering cheaper bundles later. We’ll update here when we hear more pricing details from the other players.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, RIM

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BlackBerry’s accessories are almost as interesting as its first BB10 shipping hardware, and in addition to an external battery charger, they’ve also got a Bluetooth Mini Stereo Speaker/speakerphone that’s extremely portable, delivers decent sound and won’t cost you an arm and a leg at $79.99. Plus, the unique design means it clips onto your sun visor in the car for hands-free communication.

The sound quality from the speaker is decent, much better than a lot of more expensive devices (though I’d still prefer a Jambox for audio fidelity), and it can actually go quite loud. Not room-filling or anything, but plenty loud for private listening. But the main advantages are the fact that it acts as a very good Bluetooth speakerphone, charges via micro USB (and can be charged with your external Z10 charger), can go weeks without a charge and has a 3.5mm headset jack, which essentially makes it a Bluetooth receiver for use with a stereo or headphones.

The hardware accessory market is a place where it’s hard to compete with platforms like iOS and Android, and that’s likely why BlackBerry is taking an early interest in doing things itself. And they’re off to a good start in that regard, if my experience with this speaker is any indication.