The comparison is obvious: BlackBerry‘s already-infamous “Can’t Do” commercial in this year’s Super Bowl vs. Apple’s legendary “1984” spot in the 1984 game. Let’s do the comparison anyway, and consider some other tech advertising over 35 years of Super Bowls.
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Blackberry
It’s official: BlackBerry 10’s Android runtime layer will be updated to Jelly Bean. Reports of the announcement, which should please users looking to shore up the platform’s app selection, surfaced this morning, apparently stemming from the company’s developer-focused BB Jam Europe event in Amsterdam. We’ve since reached out and received confirmation that it is indeed true, although no timetable has yet to be announced. In the meantime, current Z10 owners can continue to sideload Gingerbread-based apps — which the runtime layer currently supports — while they wait for those big name, third-party apps to land in the BlackBerry World store.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Software, Mobile, Blackberry
Via: CrackBerry
BlackBerry’s home turf of Canada didn’t quite get the honor of carrying the BlackBerry Z10 first — that went to the British — but it’s rectifying that today with a full-scale release. Bell, Rogers and Telus, as well as their respective Virgin Mobile, Fido and Koodo budget labels, are selling the inaugural BlackBerry 10 device now. Those subscribed to one of the Big Three will normally pay about $150 if they sign their lives away on a 3-year contract, or between $550 to $600 outright. Smaller carriers like Mobilicity, Videotron and Wind Mobile haven’t yet launched the Z10 themselves, although they promise sales soon. BlackBerry fans south of the border, meanwhile, will just have to stare longingly until March if they’re not bent on imports.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry
Blackberry just announced at its Blackberry Jam event in Amsterdam that it’ll have a Limited Edition Z10 smartphone sporting a flaming red exterior for developers only. It’ll release just 12,000 of the devices, but extended the previous deadline application for qualified coders to February 28th. Now, if we could just think of an app to get started on… see the MC link below for the detailed application process.
Filed under: Cellphones, Blackberry
Source: Blackberry Dev Blog
Between multiple simultaneous press conferences and sinking funds into a questionable Super Bowl commercial, BlackBerry is keen to make sure that its BB10-powered hardware is still on your mind. Really, the only thing that BlackBerry hasn’t been very comfortable talking about in public is when exactly the Z10 will make its long-awaited U.S. debut.
Those are announcements best left to carriers, and thankfully they’re not immune to leaks — according to a handset launch calendar obtained by TmoNews, BlackBerry’s Z10 will make its T-Mobile debut on March 27. Sadly, the calendar lacks pricing details, but I wouldn’t expect T-Mobile to stray too far (if at all) from the $199 price point Verizon has already advertised.
Sorry, BlackBerry fanatics — it was no secret that BlackBerry was eying a March launch window for the Z10′s domestic debut, but a launch late in the month may only making that sense of gadget-centric yearning even harder to bear. Meanwhile, the Z10 has already launched in the U.K. (where it seems to be doing rather well), and our neighbors in Canada will be able to pick one up come February 5 (i.e. tomorrow).
While at the company’s New York launch event, CEO Thorsten Heins pegged the Z10′s domestic launch delay on the extensive testing process that carriers are putting it through. Though just about every major carrier in the U.S. has pledged to support the Waterloo-based company’s new hardware, there’s still no word on when they plan to push them out the door. That hasn’t stopped them from talking about their plans in broad strokes though — Verizon will exclusively carry the white Z10 spotted before the platform’s launch, and Sprint plans to skip the Z10 in favor of the slightly more traditional Q10 when it launches some time in April.
Turns out, the 27th could be a very big day for any T-Mo customer looking to pick up some shiny new hardware — other releases slated for that day include LTE-friendly versions of the Galaxy S III and the carrier’s Sonic mobile hotspot.
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
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
With BlackBerry 10 devices wending their way into the hands of patient fans, there’s been some uncertainty as to just what service plans customers need to reach the new platform’s full potential. The short answer, after confirmations at CrackBerry: just about any of them. Unlike older BlackBerrys, the Z10 and future models don’t require tiers with BlackBerry Internet Service or BlackBerry Enterprise Server support in order to work their push messaging magic. Those migrating from a regular BlackBerry plan won’t have to worry about switching, though. The lone exceptions are subscribers who have barebones, social-only plans where BIS serves as the filter. While the switch could lead to price hikes for those cost-conscious users, it’s otherwise good news for BlackBerry devotees who’ve wanted the same choice in service as the rest of their smartphone-owning peers.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, RIM
Source: CrackBerry
I confess, I’m intrigued by BlackBerry 10. Surprised? So am I. It’s been easy to pre-emptively count BlackBerry out of the smartphone wars based on its performance over the last two or three years, but there’s an element of mystique and personality that have made me quite curious to give the new OS a shot. While Wednesday’s BB10 launch answered a lot of questions, it also raised a lot of new ones. Most of the mysteries revolve around its ecosystem, hardware quality, competitive advantages / disadvantages and if the platform can persuade Android and iOS users to switch. As a former Pearl and Curve owner, I want — nay, need — to determine for myself how well BlackBerry’s latest effort holds up against its rivals. Thus, I have decided to use the BlackBerry Z10 as my sole device and daily driver for thirty days.
From now until March 3rd, I’ll experience nearly every aspect of BB10: the UI and its learning curve, its performance and battery life, BlackBerry World, the highly praised virtual keyboard and how well it can handle my work load. I’ll even use the phone at MWC, a major international trade show in which I’ll be even more dependent on my mobile than usual. Throughout this process I’ll be documenting my thoughts, feelings and emotions and deliver them in a regular series of weekly posts. By the end, we’ll see whether or not BB10 can win my heart; is it a suitable replacement for the average iOS or Android user, or does the company still have a difficult path ahead of it? Time will tell, and I’m eager to find out.
Note: If you want to keep updated on my posts, be sure to use the “BradBerry” tag!
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, RIM
After delays and a software preview, RIM BlackBerry finally pulled the wraps off of it’s new hardware and operating system that we’d been looking for the end of January to bring. In this week’s edition of our e-publication, we take a look at all of the wares that the Canadian company unveiled in order to determine if it’s enough to reinvent the outfit. We also rundown the history of the unit formally known as Research in Motion to paint a complete picture of the road leading up to this week’s proceedings. Of course, there’s more than just BlackBerry stuffs to peruse. Hands-On visits NAMM 2013, Weekly Stat tallies up earnings season and we get cozy with the Pebble Smartwatch. There’s plenty of time for a bit of weekend reading, so head to your favorite repository to snag the goods.
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Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile
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