Hasta La Gadget!

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

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It was AT&T’s turn earlier this week, and now it’s Verizon’s. Big Red has confirmed that its edition of the BlackBerry Z10 will be in stores on March 28th, just a week after it surfaces at its first major US carrier. Pricing will remain the same $200 on a contract, although Verizon has a decided edge for fans of variety: it’ll have an American exclusive on the white model, albeit with conspicuous branding. Pre-orders start March 14th at both Verizon itself (starting from 8AM) and Best Buy, so those who’ve embraced Hubs and Peeks can commit to a Z10 very quickly.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Verizon, Blackberry

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Source: Verizon

What used to be one of the major smartphone manufacturers in the world is now nothing but a pale shadow of itself, and I am referring to the company formerly known as Research In Motion, or RIM for short, that hails from the Great White North. Well, RIM changed their name recently at the end of January this year to just BlackBerry, in an effort to be able to better connect with their customer base (future or current one), in addition to introducing a couple of new BlackBerry smartphones with the all-new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Of course, the BlackBerry Z10 is one of them, and we have word from AT&T that from March 22nd onwards, the BlackBerry Z10 will be made available to interested parties.

Pre-sales of the BlackBerry Z10 will kick off from March 12th onwards, where you will have to drop $199.99 for the BlackBerry Z10 which will come with a two-year agreement. Of course, the asking price is pretty much in line with the rest of the high end models from other smartphone manufacturers regardless of the mobile operating system. Corporate customers or those receiving a corporate discount can get their BlackBerry Z10 via all available AT&T channels when March 22nd rolls around.

What makes the BlackBerry Z10 more special than all the other BlackBerry devices out there? For starters, this is said to be the first smartphone that has launched with the re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry 10 platform, where it will enable customers to enjoy a powerful and unique new mobile experience. Also, this is the fastest and most advanced BlackBerry smartphone to date, and will boast of an all-touch keyboard, a high-resolution 4.2-inch display and an 8-megapixel camera that is more than capable of handling 1080p HD video. Other than that, this is also the first BlackBerry device that plays nice with AT&T’s 4G LTE network. Any takers?

Press Release
[ AT&T to offer BlackBerry Z10 this March 22nd copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

It was something of a black eye for BlackBerry when it came out that Sprint wouldn’t be carrying the all-touch Z10 BB10 smartphone. A huge relaunch, integral to the company’s future success, and one of the four major U.S. carriers was taking a pass on the first hardware. But the carrier is going to sell the keyboard-toting Q10, and will also sell what could be a Z10 successor, complete with touch-only interface, later in 2013.

AllThingsD reported earlier today that Sprint would have an all-touch device, which it described as not just a slightly modified Z10. This new phone is being launched in the second half of the year, according to AllThingsD’s sources, likely well after the launch of the upcoming Q10 with its hardware keyboard. The Verge followed up this earlier report with a supporting claim that describes the Sprint handset as a “version 2.0″ of the Z1o, according to its sources.

Sprint’s decision to pass on the Z10 while all its competitors look poised to offer both that handset and the Q10 makes a little more sense in light of this rumor. The device may be a carrier-exclusive variant, which is something BlackBerry has been known to do in the past in its former guise as RIM. But both sources of these new reports seem to indicate that what we’ll see won’t be simply a refreshed Z10 with some different specs, but a different all-touch device. No word on where it might fit in term of appealing to upscale or more budget-minded consumers.

A Z10 follow-up might actually be worth waiting for those interested in BB10, since the Z10 itself was impressive, but nonetheless a little rough around the edges. Some more time to bake might be just what the doctor ordered for an all-touch BlackBerry 10 device, and Sprint might be banking on that to help it become the carrier of choice for RIM’s next-gen mobile OS. We’ve contacted BlackBerry to see if there’s any official comment about device release plans for Sprint, and will update if any is forthcoming.

The BlackBerry Z10 has already been available in various parts of the world — and will soon be delivered to T-Mobile business customers in the US — but most consumers within the 50 states are still exercising a bit of patience. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that American hopefuls will have to wait too much longer, as AT&T has announced that the flagship ‘Berry will be available for pre-order on March 12th for $199.99 on a two-year commitment, and should be ready for purchase in retail stores and online beginning March 22nd.

Update: Best Buy says it will also take Z10 pre-orders starting March 12th, in addition to carrying the phone on launch day.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T, Blackberry

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Source: AT&T