RIM got a new name today, and several new things were shown off, including: BlackBerry 10, the BlackBerry Z10, and the BlackBerry Q10.
What Happened?
"What's RIM?"
I've had to answer that question so many times in the past. RIM is Research in Motion, the company that makes BlackBerries. Remember those? The wildly popular smartphones that just crashed after they couldn't keep up with the iPhone and Android?
Well, RIM finally realized they have to do something if they want to keep existing. So they're changing their name to BlackBerry, which is going to cut down on a lot of confusion. "We have reinvented the company, and we want to represent this in our brand," said Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry CEO. "One brand. One promise. Our customers use a BlackBerry, our employees work for BlackBerry, and our shareholders are owners of BlackBerry."
RIM/BlackBerry also finally released BlackBerry 10, their brand new, touch screen smartphone operating system. Unlike Windows Phone and Android, BlackBerry 10 will not be licensed to others to put on their phones, the way Samsung licenses Android for use on it's phones. While BlackBerry hasn't said no to doing that, they haven't announced any plans to license their software currently, so for now you'll only see BlackBerry 10 on BlackBerry's devices.
BlackBerry 10 will not be easy to use at first, it introduces all kinds of new ways to interact with your phone. First of all, there's no home button. Basically every single smartphone ever, and most tablets, have a button at the bottom that takes you right back to the beginning. But on BlackBerry 10, to get home you swipe up on the screen.
In fact, there's a lot of swiping in BlackBerry 10. Swiping to the right brings up your "unified inbox," which is basically a notification center that lets you take action on new texts or other alerts without leaving the app you're currently in. We'll have more on the way BlackBerry 10 works in our Z10 review later today.
BlackBerry also announced two upcoming smartphones which will run BlackBerry 10, the Q10 and the Z10.
BlackBerry Z10
Update: Read our Z10 review here.
This smartphone is the all touchscreen one shown above, on the left. It's been long rumored, but now we're getting our first look at it. The phone will be available in both black and white. In the US, the white version will be exclusive to Verizon. Verizon and T-mobile are the only confirmed carriers for the Z10 at the moment, but the other two major carriers (Sprint and AT&T) are expected to announce today whether or not they will carry the phone, or it's sister, the Q10.
Verizon has confirmed that the Z10 will cost $199.99 with a two year contract, and it will be available in the US in mid-March.
(Update: Both Verizon and AT&T will carry both phones. Sprint will only carry the Q10, and T-mobile will only carry the Z10)
On the inside, the phone has a dual-core CPU at 1.5GHz (though BlackBerry hasn't said which processor it's using), 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. You will be able to expand that 16GB to 48GB using microSD cards, if you so wish.
The device has two cameras, as most phones do now a days. The rear-facing, 8 megapixel camera is capable of 1080p video capture and the front-facing, 2 megapixel camera is capable of 720p video.
BlackBerry specifically touted its new 4.2-inch display during the Z10's reveal today: a 1280 x 768, 356ppi LCD screen. This phone goes against the growing trend of making phones bigger and bigger. Personally, I like the 3.5-4.5 inch range, and BlackBerry is certainly tending to that market with this phone.
Update: The Z10 will feature 4G connectivity.
One pretty cool feature of this phone is the keyboard, which is all touch, obviously. The phone will learn the way you type, and notice when you mess up most often. So if you're always hitting "V" instead of "B," it will realize that and make the target for "B" bigger than the target for "V." So it will make it easy for you to hit the "B" you really want.
As with iOS and Android, the phone will try to guess what word you're typing. On Android, a list of possible words shows up above the keyboard and you can tap one of them and the phone will automatically type that word for you. On iOS the top suggestion shows up in the text box and you can enter it by hitting the space bar. On BlackBerry 10, the suggestions will show up above individual letters on the keyboard, and if you want the phone to finish the word for you, you swipe up on that key instead of just pressing it. This seems like it could be kind of confusing and clunky at first, but with time it could become pretty useful, and really speed up your typing time.
We'll have a review with some hands on video of the Z10, hopefully in the next couple of hours, so stick around to see the phone up close.
BlackBerry Q10
When BlackBerry was still RIM, and they were still really popular everywhere, the keyboard was a huge selling point. They do make good keyboards, but now its just a question of if we need a physical keyboard on a smartphone. The big danger, in my opinion, is that it makes the screen have such a weird shape, which makes it harder to develop apps for it.
The screen is 3.1 inches, and measures 720x720 pixels, which is a really weird resolution.
We know that the phone will feature a "glass weave cover on the back" that Heins said is "thinner, lighter, and stronger than plastic," and we know it will be released in April around the world, but for now specific pricing or specs information isn't available.
Update: According to a video released by BlackBerry the phone will feature "the biggest battery we've ever put in a phone" and will have 4G connectivity built in.
Update: The Q10 will be available on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint in the US.
The phone will be available in black and white as well.
This report brought to you by Crackberry.com's BlackBerry accessories.
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| The BlackBerry Z10 is on the left, and the Q10 is on the right |
- RIM, the makers of BlackBerry, have renamed themselves BlackBerry.
- They are releasing BlackBerry 10, their new operatgin system ment to compete with Android and iOS, as well as Windows Phone.
- They announced two phones, shown to the right. The Z10 is the all touchscreen phone, and the Q10 is the phone on the far right with a physical keyboard.
"What's RIM?"
I've had to answer that question so many times in the past. RIM is Research in Motion, the company that makes BlackBerries. Remember those? The wildly popular smartphones that just crashed after they couldn't keep up with the iPhone and Android?
Well, RIM finally realized they have to do something if they want to keep existing. So they're changing their name to BlackBerry, which is going to cut down on a lot of confusion. "We have reinvented the company, and we want to represent this in our brand," said Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry CEO. "One brand. One promise. Our customers use a BlackBerry, our employees work for BlackBerry, and our shareholders are owners of BlackBerry."
RIM/BlackBerry also finally released BlackBerry 10, their brand new, touch screen smartphone operating system. Unlike Windows Phone and Android, BlackBerry 10 will not be licensed to others to put on their phones, the way Samsung licenses Android for use on it's phones. While BlackBerry hasn't said no to doing that, they haven't announced any plans to license their software currently, so for now you'll only see BlackBerry 10 on BlackBerry's devices.
 |
| CEO Thorsten Heins. |
In fact, there's a lot of swiping in BlackBerry 10. Swiping to the right brings up your "unified inbox," which is basically a notification center that lets you take action on new texts or other alerts without leaving the app you're currently in. We'll have more on the way BlackBerry 10 works in our Z10 review later today.
BlackBerry also announced two upcoming smartphones which will run BlackBerry 10, the Q10 and the Z10.
BlackBerry Z10
Update: Read our Z10 review here.
This smartphone is the all touchscreen one shown above, on the left. It's been long rumored, but now we're getting our first look at it. The phone will be available in both black and white. In the US, the white version will be exclusive to Verizon. Verizon and T-mobile are the only confirmed carriers for the Z10 at the moment, but the other two major carriers (Sprint and AT&T) are expected to announce today whether or not they will carry the phone, or it's sister, the Q10.
Verizon has confirmed that the Z10 will cost $199.99 with a two year contract, and it will be available in the US in mid-March.
(Update: Both Verizon and AT&T will carry both phones. Sprint will only carry the Q10, and T-mobile will only carry the Z10)
On the inside, the phone has a dual-core CPU at 1.5GHz (though BlackBerry hasn't said which processor it's using), 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. You will be able to expand that 16GB to 48GB using microSD cards, if you so wish.
The device has two cameras, as most phones do now a days. The rear-facing, 8 megapixel camera is capable of 1080p video capture and the front-facing, 2 megapixel camera is capable of 720p video.
 |
| The Z10. Click to enlarge. |
BlackBerry specifically touted its new 4.2-inch display during the Z10's reveal today: a 1280 x 768, 356ppi LCD screen. This phone goes against the growing trend of making phones bigger and bigger. Personally, I like the 3.5-4.5 inch range, and BlackBerry is certainly tending to that market with this phone.
Update: The Z10 will feature 4G connectivity.
One pretty cool feature of this phone is the keyboard, which is all touch, obviously. The phone will learn the way you type, and notice when you mess up most often. So if you're always hitting "V" instead of "B," it will realize that and make the target for "B" bigger than the target for "V." So it will make it easy for you to hit the "B" you really want.
As with iOS and Android, the phone will try to guess what word you're typing. On Android, a list of possible words shows up above the keyboard and you can tap one of them and the phone will automatically type that word for you. On iOS the top suggestion shows up in the text box and you can enter it by hitting the space bar. On BlackBerry 10, the suggestions will show up above individual letters on the keyboard, and if you want the phone to finish the word for you, you swipe up on that key instead of just pressing it. This seems like it could be kind of confusing and clunky at first, but with time it could become pretty useful, and really speed up your typing time.
 |
| The Q10. Click to enlarge. |
We'll have a review with some hands on video of the Z10, hopefully in the next couple of hours, so stick around to see the phone up close.
BlackBerry Q10
When BlackBerry was still RIM, and they were still really popular everywhere, the keyboard was a huge selling point. They do make good keyboards, but now its just a question of if we need a physical keyboard on a smartphone. The big danger, in my opinion, is that it makes the screen have such a weird shape, which makes it harder to develop apps for it.
The screen is 3.1 inches, and measures 720x720 pixels, which is a really weird resolution.
We know that the phone will feature a "glass weave cover on the back" that Heins said is "thinner, lighter, and stronger than plastic," and we know it will be released in April around the world, but for now specific pricing or specs information isn't available.
Update: According to a video released by BlackBerry the phone will feature "the biggest battery we've ever put in a phone" and will have 4G connectivity built in.
Update: The Q10 will be available on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint in the US.
The phone will be available in black and white as well.
This report brought to you by Crackberry.com's BlackBerry accessories.
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