As many of you will know, BlackBerry 10, the much anticipated new operating system for the Canadian company BlackBerry, was released just over a week ago. At the event, two phones were unveiled: The full touchscreen Z10 smartphone, and the the touch and type Q10 smartphone, with a QUERTY keyboard. The Z10 went on sale immediately after the event in Canada and the UK, but the Q10 will not be available until April in Canada and the UK. The US will be getting the Z10 in March.
The Z10’s sales have been breaking BlackBerry records in both Canada and the UK, but is it really worth getting BlackBerry’s make or break new OS?
One of the main reasons for getting the Z10, is the new messaging hub. This works in a way that means you don’t have to leave your app to see who just sent you a message. You simply slide your finger to the right, have a look at the hub, and slide back. The hub shows all your messages and updates, and you can reply straight from it.
Another reason for getting any BlackBerry phone, is BlackBerry Messenger. For those who don’t know what this is, it is an instant messaging service only available for BlackBerry smartphones which is very popular. It’s usefulness, though, depends on how many of your friends have a BlackBerry. Personally, lots of my friends have a BlackBerry and so for me BBM would be very useful. Also, with BlackBerry 10, comes Video Calls on BBM. But with many people moving from BlackBerry to iPhone or Android, this once ace is starting to wane.
Also present on the Z10, are the different profiles. You can have a different profile with different contacts for Work and Home. This could prove very useful and appealing to people who don’t want to worry about work during the weekend. It also gets rid of the idea of having two phones – one for work, and one personal.
The major problem with the Z10, apart from the high asking price, is the lack of apps. If you’re coming from Apple or Android, you will be very disappointed at the small number of apps available. BlackBerry app world only has 70,000 apps compared to the 700,000 of Apple. But BlackBerry is also keen to point out that it’s about quality, not quantity.
In conclusion, I would say that the BlackBerry Z10 would suit some people, but not others. Multiple profiles could be useful for the business man, and BBM is better than ever but for some people, the Blackberry Z10 is not good enough at £300 odd in the UK.
How long till it gets sued by Apple??
Very interesting!
never
It’s copied the design though. Won’t take long, probably depends on how well it sells…
That is actually the only thing i think they need to work on…APPS!!! it is a powerful phone compared to the other ones they ve had before, and they have the latest technologies in it. If i were RIM, i would spend a lot of time with app developers to keep up with the other phone companies :-)
apps??? have you ever heard of an os that had that many apps on opening day??? blackberry is doing fairly well with apps… especially with the easy android -> blackberry conversion tool, devs dont mind porting…
No, not worth it, and here’s why, for the average user and iphone, android, or windows (sadly), offers more. On top of that, there getting better by offering more and more stuff. They are just as secure even for the average business user. Also, Android is going to come out with a unified messaging box likely, already hinted in chrome. I can see IOS and windows following. Also, the notification system in IOS and Android is similar to a blackberry unified messaging anyway, just could be better.
If BB start to making more useful apps, he might have the chance to beat Apple and Android.
That not gonna happen in ages… Apple has the best market and it has more than 20 devices blackberry cant beat apple or samsung with 1 device
Compared to android, yes.
The problem is, that not many developers want to work with BlackBerry to create more apps.
I wouldn’t say it copied the design at all. It’s very different to the iPhone in most ways
Apple actually only has one model of phone and its called “The iPhone”. You may have heard of it ;)