BlackBerry kicked off its comeback efforts earlier this year when it launched the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, and the charge continued last month as the BlackBerry Q10 began rolling out. But while low-end and mid-range smartphones had played the biggest role in keeping BlackBerry alive as it readied its next-generation BlackBerry 10 smartphones, both of these new handsets were expensive high-end models. A number of industry watchers feared that the high-end smartphone market was already cluttered enough and BlackBerry should instead focus on its bread and butter, and a new leak suggests it might finally be ready to add a cheaper handset to its new device lineup. More →
It looks like BlackBerry fans really do love their physical keyboards. Barron’s points us to a new note from Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, who claims that several “store checks” of outlets in Toronto show that the “BlackBerry Q10 has been selling extremely well and has been sold out or seeing limited availability” in the city. Misek’s note on Canadian Q10 sales follows a similarly optimistic note he wrote earlier in the week about strong early Q10 sales in the U.K., so it seems that the Q10 has some solid momentum on its side during its first week of availability. The Q10, which is designed to look more like iconic pre-touchscreen BlackBerry phones, includes 3.5-inch display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a 2,100 mAh battery.
BlackBerry 10 handsets and Samsung Android devices that carry the company’s Knox security software have been approved for use by the United States Department of Defense. A report from earlier this week suggested that certain devices from Samsung and Apple would soon be granted approval by DISA for use at the Pentagon, posing a serious problem for BlackBerry. While the company’s own next-generation BlackBerry 10 smartphones have been given the nod by DISA, the vendor now has a fierce competitor in Samsung as its Knox-enabled devices have indeed been approved for DoD use as well. Samsung noted in a press release that this marks the first time Android devices have been approved for use by the U.S. government and military. Apple’s iPhone and iPad have not yet been approved by DISA, though they are currently being reviewed. BlackBerry and Samsung’s respective press releases follow below. More →
As BlackBerry begins rolling out its second BlackBerry 10 smartphone, the struggling vendor will at least have some good momentum to build on coming out of April. According to market watcher Net Applications, BlackBerry gained usage share in April after losing share in each of the two prior months. While BlackBerry only accounts for a minuscule portion of global mobile usage — 1.51% in April, less than Symbian’s 1.73% — it’s at least moving in the right direction, up from the low of 1.39% it hit in February. IOS shed about 1.5 points in April to fall to a still-dominant 59.04% according to Net Applications, while Android smartphones and tablets gained more than a point to climb to 26.02%.
Given the epic flop that was the BlackBerry PlayBook, it’s easy to understand why BlackBerry would want to forget all about tablets. That said, it’s one thing to ignore tablets and another to predict that tablets will go away all together. While speaking at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles on Monday, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said that BlackBerry doesn’t need to invest more resources in creating another tablet because tablets will all but disappear from the market within the next five years. More →
If you want a bullish sales projection for the new BlackBerry Q10 smartphone, look no further than BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins, who projects that the company will sell “tens of millions” of the devices in the coming months. Bloomberg reports that while speaking at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles on Monday, Heins claimed that the company has seen “very, very good first signs already after the launch in the U.K.” this week and explained that the Q10 is “going into the installed base of more than 70 million BlackBerry users so we have quite some expectations” for sales of “tens of millions” of units. The Q10, which is designed to look more like iconic pre-touchscreen BlackBerry phones, includes 3.5-inch display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 2,100 mAh battery.
There’s apparently a fair amount of pent-up demand for QWERTY keyboard smartphones in the United Kingdom. Seeking Alpha reports that U.K. retailer Carphone Warehouse has seen strong demand for BlackBerry’s new Q10 smartphone during its launch weekend that is significantly higher than the demand it saw for the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone released earlier this year. According to the report, Carphone Warehouse sold out its entire stock of 2,000 BlackBerry Q10s over the span of just 90 minutes, which comes out to around 22.2 phones sold every 60 seconds. The Q10, which is designed to look more like iconic pre-touchscreen BlackBerry phones, includes 3.5-inch display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 2,100 mAh battery.
BGR reviewed the BlackBerry Q10 on Tuesday night, and we said it is a great handset for diehard BlackBerry fans desperate for a QWERTY phone. For everyone else, however, we thought the Z10 was a much more impressive phone for people looking to buy a BlackBerry. BlackBerry shared preliminary launch details for the Q10 a few hours before reviews were published, and it said the phone is expected to begin rolling out in the U.S. toward the end of May — priced at $250. Carriers determine their own prices so nothing is set in stone, but at $250 the Q10 will be more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy S4, Apple’s iPhone 5, the HTC One, Nokia’s Lumia 920 and many other high-end smartphones. A number of pundits have called BlackBerry crazy for pricing the phone so high, but we want to know what you think, BlackBerry fans: is the Q10 worth $250? Vote in our poll below and let us know what you think. More →
T-Mobile announced on Wednesday that preorders for the QWERTY-equipped BlackBerry Q10 smartphone will begin later next week. BlackBerry’s latest handset comes with a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor and an 8-megapixel rear camera. The device also includes 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, LTE connectivity, NFC, a microSD slot and a 2100 mAh battery. Earlier reports suggested that T-Mobile would launch the BlackBerry Q10 in May. While exact pricing and a release date were not revealed, the company said business customers can preorder the smartphone beginning on April 29th. BGR reviewed the BlackBerry Q10 earlier this week and found it to be a decent option for those users who still require a physical keyboard.
BlackBerry’s famous hardware keyboard is finally becoming available on the company’s latest operating system called BlackBerry 10 in the coming days, and the company’s new phone is called the BlackBerry Q10. Meshing up BlackBerry’s brand new OS with the same core features and specs of the BlackBerry Z10, the Q10 is the answer for die-hard BlackBerry fanatics. But considering how good the on-screen keyboard is on the Z10 — it’s the absolute best software keyboard I have ever used, in fact — is the Q10 even necessary in this day and age?
BlackBerry on Monday announced that its second BlackBerry 10 smartphone will be available in Canada early next month. The BlackBerry Q10 will arrive on Rogers, Bell and TELUS on May 1st starting at $199 with a three-year service agreement. The smartphone is equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard along with a 3.1-inch 720p touchscreen, a 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4470 processor, 2GB of RAM, NFC, a microSD slot and an 8-megapixel rear camera. BlackBerry also announced that the Q10 will be available on smaller carriers such as Virgin Mobile, Fido, Koodo Mobile and Sasktel. The company’s full press release follows below. More →
BlackBerry fans who love big displays should be very happy with the latest research note from Jefferies analyst Peter Misek. Per Barron’s, Misek believes that BlackBerry is working on two to three new models that will launch by the end of the year, including a 5-inch “Z10-like device” that will likely launch in the holiday quarter. Misek says that the other two devices will be “a mid-range (i.e., ~$400) keyboard” device like the upcoming BlackBerry Q10 and ”a mid-range touch” device. Misek also refuted reports that the BlackBerry Z10 was seeing high return rates and said that “our checks indicate typical return rates” so far.
