Did I speak too soon when just yesterday, for probably the umpteenth time, I said that BlackBerry was dead? The jury is still out on that one, but perhaps I’ll be issuing an apology in the coming months — and make no mistake about it, that would be one apology that I would be happy to make.
While I am in Scottsdale covering a Kia event, Dan was in NYC this morning at the BlackBerry event. He had a chance after the press conference to get some hands-on time with the just announced BlackBerry Q10, and he came away impressed. He will have a review soon on the Z10 (touchscreen) they were given at the event, but in the meantime — here are some specs and pics that he took of the new QWERTY model BlackBerry Q10.
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- The Q10 doesn’t look too big or unwieldy!
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- Don’t count BlackBerry out just yet!
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- Not too thick!
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- I like the carbon fiber backside!
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- What do you think?
Dan mentioned that the Q10 is not out yet, and they were only showing a few. Oddly, they didn’t let anyone dig too deeply into them, so I’m guessing that the software isn’t quite ready for primetime.
Dan said, “For those who love the BlackBerry’s physical keyboard but longed for a real pocket computer instead of a messaging device with apps, the Q10 may be just the thing.”
The BlackBerry Q10 will measure 119.6mm x 66.8mm x 10.3mm, and it will weigh 139grams. It will have a 3.1″ Super AMOLED display, 2GB RAM, and 16GB onboard memory. It will have a 1.5 GHz Dual Core processor, an 8 megapixel rear facing camera, and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera. The BB Q10 will have Bluetooth 4.0, and will be NFC enabled.
Regarding the Z10 he was given, Dan says “For those who want a big beautiful screen, but for whom connections matter most, the z10 has a lot to offer. For example, I get an email from Judie and can access her contact info without changing app. Then, with a tap, I can see all recent interactions across email twitter Facebook linked in etc. all in one place. It is slick.”
I’m really hoping that I was wrong about BlackBerry being dead, that I will be eating crow, and that BlackBerry will have the last laugh. Why? Because the mobile space needs all the competition it can get!
What do you all think? Are you willing to give BlackBerry another shot? Or are you now too firmly entrenched in your iOs and Android devices?
You can watch a replay of the BlackBerry 10 launch event by clicking, here.
We have a family plan on Verizon; my daughter has a blackberry that she bought a year ago. Not because she wanted a blackberry particularly – she wanted a good, hardware qwerty handset, for texting mostly, that wasn’t a piece of junk, and, sadly, all of Verizon’s qwerty feature phones are pieces of junk.
I think that there is a market, perhaps a small one, but a decent market for people who do want a hardware qwerty phone that is great for texting/messaging, and I think that bb could very well sell enough of these to be a viable business.
Which is why it is so odd they are releasing the touchscreen only version first. Not the smartest move. IMO
And yet, sadly, in line with a variety of other decisions the RIM has made over the last few years.
Should have gotten the Moto Droid 4 🙂
Ah, but the BB allows a $10 monthly data charge for the data that she never uses. It was $30 minimum at the time for Android phones.
Ah – that is pretty important. I remember when I got my original Droid that the BB data plan was $45 rather than $30, but I wasn’t even considering the $10 level.