Articles about BlackBerry

Four days after the smartphone surfaced at UK retailer Selfridges, the BlackBerry Q10 is now also available through UK mobile operator Vodafone. Die-hard QWERTY fans in Canada are able to purchase the handset starting tomorrow.

At Vodafone UK, the BlackBerry Q10 is available with no upfront costs alongside two-year contracts, starting at £37 per month. Customers who are willing to shell out £129 upfront can get the smartphone on a two-year plan with less costly £33 monthly payments.

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Even though BlackBerry unveiled the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone in late-January, prospective customers around the world are still waiting to get their hands on the device. But if you live in the UK the handset is available today from Selfridges. The BlackBerry Q10 will also arrive next week, starting May 1, in Canada.

At Selfridges, the BlackBerry Q10 is available to purchase outright for GBP579.99 which is quite expensive for any smartphone, let alone one with a QWERTY keyboard. For the money you get a 3.1-inch display with a resolution of 720 by 720 and a 330 ppi (pixels per inch) density, 8 MP back-facing camera with 1080p video recording, 16 GB of internal storage and 4G LTE cellular connectivity as the main features.

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In February, I predicted that smartphone sales would surpass feature phones within a couple quarters. Looks like I am likely wrong, as shipments already have, according to IDC. Last month the analyst firm predicted such circumstance this year, which by Q1 is sooner than anyone anticipated.

Meanwhile, something more shocking occurred turn first quarter -- my, God, when will the milestones stop? Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE pushed BlackBerry and Nokia out of the top five. Right Nokia -- the company that invented the smartphone and had, until last year, a 14 year-run as global handset leader. The worldwide phone market undergoes dramatic changes, and they're far from over.

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UK dwellers keen to get their hands on BlackBerry’s new Q10 smartphone will have to wait until the end of the month when it goes on sale officially, but they can start pre-ordering it today.

Vodafone, which describes the new handset as a "classic in the making" has opened its pre-order page so you can choose a tariff and place your order.

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As a journalist, I see lots of rumor stories and so-called analyses that send shivers down my spin. I just know that someone looks to benefit from information that moves some company's stock price. I'm not an investor, knowing that any of my legitimate news stories can affect a public company's shares; it's ethical protocol, too, not to invest in companies you write about. Often manipulation is obvious, but hard to prove. So with great interest I watch BlackBerry's aggressive response to stock shattering news unleashed by an analyst firm yesterday. I make no accusations of wrongdoing. BlackBerry already has.

Shares of the Canadian smartphone and tablet maker plunged about 8 percent yesterday after reports of high BlackBerry Z10 returns. "In several cases, returns are now exceeding sales, a phenomenon we have never seen before", Detwiler Fenton claims. BlackBerry's response is swift and shows just how dramatically different is the leadership under CEO Thorsten Heins. The company asks the Securities and Exchange Commission and Ontario Securities Commission to investigate the "false and misleading report".

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Mobile app store downloads from the four major stores -- Apple, BlackBerry, Google and Microsoft -- reached 13.4 billion in first quarter, generating $2.2 billion revenue, according to Canalys. Combined, revenue from new sales, in-app purchases and subscriptions grew 9 percent from fourth quarter, while number of downloads climbed by 11 percent.

There are a half-dozen measures that mark successful platforms, with money being the most important. Developers typically go where they earn more. That's preface to a fascinating juxtaposition partly explaining developer preference for iOS, even though more Android devices ship and cumulative sales (750 million to 500 million) are larger. Google Play accounted for 51 percent of downloads during Q1. But Apple's App Store generated 74 percent of the revenue. Ponder those numbers for a moment.

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BlackBerry Z10 social butterflies rejoice! Updated Facebook and Twitter apps are now available for BB10 sporting new features and enhancements over previous iterations. Users should find it easier to "stay connected and do more with social media", according to the Canadian smartphone maker which detailed the changes.

Twitter was previously updated three weeks ago alongside LinkedIn, and the latest iteration only contains more modest improvements by comparison. Twitter 10.0.2 features a Connect tab where users can view all interactions, similar to the Android, iOS or Windows Phone counterparts, a counter which displays the number of favorites for a tweet and the ability to display photos, summaries and other items straight within tweets.

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The question is top of my mind as the smartphone arrives in the United States today from AT&T and next week from T-Mobile and Verizon. Did I miss something, or is this an atypical debut? AT&T usually starts sales on Sundays. This is Friday, right? The phone, which launched January 30, could be yours today for around $200 with two-year contractual commitment.

Way back then I asked: "Will you buy BlackBerry Z10?" The responses aren't as interesting as the lack of them. Less than 700 as I write, which is a surprisingly low number for one of my buying polls and for such a hotly-anticipated device. One-third of you say, yes, by the way, "as soon as available", which for Americans is today. Nearly an equal number of respondents will buy immediately or within three months as won't buy at all -- around 43 percent for each.

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When I was expecting an exotic dish that would blow my mind just by looking at it, Samsung yesterday served up a plain, simple and frankly overdone spaghetti Bolognese. The new Galaxy S4 might just be the best Android smartphone that Samsung has ever made, but it's not as "awesome" or "innovative" nor filled with "innovation" as the company would lead us to believe. It's a wife with some nip and tuck instead of a hot supermodel.

Instead of being smitten by the Galaxy S4 I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth: Haven't I seen some of those features already in older smartphones? Admittedly, there are some impressive ones out there -- like Dual Camera and Dual Video Call -- but generally speaking Samsung appears to have focused more on delivering a huge number of features rather than focusing on fewer truly innovative ones.

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On Thursday, Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry announced plans to secure Android and iOS devices with Secure Work Space for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10. The company cites evolving needs and "ever-growing variety of devices" that are used within the work space as the main reason for stepping up to fortify the security of the two mobile operating systems.

BlackBerry targets both smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS through data-at-rest and data-in-transit security capabilities. The company says that administrators will be able to create a "separate and secure work space" which contains corporate apps, calendar, contacts, web email and other features, and configure, interact, secure and wipe the new compatible devices.

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Two days ago, US carrier AT&T introduced the BlackBerry Z10 into its portfolio, allowing users to pre-order the new smartphone for $199.99 on a two-year contract. And on Thursday, following AT&T's lead, rival mobile operator Verizon also made the BlackBerry Z10 available for pre-order.

The big red has chosen to offer the BlackBerry Z10 for the same price as AT&T -- $199.99 on a two-year contract. The smartphone will be available in two color options -- black and white -- and will hit the online and bricks and mortar Verizon stores starting from March 28, a mere two weeks from today.

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Great news for BlackBerry fans! Just yesterday AT&T announced that it will carry the BlackBerry Z10 in its smartphone portfolio, and today the recently-introduced device is available to pre-order at the US mobile operator.

On a two-year contract at AT&T, the BlackBerry Z10 goes for $199.99 alongside a qualifying data plan and new activation. The US carrier also offers a one-year contract option at which point the price of the device goes up by $250 to $449.99. And, if you want to pay for the BlackBerry Z10 upfront AT&T charges you $549.99.

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BlackBerry Z10 owners rejoice! Updated LinkedIn and Twitter apps for BB 10 are now available, touting new features and improvements over previous iterations. The update promises to improve the social experience on BlackBerry's latest mobile operating system with "an enhanced tweeting experience and helpful business tools", according to the Canadian device maker.

Let's take them one by one. The LinkedIn app, which has seen the least number of improvements and new features of the two, now allows users to view LinkedIn profiles in full screen mode, search, view and save recommended jobs, chat with connections through LinkedIn Messages and filter news by industries through LinkedIn Today.

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On Friday, Canadian mobile device manufacturer BlackBerry (the company formerly known as RIM) rolled out an update for the BlackBerry 10 operating system. The latest software iteration touts significant improvements across the board while also delivering a number of bug fixes.

The software update is a bit of a heavyweight, coming in at 150MB in size which is why BlackBerry recommends using a Wi-Fi connection for the download. The OTA (Over-The-Air) update is currently rolling out across the globe, but depending on the carrier it may take up to a couple of weeks to receive it on your Z10 smartphone. But let's see what's in store first.

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"We're No. 3!" will be BlackBerry's and Microsoft's rallying cry this year. Android and iOS so dominate the smartphone market, the best -- and quite honestly dismal -- hope is third; distant at that. Combined, based on actual phone sales, Android and iOS had 90.1 percent share during fourth quarter, up from 74.9 percent a year earlier, according to Gartner. BlackBerry and Windows Phone are neck-and-neck, with lowly 3.5 percent and 3 percent standings, respectively.

Upstarts want third place, too. Anshul Gupta, Gartner principal research analyst, explains: "2013 will be the year of the rise of the third ecosystem as the battle between the new BlackBerry10 and Widows Phone intensifies. As carriers and vendors feel the pressure of the strong Android’s growth, alternative operating systems such as Tizen, Firefox, Ubuntu and Jolla will try and carve out an opportunity by positioning themselves as profitable alternatives".

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