BlackBerry just released their official bet to try and reclaim their superiority in the smart phone market...the BlackBerry Z10 with the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. But is it too late?
It has been tough for Research In Motion, now officially called BlackBerry, to take a backseat from being a super power in the smart phone arena. Now, they've finally released their "last hurrah" to try and save their business - the BlackBerry Z10 with their very own BlackBerry 10 operating system. And for this endeavor to be successful, they need a huge marketing push and a solid and different smart phone approach. Smart phones are ultimately defined by the operating system, so how is the BlackBerry 10 operating system different from iOS and Android? Here are 3 features that stood out for me from what I've read.
1) BlackBerry Hub: Rolls all messages in one interface so we won't have to jump different apps all the time just to check SMS, Facebook messages and emails from different sources. This to me is what makes the BlackBerry 10 OS unique.
2) BlackBerry Flow: Their take on multitasking is nifty because you can easily "peek" at BlackBerry Hub just by doing a sliding gesture as seen in the image above. And if you have multiple apps running, you can access a thumbnail view of all running apps with another swiping gesture as seen below.
3) BlackBerry Balance: This feature targets the modern business men and women. Instead of having a business phone and another personal phone, this handy feature does that in one phone. Simply put, this phone has two interfaces, one for work and another for personal use that you can easily switch around. Personal information are kept away from the work interface and in vice versa. One way it does this is by preventing pasting work info to personal apps, thus ensuring the security of work content.
A note worthy feature that the BlackBerry Z10 has is their removable back panel for easy battery replacement. Though not unique to the BlackBerry Z10, this feature is just so practical.
Spec wise, the Z10 isn't really too different from the Galaxy S3, Lumia 920, and the iPhone 5. The Z10 packs a following specs:
| Screen Size: | 4.2 inches |
| Resolution: | 1,280 x 768 |
| Weight: | 4.78 oz |
| CPU: | Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 |
| Storage: | 16 GB + microSD slot |
| Connectors: | microUSB, micro HDMI |
| Operating System: | BlackBerry 10 |
| Battery: | 305 hours standby, 10 hours talk time (3G) |
| Camera: | 8MP, LED flash, autofocus |
| Networking: | Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot |
And the pricing estimates in the US might be virtually the same starting at $199 in various carriers.
Personally, I own a Nokia E6 which cannot compare to any of the full touch screen smart phones we've mentioned. Is the Z10 enough to encourage me to buy into the trend? Still not really. For the same reasons I haven't bought an iPhone or any full touch screen phone, I just don't see the need for all the bells and whistles and I love a real keypad. I'm a call and text guy and that's really all I do on my mobile.
So, is it too late for BlackBerry? Honestly its hard to tell. I am
quite sure that there will be businesses that would love to integrate
the new BlackBerry Z10 into their infrastructure, specially those with a
good history with BlackBerry. But for previous BlackBerry users,
switching back might be a tough choice because they might have already grown attached with their Android or iOS or even Windows 8 phone. Let's see what happens.
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