Can Blackberry 10 steal the competition?

[siiip5]

Battery life is something my current BlackBerry Tour has that blows everything else out of the water. If the current ones are only on par with other smartphones, then I am sure many people will be extremely disappointed. I am used to getting days of use with my BB. Likewise, I am used to having to charge my Android every night. If I have to charge my new BB10 phone every night, I'd be annoyed and would feel a bit ripped off as I have grown accustomed to a long battery life out of my BB phone.

Blackberry Tour: 2.44″ display @ 480 x 360 resolution with a 1400mAh battery. Yeah, my 2007 Motorola RAZR v3 had a great standby battery too, but talk time, text and video is what counts these days and your 2009 Tour doesn't even get 5hours of talk time. So, yeah, great 2 week standby time, (just like my old RAZR) but pathetic actual use time, which is surprising considering it is such a small VGA screen. And I'm willing to bet your little mouse button has broken numerous times and needed repair. My wife had a similar BB phone and it was by far the biggest turd every made. That's why I feel sorry for people stuck having to use those hunks of crap.

 

[iHailCarlo]

They will no doubt take 3rd place!

 

[Gizmo22]

They will no doubt take 3rd place!

I do not see them any higher than 4, after iOS/Android/Windows phone, not necessarily in that order.

 

[SomeDudeAsking]

The BlackBerry Z10 is already more innovative than what Apple brought with the iPhone 5. When I watched the iPhone 5 keynote, I was bored with the lack of anything new or improved (the 4 inch screen was a disappointment).

 

[thecurryman]

Something fresh

Ive been addicted to technology for what seems like forever. After owning 5 generations of the iphone, countless androids (from the G1 to Galaxy Note 2), and Blackberrys before they had a trackball, to one of the first Windows 7 phones, I can confidently say that BB10 is exactly what BB needed to do.

The iPhone market (Apple in general) is at a tipping point. Users are beginning to get tired of the same ole same ole. I know a lot of iPhone users who have switched or are very close to. The only thing holding many back is the hope that iOS 7 brings something new to the table.

Android on the other hand is gaining momentum rapidly. With phones like the GN2 and the nexus 4, Android seems unstoppable.

Windows phone 7/8? Its not really that useful. The idea behind it is really cool and could be great, but there are a lot of smaller things missing and the apps are AWFUL. The only reason its still around is because MS has $$$ to blow on it.

Blackberry on the other hand, has something great here. Go watch a vid or two and you will see what i mean. Things like flicking up to minimize an app can be very useful (i expect Apple to implement that in iOS7). The hub, active frames, the concept of using a phone without any real buttons (power/ volume are essential). You dont even need to press anything to activate the screen. However, as nice as it is, BB REALLY messed up with the launch. Announcing a phone, then launching it soon is a must in todays market (especially with the attention snap of the average person). People forget or lose intrest quickly with products like this. What made samsung and apple so successful were not just great products, but by creating a buzz around the announcement, and then selling the phone a week later allowed for maximized sales and PR. no matter how nice the BB10 phones are, the 2 month time frame from announcement to launch is going to crush sales. and releasing the Q10 (QWERTY BB) in APRIL?? SERIOUSLY? someone at Blackberry needs to be fired...

i guess /rant

TL;DR
BB10 looks nice, but wont do very well because of BB's inability to launch a device soon after announcement (Q10 in april/may and Z10 in march)

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Agree, think Blackberry 10 looks really nice and has some cool features. Disappointing camera and not launching in the US for about 2 months, will really hurt them.

They may lose some of their base by dropping push email, at least for pop email accounts. Push email is what made them, can't figure out why they can't support it but the iphone can.

 

[Spectrum Abuser]

To be releasing a phone in 2013 WITHOUT 1080pi display and WITHOUT quad-core processor is ridiculous. Then there is the 8 megapixel camera when 13 should be the new standard.

What's the rush?

 

[Beeplance]

No one seems particularly excited about the BB10 launch as compared to Apple and Android devices, probably except the people in the company itself...

Still have to wait and see...

 

[bembol]

Steal, no especially when the S4 is just a few months away.

This is the CHANGE I want to see from Apple/iOS 7, like RIM I had enough my last phone I bought was the Torch 9800 so it's been a few years.

I've seen a few YouTube videos on the Z10 and surprisingly I'm very impressed. I sold my other Note 2 (Grey) for this. I've seen a few for $700 on kijiji but I'll wait, my budget is $600.

 

[rMBP15]

With the launch delay for the Z10, Blackberry is officially dead in the US market

 

[matttye]

The same can be said for Android or iOS, big deal.



Yeah because gesture based OSes always work out so well, that's why webOS and the Playbook are big hits! Oh, wait.



That is cool, yes. RIM did something similar in the old BB OS called Social Feeds too. A central messaging app is quite a useful tool. But it's one which can easily be built into iOS or Android, and if that's all the OS has going for it it'll still be toast.

Android and iOS both usually have persistent buttons to perform actions that stay visible on the screen, so not sure what you're talking about here.

Maybe other gesture based OSes just haven't done it right!

 

[Beeplance]

Short review by imore.com

 

[mattopotamus]

Short review by imore.com

YouTube: video

The UI looks pretty good...it's just hard to want to be the guinea pig for a new OS when a phone is my daily driver.

 

[maflynn]

Perhaps on the corporate front - RIM are still reasonably trusted in the business world.

The one issue that comes to my mind is how the enterprise segment is for the most part letting employees use their own smartphones to access the corporate email servers. The advantage this of course is saving money, not buying them phones. I think companies that do provide phones may take a wait see attitude with RIM since they don't want to be too quick to jump on board, not when many companies use exchange servers for email and win8 phones easily sync with those and MS has good enterprise relationships as well.

 

[chris2k5]

What's the rush?

The rush is Blackberry is a failing brand and they needed perfection to get back on track. They don't have perfection.

 

[syd430]

The BlackBerry Z10 is already more innovative than what Apple brought with the iPhone 5. When I watched the iPhone 5 keynote, I was bored with the lack of anything new or improved (the 4 inch screen was a disappointment).

I completely agree. I'd go as far as saying that the Z10 is the most innovative piece of tech to come out since the Apple II in 1977. In terms of sheer technical breakthrough however, the Z10 is probably more comparable to Edison's carbon filament light bulb discovery in 1879. It's just that innovative.

 

[MuffCabbage]

I think it looks very innovative and would be glad to see Apple Goog and Microsoft take some notes, but at the same time maybe took it too far with the gestures. It seems like older non-savvy people are going to turn it on and be so confused with the gestures they'll put it down.

That said the Android emulation looks terrible and shouldnt be there

In short, very cool, but not enough to steal much from iOS/Android, but enough to battle WP, and this is coming from a WP8 user.

 

[charlieegan3]

Not anymore, a lot of companies are moving to Android and iOS. The security features on those two are the same as BlackBerries these days anyway but without the massive hassle of BES.

Isn't the president only allowed a blackberry? Suggests to me some reason at least.

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Except they're not RIM anymore. They've changed their name to their most popular product - Blackberry. More appropriate, I think. Will it save them? No, but at least the RIM job jokes can stop.

Will remain RIM here: http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/rimm I take it?

 

[cynics]

Isn't the president only allowed a blackberry? Suggests to me some reason at least.

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Will remain RIM here: http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/rimm I take it?

A good friend of mine and old roommate works for Aberdeen Proving Ground with top secret clearance and they will supply him with a blackberry or he can buy his own blackberry and they will pay for it. He can't use anything else as a work phone.

 

[0dev]

Isn't the president only allowed a blackberry? Suggests to me some reason at least.

No, I'm quite sure the big story was that he was the first president to be allowed to bring his own BlackBerry and that was because he insisted upon it, and even then they gave him a specially modified one with extra security. The NSA actually created a locked down version of Android too, BTW.

 

[Tinmania]

Short review by imore.com

YouTube: video

Maybe it is me but I saw lag when swiping through screens and whatnot. Seemed like his thumb was often ahead of what was happening on-screen.

Overall it was ok but nothing revolutionary in my opinion. I probably wouldn't want that unified inbox for everything. The running apps thing was pretty cool though. But if the apps end up in different places all the time I don't know if that would be as good as a widget that is always where you placed it. Now if you interact with those running apps in their minimized state that would be nice (e.g., tap a number in the minimized phone app to call rather than being brought into the phone app itself).



Michael

 

[Stuntman06]

Blackberry Tour: 2.44″ display @ 480 x 360 resolution with a 1400mAh battery. Yeah, my 2007 Motorola RAZR v3 had a great standby battery too, but talk time, text and video is what counts these days and your 2009 Tour doesn't even get 5hours of talk time. So, yeah, great 2 week standby time, (just like my old RAZR) but pathetic actual use time, which is surprising considering it is such a small VGA screen. And I'm willing to bet your little mouse button has broken numerous times and needed repair. My wife had a similar BB phone and it was by far the biggest turd every made. That's why I feel sorry for people stuck having to use those hunks of crap.

Image

I have had my Tour for almost 3 years now. I have not had any issues with it. Battery life while using it has not been an issue either. I charge it about once or twice a week compared to my SGS3 which I need to charge every day and sometimes twice a day. Track ball is fine and I never had any issues with it.

My criticism of the BB Tour is that I don't like the keyboard as the keys are too close together. I am just used to landscape slider keyboards like the Nokia N97 and HTC Desire Z where the keyboard is wider and there is space between the keys.

The other thing I don't like about the Tour is that it turns on accidently. I use my Tour as my work phone and turn it off when I leave work. Sometimes when I go to turn on my Tour at the beginning of the next day, I find that it is already turned on. It is just too easy to press the call end button to turn on the phone and you don't have to hold it down for a time. I keep it in my backpack and I guess when I set it down, sometimes the button gets pushed.

As a work phone, I just use it for messaging and email. It integrates nicely with my communications and email programs that we use at work. The ringer is great and very loud. The speaker is on the edge, so it does not get muffled when I put it in my holster. My SGS3 and old HTC Desire Z had speakers that were on the back of the phone. When you put these phones in a holster, the speaker is pressed up against the side of the holster and the hoster muffles the sound. It makes it difficult to hear the phone ring. The vibration on the Tour is also stronger compared to my Android phones. Sometimes I don't feel the vibration on my Androids, while I always feel it on my BB Tour. I was unable to see where the loud speakers on the Z10 are from the videos that I saw. I would be interested to find out if there is any issue hearing the ringer when it is in a holster.

 

[TooLowToZero]

My present 24 month contract with a Blackberry Bold 9780, has now come to an end and I am glad to see the back of it. The phone reminded me of a old Nokia I once had many years ago, a dinosaur. The keys were too close together to type with and not what I expected. Blackberry world Apps were too overpriced and a serious lack of them. Having to pull the battery all the time and such a small screen, how can you use the phone for the Internet. The recent outages and the lack of interest of RIM towards its customers is the reason I would never go back to Blackberry. What do the Blackberry fan boys see in a Blackberry, it beats me. I now have a iPhone 5 and I love it. The new Blackberry 10 interest will fall off very soon. I don't think Blackberry 10 will steal any competition.

 

[MRU]

^ blackberry outages won't or should not affect the z10. It no longer is reliant on Blackberry BIS...



I really like the OS and the hardware... It's the missing apps that make it a no buy for me at the moment to make it my iPhone replacement.

I played with the Facebook app, and whilst superficially it looks like the iOS version, its actually very bare bones and most links take you out of the app and into the mobile browser version.

I just can't wait 6 - 12 months after getting a phone to get apps I use daily.