Showing posts with label BlackBerry 10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BlackBerry 10. Show all posts

Sunday, 18 August 2013

BlackBerry Q10 is a lot of innovation looking for longtime BB fans

I have been enjoying the company of the BlackBerry Q10 for the past couple of weeks. Some might think this smartphone is too little and too late. I think it's a lot of innovation and I hope it's not too late.

My soft spot for the BlackBerry platform goes all the way back to the trackball or roller ball, and the scroll-wheel days. These devices set the standards for security and email management and were considered the "must have" mobile phone during its heyday, especially for enterprise customers. Now fast forward a decade and the BlackBerry is fighting for survival among the iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, Motorola Droids and a host of other newcomers.

But the latest BlackBerry, the Q10, with the QWERTY physical keyboard for us that remember the good old days, is quite a smartphone and I wouldn't count BlackBerry out just yet. The Q10 is running the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, which is supposed to propel the BlackBerry devices into the future of smartphone innovation.

Straight out of the box from Verizon Wireless, this devices has a feeling of quality, with a textured back, rounded, smooth edges and an extremely tight fit. You can't help but notice the keyboard occupying the lower one third of the Q10's 4.7 inches in height. Then you're left with a 3.1-inch display, which is small by today's smartphones standards, but gets the job the done.

I guess having a 1.5 gigahertz dual-core processor is fine for now, but if BlackBerry is going to compete with its most fierce competitors, such as Apple, Samsung, HTC and LG, it will need to move into the quad-core territory.

I can stand behind the Q10's 8 megapixel camera though, especially in low-light situations. I shot some gorgeous photos just before sundown, with some of them in dark shadows. The colors were vibrant, life-like and impressive for a smartphone camera.

When I was setting up all my various social media and email accounts on the Q10, I was surprised to see integration for Evernote, a popular online note management application, become a part of the BlackBerry's Remember app. Now that falls into the very useful and cool category. As a heavy Evernote user, I like it and was thrilled to see this feature integrated into the Q10.

Here is one of the reasons I still think the BlackBerry has a fighting chance. When I look at the iPhone home screen, I see 24 icons with various red numbers in rounded-corner boxes. When I look at the Q10's home screen, I see my next appointment, which in was in 41 minutes on this particular day, along with "new' email and voice mail notifications. The synergy between all the calendars, social media accounts, task keepers, messages and multiple email services is nothing short of amazing. The Q10 became my go-to device to see what's happening next in my schedule.

I also like the shortcuts built into the device. From the home screen, you can just type "text" to begin sending a message, or "c" to call someone, or "T" to jump to the top of any page.

I did find it odd that Web pages don't rotate when you rotate the device, but fell in love with the "Reader" feature, where information comes up in plain-text view with no other distractions. You'll find this little nifty feature under the menu while visiting Web pages that contain articles to read.

I also don't know if the BlackBerry platform will ever catch up with Apple and Android in the number of apps available, and now even Windows Phone 8, who has also passed the 100,000 mark and iOS and Android marches toward one million. But I do know there are some good ones available for BlackBerry and one of the first apps I tried out for the Q10 is the famous BlackBerry "Password Keeper." It's as rock solid as ever and still sets the standard for password apps.

With all the talk from the BlackBerry corporate board about finding a buyer, exploring joint ventures or going into a partnership, it's hard to imagine to what's next for BlackBerry and their smartphones. The PlayBook tablet bit the dust a couple of months ago and might not resurface under the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

I think the BlackBerry will be around for years to come and will remain competitive. The Q10 is available from Verizon Wireless for around $200 under contract.

But here's one last effort to bring some traction the BlackBerry and especially the Q10. It's kind of a "Back to the Future" approach, which is to bring back the trackball in the land of touchscreens, much like the BlackBerry Bold 9930. I find it difficult to place and move the cursor around when editing text on this BlackBerry. Sometimes, you need to back up when writing a sentence to make a correction or insert a word and there are no arrows keys on the Q10's keyboard to move left, right, up and down.

I found the physical keyboard on the Q10 to be comfortable and precise. I made less typing mistakes than with a touchscreen device. The Q10's touchscreen above the keyboard was wonderful for swooshing from screen to screen, launching apps and getting into the Hub.

If I had only had a trackball, I would have had the best of all worlds — a touchscreen, physical keyboard and a quick, precise method to manage the cursor without having to go to the touchscreen.

Then the BackBerry Q10 could lead the way back into the game as the powerhouse among the business users, just like in the old days. Now that's something to think about.

Visit us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

BlackBerry Z10 innovation, features were worth the wait



I've never been as excited about a FedEx delivery as I was for the package with the BlackBerry Z10. It arrived from Verizon Wireless in an understated velvet-black box. Now it's showtime.

All the hype about the new BlackBerry was running through my mind — the delays and months of waiting while other smartphones made their debut. The promise of a new operating system based on QNX technology that is also known very well in the automobile technology circles and the nuclear reactors industry. So I'm thinking this device had better be special and worth the wait.

At the first glance, I noticed that the Z10, clad in solid back with a grippy, textured back that almost sticks to your hand, has grown in size to a respectable 4.2-inch display, which makes my iPhone 5 seem small. BlackBerry needed this size increase, as the older models seemed to stuck in the past, much like the earlier iPhone devices were for several years, while the competitors rocketed past them in width and height.

The Z10 has flexed its muscles by being a couple of millimeters taller than the iPhone 5 at 5.12 inches, but falls short of the Samsung Galaxy's S III and the HTC One, which are both at around four inches when standing tall. The Z10 weighs 4.78 ounces, which heavier than the iPhone, but lighter than the HTC One. I imagine the textured back adds a little weight, but it's a good thing, as the Z10 is not slippery in your hands.

A dual-core 1.5 gigahertz processor runs the Z10, backed up with two gigabytes of RAM and a 1800 mAH battery rated at 10 hours of talk time. A micro HDMI port will provide a connection to a HDTV or projector.

While the new hardware has good tale-of-the-tape specs among the competition, this device is all about the new Blackberry 10 software.

The Z10 is not a device that you'll purchase in the morning, spend all day with it and decide you don't like it. That's not enough time to uncover all the goodies and features the new OS has to offer. It's going to take several days and the like-ability will grow each day, as you spend time learning all the "gestures" that controls the new OS.

The touchscreen keypad on the Z10 is now one of the best around. I could type my entire email address with bringing up secondary characters for numbers, the @ symbol and a period. As you compose a message, the suggested words are quite helpful; you just flick them up into your sentence as you type. Somehow, the Z10 knows what you might want to say next, which according BlackBerry, will get smarter and smarter as the Z10 learns your writing style.

The all-familiar red blinking light in the upper right corner alerts you when a new message arrives. Then the "BlackBerry Flow" feature swings into action and you can follow along me as I flow into BlackBerry Hub interface.

I hit the power button to wake the Z10 and see immediately where the message is coming from by way of a red star on the email icon one one of my social media apps. A quick upward gesture unlocks the display and a couple of gestures to the right gets me to the Hub. Ah, the red star is on the email icon, so a tap opens my inbox and another tap open the message. Another neat feature is how calendar entries appear above the list in your email inbox. Just swipe downward to view what's next on the agenda.

The Z10's multitasking feature keeps several apps open and ready for you to choose at any time. A quick upward gesture will get you to the running apps panel. I predict this feature will show up on other smartphones soon.

Another favorite feature of mine on the Z10 is the "BlackBerry Remember" interface, where you can organize to-dos by color-coded folders. This is pretty common, but the new BlackBerry 10 OS takes it a few steps further by adding the capability to send emails and information from the Web to Remember folders. So, the BlackBerry becomes sort of like a Evernote or a general repository for various tidbits of information that can be acted upon later. Tags and voice notes can also be added to the notes to make the easier to find later.

Just being able to turn emails into a to-do or action item can be a powerful productivity tool for enterprise users. I know of other productivity applications that are designed around this feature alone, as well as clipping notes from the Web browsing.

I am off the corporate email grid right now and was unable to try out the full email capabilities, but the Z10 did a good job of managing my Hotmail account. I just to had to remember to make sure I'm logged in to receive the latest emails. But some early adopters are reporting problems with setting up their business email accounts.

As the Near Field Communication, or NFC, technology continues to emerge, BlackBerry has embraced it with useful capabilities built into Z10. Although just a tap will transfer information to another NFC-enabled device, I found the use of custom tags to be the most interesting. The Z10 has a Smart Tags app, which can save information from NFC tags that you encounter as well as create custom email or text messages to be sent with a tap, such as "I'm in a meeting, will call you later." I see this as being another useful tool for business users.



The Z10 is chock full of innovative features, such as the "video with screen share" and the unique "camera with time shift" to capture the best moment from the eight megapixel camera. You'll need to spend some time learning about this device and just exploring to really appreciate all it has to offer. Just knowing which direction to swipe your finger to accomplish something is a good start to mastering the Z10.

I spent a few days waking the Z10 by hitting the power button until I learned to swipe upward from the BlackBerry logo at the bottom of the display. A two-finger swipe from the bottom shows the keyboard; a long press on the space bar or two-finger swipe downward hides it. For the Hub, swipe upward from the logo, then once or twice to the right. There are numerous other navigation tips; too many to mention here. For new Z10 owners, you have some learning to do.

The Z10 is intuitive and innovative, but also challenging. But I would ante up around $200 for this device if I was smartphone shopping. It's the best of all the BlackBerry devices I've had experience with and finally, thank you, thank you, it has an excellent Web browser based on the HTM5 interface. I don't even miss the infamous roller ball or scroll wheel from earlier devices.

As for apps, the Z10 launched with around 70,000 apps available and the latest count is around 100,000. As a BlackBerry apps developer, I need to get busy and submit something to the BlackBerry App World. But I'm sure a quick search will turn up some of your old favorites, such as BlackBerry's rock-solid Password Keeper.

The Z10 is currently available on Verizon, the source of my review device, AT&T and T-Mobile . If you're a die-hard BlackBerry fan and must have a QWERTY physical keypad, I hear the next model of the BlackBerry 10 devices, the Q10, is due in a few months.

In the meantime, the Z10 is my thumbs-up device. I can say it was worth the wait.

Visit us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter

Friday, 29 March 2013

Is a smartphone the next milestone for social media giant Facebook?

The big question is whether Facebook, the king of social media, will unveil a smartphone during an April 4 shindig? Will it also be powered by Android, the king of mobile operating systems.

The invitations have been sent out and all eyes are on Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., where attendees will find 1 Hacker Way and get inside by 10 a.m. PST to see Facebook's "New Home on Android" announcement.

From the day Facebook was founded in 2004, they have reached one milestone after another, such as adding photo uploading in 2005, launching music listening applications in 2011 and taking the big, big step of going public in the fall of 2012.

A lot of fans must have been thrilled with their growth, as Facebook reached one billion users in September. That a lot of updates, photos albums, music apps, messages, likes and just overall spending a bunch of time on Facebook.

If a Facebook-branded smartphone does come true, I wonder how Facebook will make it unique from all the other iPhones, Androids, Windows 8 and BlackBerry devices.

I imagine the smartphone market is pretty saturated now, because everyone I know already has a mobile phone of some flavor, whether smartphone or feature phone. Then we have those contract things that make us pretty loyal to one particular carrier for a couple of years.

But who is to say there is not room in the market for a Facebook device, or to speculate further, a HTC device running Android that been tweaked by the Facebook team.

So I say bring it on. We'll be checking our Facebook pages for new friends and updates while watching to see if the social media giant can deliver something really special, whether it's a phone or something else.

Visit us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Video: Parade of Smartphones

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

BlackBerry comes out swinging with Z10 and Q10 smartphones



The new BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones were officially announced today as the company's first smartphones powered by QNX technology, which has also been used in the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, as well as in the auto and health care industry.

The BlackBerry Z10 is the touchscreen device with a textured surface, a slight curve on the back and a 4.2-inch display. It also has a 1.5 gigahertz dual-core processor, 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, with an expandable memory slot and micro HDMI out port. Near Field Communication, or NFC, is included to support the emerging mobile payments technology.

The BlackBerry Q10 comes with a physical QWERTY, Bold-style keyboard that has been so popular with BlackBerry fans over the years. It has the same specifications as the Z10, along with a glass-weave cover that is pitched as being stronger than plastic.

Both devices will come in white and black and have a removable battery.

BlackBerry fans will find many new features, such as the BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Balance. The latter allows users to balance their work and personal information.

There are 70,000 applications available, including popular apps like Skype, and Amazon Kindle. In the social media arena, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and LinkedIn are on board.

The new BlackBerry 10 devices will be available in the U.S. on AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. In statements released by AT&T and Verizon, plans to offer the BlackBerry Z10 are in place and fans can sign up to "be among the first to know when it arrives." Sprint has released plans to carry the BlackBerry Q10 later this year..

According to BlackBerry, there are around 650 carriers that are considered to be partners in the launch of the BlackBerry 10 platform.

Bell and Rogers Communications, who are both Canadian communications and media companies, announced plans to offer the new BlackBerry Z10, Rogers will offer the device on February 5 at $149.99 with select three-year plans. Bell is taking pre-orders and also will launch on Bell Mobility on February 5. Virgin Mobile Canada is also planning a February 5 launch of the BlackBerry Z10.

The carriers in the United Kingdom should see availability before everyone else, with devices ready for purchase tomorrow on all their carriers, such as O2, Vodafone, Phones 4u, BT, 3UK and the Carphone Warehouse. EE, a digital communications company in the UK, will launch the BlackBerry Z10 for £49.99 ($67.82 US) on a £41 ($55.52 US) per month on a 24 month package. Pricing for the U.S. debut of the new phones have not been set and will likely come from the individual carriers. According to BlackBerry, the Z10 will available around March.

In other surprise announcements, Research In Motion, or RIM, will be re-branded as BlackBerry. The company says it will adopt the name of its revolutionary BlackBerry smartphone to coincide with the launch of its new mobile computing platform. The company’s website, www.rim.com, has changed to www.blackberry.com

"From today on, we are BlackBerry everywhere in the world, " said BlackBerry President and CEO Thorsten Heins.

Heins also announced Alicia Keys as the new Global Creative Director. Keys is pitched by BlackBerry as a 14-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and entrepreneur.

Heins said Keys is an original BlackBerry power user who believes in the product and will lead an array of business initiatives to drive engagement and perception of the brand.

Keys is expected to work closely with developers, carriers and entertainers to enhance the BlackBerry 10 platform.

Visit us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Send an email | View Photo Galleries

Click to become a LifeFlicksTech member

Sunday, 20 January 2013

Nokia Lumia 822 showcases Windows Phone 8 from Microsoft

I've had another experience where a particular smartphone was just a joy to carry around. This time, it was the Nokia Lumia 822 from Verizon Wireless.

Maybe it was the live tiles of Windows Phone 8 or the seamless integration with everything Microsoft, such as Windows Live and all the features surrounding it. Whatever it was, I took a likening to the Lumia 822 and now I must say "well done" to Nokia and Microsoft.

Nokia has been around for the long term and most of us remember them as always having quality hardware. Although the Finnish crew have been making mobile phones since the early 1990s and used to be the King of cell phones, the smartphone craze from Apple's iPhone and Google's Android platform caused Nokia to fall by the wayside.

Microsoft has been around since 1975 and needed something significant and exciting in the mobile communications arena.

So these two giants teamed up in 2011 to create market-leading mobile products. Before the year was out, the Lumia 710 was announced as being the first Windows phone from Nokia in the United States, but it was running Windows Phone 7. About a year later in September, the Lumia line of devices was announced for Windows Phone 8.

The Lumia 822 is the upgraded version of the 820, which was announced in September along with the flagship Lumia 920. Now I'm pretty familiar with Android devices and I carry the iPhone 5, but the live tiles on the WP8 devices, such as the Lumia 822, are pretty ingenious.

You can make your start screen as personal as you like, with your favorite things just a touch away. That's why so many WP8 fans are having so much fun with their devices. The live tiles work very well giving the very latest updates and information. Live tiles are a winner. Simple as that.

The other feature I found really enjoyable on the Lumia 822 is the integration between the phone and your Windows Live account. Every photo taken with the 8 megapixel camera goes to Windows Live without a hitch. Your email account is just a tap away, along with any calendar appointments.

Then you have the People tile that pulls in all you social networks into one list. This became my favorite morning pastime with a cup of coffee — just seeing what's going on in Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn — all in one stream.

When you compare my iPhone with it's 4-inch display to the Lumia 822's 4.3-inch display, I found typing and texting to be much easier. Having the extra space around the characters makes a difference and the suggested words feature on the Lumia speeds things along by saving keystrokes.

The Lumia is a little heavier at 4.99 ounces compared with my guy at 3.65 ounces, but the extra weight didn't bother me all, mainly due to the rounded corners and quality feel of the Nokia hardware. It simply feels good in your hand.

The 1.25 gigahertz processor of the Lumia 822 falls right in line with some of the other WP8 devices, such at its sibling, the Lumia 920, and the HTC 8X. But the latter devices trump the Lumia 822 with better screen resolution and the 920 has a higher-rated camera at 8.7 megapixels. During a surprise snowfall in my town, I had fun with the Carl Zeiss lens on the Lumia 822's 8 MP camera. Nice pictures is what I can say.

As for apps, the Lumia 822 comes with ESPN, My Verizon Mobile, NFL Mobile, The Weather Channel, Nokia City Lens and a few others. Then you can shop among the 120,000 or so in the Windows 8 store. That's nowhere near the 600,000 to 700,000 apps found in the Google Play and Apple stores, but I found a few of my favorites that worked well on the Lumia 822.


The Nokia Wireless Charging Pad allows you to put your phone down on a plate to charge the battery.

The Lumia 822 can be made even better with accessories, such as a Nokia Wireless Charging Cover or Charging Pad and a JBL Wireless Speaker.

You would think you might need a couple of hundred bucks to snag a Lumia 822, especially after considering all the features I've mentioned, but it's a bargain at $49.99 with a contract.

For the past of couple of years, the smartphone arena has been ruled by the iPhone and Android, while other platforms revamped their offerings. Things are changing now.

At this point, the Lumia 822 could be the deal of the year, as we wait on Samsung's next move with the Galaxy line of devices and the upcoming new BlackBerry 10 smartphones that will be announced on Jan. 30. Let's also not forget that Google made a $12.5 billion play for Motorola about a year ago and we're yet to see what they're up to for a new smartphone from the twosome.

The Windows Phone 8 devices are off to a good start while things are calm and the Lumia 822 is one good example of what's available.

Visit us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Send an email | View Photo Galleries

Click to become a LifeFlicksTech member

Monday, 17 December 2012

Some business customers invited to test new BlackBerry 10 platform

If you're lucky, you may be one of the 120 select customers from 64 Fortune 500 companies to beta test the BlackBerry 10 smartphone, which is set to make a worldwide debut on the 30th of January. The new BlackBerry Hub experience is waiting for your reactions.

The by-invitation-only program starts today and includes participants from financial, government, insurance healthcare, manufacturing and media. It is design to give early adopters a real-life experience on the new BlackBerry 10 platform from Research in Motion, who introduced the BlackBerry in 1999.

“Beginning today, RIM will be visiting some of our enterprise and government ‘early adopters’ and getting them started with the BlackBerry 10 platform,” said Robin Bienfait, Chief Information Officer, Research In Motion. “At RIM, we’ve seen the power of our new enterprise mobility management solution first-hand, and we are thrilled to share BlackBerry 10 directly with these leading organizations.”



The testers will be able to use the key features of the new platform, such as BlackBerry Balance, the BlackBerry Hub, a new messenger and explore the dedicated BlackBerry app store, which is expected to contain around 100,000 apps ready at launch.

According to RIM, getting the new devices in the hands of its best and largest enterprise customers was an important step, as the launch draws closer.

The new BlackBerry 10 devices are expected to have Near Field Communication, or NFC capability, as "BlackBerry Tag" was announced by RIM in January in a BlackBerry OS 7.1. update. This technology will allow content sharing with a simple tap between two NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphones.

RIM is also counting heavily on the new devices having the Federal Information Processing Standard in place, which also known as FIPS 140-2, a requirement for highly sensitive information. RIM says this certification will help government agencies deploy the BlackBerry 10 smartphones from the day of launch.

According to the BlackBerry Blog, a touchscreen model is expected to be shown at launch, but physical keyboard lovers shouldn't be worried, as a QWERTY model should be coming soon after the Jan. 30 unveiling.

The new devices will be based on an operating system built around features from QNX Software Systems, an automotive industry software maker, who BlackBerry acquired from Harman International Industries in April 2010. In September 2010, the BlackBerry Playbook was announced, along with a new QNX operating system.

We'll learn more about pricing, carriers and availability at the January launch.

Video: BlackBerry Fans Visit RIM HQ to Sneak a Peek at BlackBerry 10

Tips: 10 ways to use BlackBerry Bridge with your BlackBerry Playbook

Visit us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Send an email | View Photo Galleries

Thursday, 15 November 2012

BlackBerry 10 launch set for Jan. 30; new smartphones unveiled


The BlackBerry 10 interface will include a new feature that will divide the screen into a "Personal" and "Work" display of apps and data.

The BlackBerry 10 launch is scheduled for Jan. 30, where Research in Motion, the smartphone's maker, will unveil the first two BlackBerry 10 Smartphones that will run on the new platform.

This is what a lot of BlackBerry fans have been patiently waiting for, as the iPhone, Android devices and now Windows Phone 8 devices, chip away at the loyalty of RIM’s customers.

The two devices expected to be announced have been rumored to be a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard model. The latter will soothe the fears of a lot of diehard BlackBerry fans, since the famous BlackBerry keyboards have been one of the reason for the device's popularity over the years.

According to RIM, the BlackBerry 10 will “create a truly unique mobile computing experience that constantly adapts to your needs” using an approach called BlackBerry Flow that will be unlike any other smartphone in the market.

Other new key features likely to found on the new platform include a new keyboard that will “learn how you write and adapt to how you type” and a feature to balance your personal and business apps and data.

The launch will happen simultaneously in multiple countries. More details will available at the event.

More: BlackBerry 10 to debut new apps

Visit us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Send an email | View Photo Galleries

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

BlackBerry 10 developers hard at work on apps for new platform



As we wait on the BlackBerry 10 platform to arrive sometime early in 2013, Research In Motion says the developers are hard at work creating apps for the new upcoming devices.

Developers have been issued 5,000 BlackBerry Dev Alpha test devices to put their apps through the paces on various BlackBerry 10 projects. We can expect apps from Cisco, Foursquare, Sencha, Gameloft, HalfBrick Studios, Madfinger Games, Funkol and others when the magic time comes.

The developers are hoping to create BlackBerry 10 apps that will entice customers to take a closer look at the new platform.

“The Weather Network is excited to develop for BlackBerry 10," said Gita Ashar, Director of Mobile and Emerging Technologies for Weather Network. "The innovations in the operating system will provide our existing loyal consumers and new consumers an application that is as stunning as it is informative, helping users to plan for anything.”

The developers will work with BlackBerry WebWorks and will use HTML5 and CSS in building apps for the new BB 10 platform.

I know of several die-hard BlackBerry fans that are among the 80 million users that RIM announced in its latest quarterly report. They are patiently awaiting the new devices that are expected in the first quarter of 2013. One in particular is fearful of losing his BlackBerry contacts if he switches to an Android device or the iPhone.

The delay of the BlackBerry 10 devices could turn into a big headache for RIM. The competitors are full steam ahead with innovative hardware that would leave less opportunity for any excitement in the BlackBerry arena.

The Samsung Galaxy S III had been around since May and doing very well in the marketplace. Now we have the iPhone 5, which is setting sales records, despite mapping software woes and other issues being reported by customers.

Next up will be Microsoft and their partners as they roll out new Windows Phone 8 devices later this month. The Nokia 920 and 820, the HTC 8X and 8S and the upcoming Samsung ATIV S are all on deck with Microsoft's unique tiles-based interface. It'll be interesting to see if the Windows 8 devices gain acceptance with consumers.

From the Android camp, the LG Optimus G is likely to draw some excitement, as the specs are pretty impressive with a 13 megapixel camera on the Sprint Nextel version.

All of these devices are likely to attract some BlackBerry fans that are tired of waiting on something new, although some will tough it out. I have one friend who is thinking about leaving her beloved BlackBerry for the Galaxy S III.

The other nightmare for BlackBerry could be the rumored Samsung Galaxy S 4, which could also arrive in the first quarter of 2013. I would think the folks inside the walls of RIM would certainly want to be ahead of this threat with their new BlackBerry 10 platform, along with some outstanding apps.

Let's hope that when the new BlackBerry 10 platform finally arrives, it will be worth the wait.

Visit us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Send an email | View Photo Galleries

Click to become a LifeFlicksTech member