Today, was BlackBerry announcement day with news from BlackBerry and the major carriers. First off RIM (Research in Motion) changed its name to BlackBerry. The new OS has several celebrity power users, supported by many apps and will launched in the U.S. sometime in March (videos follow).
For the top celebrity endorsement Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and entrepreneur, Alicia Keys was named as BlackBerry’s new Global Creative Director who has been using BlackBerrry 10 for a few weeks and loves it.
Previously Keys was a power user until she saw sexier smartphones at the gym. She played the field and then BlackBerry got a lot faster "Now we're exclusively dating again," Keys said.
She loved the camera and a way to separate work and play. She work with other super woman and creative people. She started the keep moving project, challenged artists and athletes. We're wondering if Keys prefers here BlackBerry 10 with QWERTY keys or virtual touchscreen keys.
Film director Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City), and author Neil Gaiman (Coraline, Stardust, The Sandman) will join Keys as the first three “BlackBerry Partners” leveraging the power of the new platform to create original content and special user engagements.
The team demoed the very first BBM Video call to London, that started from BlackBerry Messenger that also has BBM screen. Story Maker pulls in photos, media and music with titles and credits. All the content is brought together.
Verizon announced that will be selling the BlackBerry Z10 with an exclusive White model for $199 with a contract. It will be world global ready.Verizon also reported that ti will sell the Q10. Sprint plans to offer Blackberry Q10 smartphone later this year with unlimited 4G LTE data.
T-Mobile announced that the T-Mobile BlackBerry Z10 will have LTE and then added T-Mobile’s customers can take advantage of Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data. T-Mobile will also be bringing RIM’s new BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 enterprise mobility management. Formerly leaked documents suggested a March 27 released date from T-Mobile.
AT&T today announced plans to offer the new BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones powered by BlackBerry 10. The BlackBerry Z10 will be the first BlackBerry smartphone to run on AT&T 4G LTE, part of the nation’s largest 4G network covering 288 million people. 2-year agreement on voice plan and minimum $20/month (Individual Responsibility Users) or $30/month (Corporate Responsibility Users) data plan required. Existing voice and data plans may be eligible for upgrade customers.
Features of BlackBerry 10 include voice recognition, BlackBerry ID, gesture features, Blackberry Messenger, payments, BlackBerry Hub and Movie (for watching movies same day as DVD) Preisntalled apps include BlackBerry Remember, BlackBerry 10 Browser,Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare. Skype , BlackBerry has partnered with Disney and Angry Birds' Rovio. Other features include multilingual support, keyboard sounds, email, voice controls, security/wipe, parental controls, BlackBerry World content restrictions, remote log-in and device search.
The BlackBerry Hub consolidates information such as voice mails, emails, text messages and other communications.
BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 feature 1.5 Ghz dual core processors with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and an expandable memory card slot. The screen desnity for the Z10 s 1,280 x 768 pixels (356ppi) Both feature a micro HDMI out port for presentations, and advanced sensors such NFC (near field communications) to support mobile payments and the exchange of information with a tap of the smartphone. They also have a removable battery. Models of the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 will be available from carriers to support their respective 4G LTE or HSPA+ networks, and all the available models include connectivity support for global roaming. The BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones will also each come in White and Black.
The Q10 keyboard understands and adapts to customers, so they can type faster and more accurately, with a QWERTY keyboard that has rows separated by frets, making it easier to type accurately and with more confidence than ever before