BlackBerry News: Z10, Sales, Relase Dates, Win, Alicia Keys & Deals

Alicia Keys on BlackBerryThe new BlackBerry has been in the news lately with carrier announcements, sales figures and more.

BlackBerry announced today that one of its established partners  placed an order for one million BlackBerry 10 smartphones, to shipment immediately, making it the largest ever single purchase order in BlackBerry’s history.

The new BlackBerry impressed the 37-member jury of experts for the “red dot award: product design 2013”. With the red dot design award, the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen is one of the most internationally acclaimed competitions.

BlueFin analyst Paul Peterson reported it “appears that management is confident that the BlackBerry 10 launches will be an unqualified success” based on supply chain checks, there has been a “significant surge in orders in the past 30 days."

Select developers are receiving their BlackBerry Z10 Limited Edition models in some parts of the world.

Verizon Wireless announced that BlackBerry Z10 will go on presale at March 14 at 8 a.m. ET for $199.99 with a contract.  The BlackBerry will be available in stores and online March 28. Verizon has released a video showing the BlackBerry Z10 (video follows).

AT&T also has preorders open for the BlackBerry Z10 , starting, yesterday for $199.99 with a contract.The smartphone will be generally available for all customers, including corporate customers or those receiving a corporate discount, through all AT&T channels on March 22.

RadioShack is offering a $30 gift card and Best Buy $50 gift cards with BlackBerry Z10 preorders in stores.

The BlackBerry Z10 features an all-touch keyboard and provides a modern and easy typing experience.  The BlackBerry Z10 also features a high-resolution 4.2-inch display and an 8-megapixel camera that records 1080p HD video. The components of the BlackBerry Z10 are very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S III, the top smartphone of 2012.

 Free Z10 and Date with Alicia Keys

 You could WIN a trip to meet Alicia Keys in person on her SET THE WORLD ON FIRE TOUR in London, England on May 30 or 31, 201e. Lsst day to enter is March 20, 2013.  The Grand Prize: is 2 premium tickets to Alicia Keys' concert, meet & greet with Alicia Keys,  trip to London with hotel,  two BlackBerry® Z10 smartphones and £500 spending money.

 Last week. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said in an interview that the new Z10 smartphone has performed better than expected. "[I]t's also been attractive for customers coming from other platforms. We are a little surprised by that."

BlackBerry will be reporting results for its fourth quarter and year-end of fiscal 2013 on March 28, 2013. Two weeks after the mega-hit release of the Samsung Galaxy S4.