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BlackBerry 10 phones get the Amazon Appstore in the US
If you're a BlackBerry-toting American, you're about to get a ton of Android apps on your plate. As promised, BlackBerry has started the US rollout of an update that gives all BB10 devices access to the Amazon Appstore, saving you from having to sideload some of the Android titles you can't live without. You'll also get better anti-theft protection and a "fresh look" that includes faster access to common tasks.
How would you change the BlackBerry Q5?
Your humble narrator doesn't review too many gadgets, so it's always a treat when one hits the How Would You Change timetable. In my mind, the BlackBerry Q5 was the company's most important new device simply because it would show if BlackBerry could recapture its low-end dominance. After all, the Q10 and Z10 were aimed at business types with broken Bolds, the Q5 was for teenagers and budget-conscious users in Asia. Did it succeed? Not really. Low-end specs with a mid-tier price would have been bad enough, but the hobbled keyboard did nothing to tempt back people who had since learned to type with fingers on glass. Oh, but the battery life was great. Still, if you disagree, why not leap into our forum and tell me how much you love this phone?
IRL: JBL PlayUp speaker and the BlackBerry Q5 on Telus
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Is it pandering to have one of our Canadian writers play with every new BlackBerry? Perhaps -- not that we could've stopped him anyway. In this week's issue, we have Mr. Jon Fingas sharing his thoughts on the Q5 and its physical keyboard, while Philip splurges on JBL speakers to match his new Lumia 1020.
Mobile Miscellany: week of August 12th, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought leaks of a smartphone that tips the scales with a 6-inch screen, an alternate ego to the oft-leaked Sony 'Honami' and the return of unlimited data to a certain AT&T MVNO. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of August 12th, 2013.
Mobile Miscellany: week of July 29th, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought overwhelming support for MoDaCo.Switch on the GS4, new markets for the budget-priced BlackBerry Q5 and a pint-sized Android handset from Acer. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of July 29th, 2013.
Switched On: Played out
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. At the launch of the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 -- the first hardware devices to run on the long-awaited BlackBerry 10 operating system -- there seemed to be a silver lining for the renamed company's struggling PlayBook tablet. Confirming speculation, CEO Thorsten Heins promised a cheering crowd that the PlayBook would receive an update to a new OS. This would open the door to signature features, a more polished user interface and a vastly expanded app library. But something was amiss. The company had also announced that, to simplify app development, BlackBerry 10 would support two screen resolutions: the Z10's 1,280 x 768 and the Q10's 720 x 720. In contrast, the PlayBook resolution is 1,024 x 600. Late last month, the other shoe dropped as BlackBerry confirmed that the PlayBook would not receive the promised update, leaving it with an abandoned OS and marking the effective exit of BlackBerry from the tablet market.
The Weekly Roundup for 07.15.2013
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 07.18.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
BlackBerry Q5 review
This is probably the most important smartphone that BlackBerry will launch in 2013. You see, the Z10 and Q10 were designed for diehards, gadget lovers and those who desired a like-for-like replacement for their aging Bolds. Unfortunately for CEO Thorsten Heins, those people were never the total sum of RIM's (now BlackBerry's) customer base. After all, it was the budget-conscious crowd that embraced BBM to the point where London's 2011 civil unrest was nicknamed the "BlackBerry riots," not to mention the company's popularity in the developing world. Given that the business most recently posted an $84 million quarterly loss and has only managed to ship 2.7 million BB10 devices, it'll be these customers, then, who the company will need to win back in order to keep its head above water. Unlike its struggling rivals, however, BlackBerry does have one thing its rivals do not: a pedigree in QWERTY keyboards that offer a real alternative to the legion of Android and Windows Phone touchscreens out there. That's where the Q5 comes in -- a portrait QWERTY handset with a 3.1-inch display described as "youthful" and "fun," designed for markets outside of the US, with a variety of color options. But is that enough to tempt back the text addicts of Latin America and the disenfranchised voters of London? It's available for £320 ($490) off-contract in the UK, or free on plans from £21 ($32) per month, but is it enough of a handset to justify its mid-tier price? Can this form factor work in a world where even the cheapest phones can offer 4-inch, pixel-rich displays and broader app support? Is this the handset that BlackBerry needs, or the one it deserves? We could tell you at the top here, but that'd kinda negate the point of the following 2,613 words.%Gallery-193300%
BlackBerry Q5 to make early debut in the UAE tomorrow
Earlier than expected (and a little pricier than we'd hoped), the BlackBerry Q5 will go on sale tomorrow in the UAE. We know that its radios are primed for AT&T 3G and while the build might not rival the flagship BB10 device, it's another option for those who can't relinquish the tactile joys of a physical keyboard. It will launch priced at 1,499 AED (just above $400), which nets you BlackBerry's latest OS spread across a 3.1-inch touchscreen with the aforementioned keyboard nestled below. Interested in hopping on a red-eye flight for the third device since the company's name change? Then we'd recommend reacquainting yourself with our first impressions.
Switched On: BlackBerry's depressing keyboard trends
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In a March interview, Google chairman Eric Schmidt, whose company's smartphone ambitions led to his vacating a board seat at Apple, claimed that he didn't use either an Android phone or iPhone. Rather, he uses a Blackberry, citing his affinity for its keyboard despite a number of Android models released over the years integrating physical thumb keyboards. RIM devices had keyboards even before they had email; the feature was part of the BlackBerry's predecessor, the RIM Inter@ctive Pager. Indeed, tactile feedback was so valued by the company that it tried to integrate it into the touchscreen with the BlackBerry Storm. In reviewing that phone for The New York Times, David Pogue noted, "A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel." Imagine such a thing.
The Daily Roundup for 05.14.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
BlackBerry Q5 hands-on: an affordable BB10 device in a QWERTY shell (update: video)
It's not the most exciting hardware launch to come from the newly reinvigorated (and rebranded) BlackBerry, but the Q5 is a device with a mission. Announced formally this morning by CEO Thorsten Heins on stage at BlackBerry Live, the Q5 is in some ways a more approachable successor to the Q10. Combining a 3.1-inch, 720 x 720 touchscreen display with BlackBerry's well-loved physical QWERTY, the Q5 is being squarely positioned at users in the developing world. And its less-than-premium build quality is a testament to that affordability. We spent some brief time getting to know this newest BB10 device, so skip past the break for our initial thoughts. %Gallery-188295%
BlackBerry Q5: a QWERTY handset built for emerging markets
This morning at BlackBerry Live in Orlando, Thorsten Heins kicked off the company's major annual event with a brief mention of the latest BB10 device, the Q5. It's a handset Heins is convinced will be a "big hit" for its target audience. The portrait QWERTY handset follows in the footsteps of the recently unleashed Q10, merging a 3.1-inch touch screen with hardware keyboard, but has a more specific bent: it's made for emerging markets. Due to be launched in a trio of colors (i.e., black, red, white and pink), the Q5 is being positioned as a low-end device that combines affordability, BB's signature physical keyboard and, of course, BB10. It's due to rollout this July in Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. As for pricing, the company's remaining mum on that end, but with summer fast approaching, we should know soon enough.
Audi Q5 to boast NVIDIA-powered interface, gadgets aplenty
Audi is certainly no stranger to cramming some less-than-common technology into its vehicles, and it looks like its new Q5 compact crossover vehicle is no exception, with it set to roll out of the factory later this year with some NVIDIA-powered graphics. That comes in the form of the vehicle's Harman/Becker-designed MMI (Multi-Media Interface) "3G infotainment system," which relies on an unspecified NVIDIA graphics processor to provide smooth map transitions, along with photorealistic depictions of points of interest and other eye candy. As if that wasn't enough, the vehicle's in-dash system will also boast support for external USB storage media, built-in Bluetooth, satellite radio, and even a SIM card slot that'll effectively turn it into a quad-band GSM cellphone.
Cowon Q5W goes on sale in US, shows off its premium skills
We knew the Cowon Q5W was coming to our fair shores this week, but now that it's here, we've got some fresh details that make that $549 pricetag seem downright reasonable. You're still looking at a 5-inch 800 x 400 touchscreen and Windows CE, but Cowon has really thrown down the gauntlet with codec support, including DivX, XviD, AVI, ASF, WMV9, MPEG4, OGM, Ogg, FLAC and APE -- and the browser supports Flash. There's also a "pen mode" for the interface and an optional WinCE Office Viewer that might let you actually get some work done. To top it all off, the entire UI appears to be skinnable, and Cowon says a version with GPS will also hit next month. Damn, looks like our love affair with the Archos 605 WiFi is over.PS. Check the Cowon America product page for some of the best machine translation pickup lines we've ever seen.[Thanks, Gibran]
Cowon Q5 PMP unboxing
Normally our product unboxing posts are reserved for prime American kit from the likes of the biggest manufacturers, but Cowon's Q5 portable media player with its integrated WiFi and HSDPA definitely deserves the same treatment. Just so you get a sense that the feature packed PMP actually exists and is coming to these shores, check out the product unboxing over at the Cowon forums. Get a load of that 5-inch 800x600 LCD display, check out the included remote and cables, and ogle at all that unintelligible (to us) Korean text. Just to remind you, the Q5 should be dropping sometime this quarter for $499 to $549, depending on whether you opt for the 40GB or 60GB capacity.
Cowon Q5 PMP gets priced and dated
Anytime a US-bound PMP sports wireless connectivity we're bound to sit up and take notice, so the fact that Cowon's upcoming Q5 rocks not only Bluetooth and WiFi but HSDPA as well shoots this 40GB or 60GB model right up to the top of our wish list. Besides all that 'net functionality (thanks to Windows CE Internet Explorer), the 5-inch Q5 sounds like a pretty strong performer as a standalone media device, offering an 800 x 480 resolution, DVR capabilities, hefty codec support (including DivX and XviD), built-in speakers, and an FM radio, along with optional TeleAtlas-based GPS. Definitely one that will give Archos a run for its money, and at $499 or $549 depending on capacity, there seem to be enough advantages over the similar Archos 604 WiFi to warrant the extra $50-$100 when this drops sometime by the end of this quarter.
Cowon's upcoming A3 and Q5 PMPs are fit as fiddles and ready for love
While we'll miss our sexy, chest hair-free modeling friend, it's nice to finally see Cowon's new A3 PMP (top), a followup to the lovable A2, up close and personal. As expected, the 4-inch 480 x 272 player now includes a DMB receiver, plus a spiffy new "DaVinci" video processing chip from Texas Instruments to improve playback in some indeterminate way. Cowon's Q5 does it all one better, however, with a 5-inch touchscreen, GPS support of some kind, DMB, WinCE 5.0 and an external HSDPA module. No word on screen res, but there's plenty of hawterness to be getting along with already. These two players and plenty more from Cowon will be on display at CES -- specifically, the D2, N2, U3, T2, F2 and X5, for any model number junkies out there -- so we'll be sure to drop kick a few and let you know what's what.[Via dapreview]
