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Mobile Miscellany: week of June 3rd, 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 additional peeks at the purported Nokia EOS cameraphone, leaked screenshots of the BlackBerry OS 10.2 update and the arrival of a new budget smartphone from Huawei in the UK. 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 June 3rd, 2013.
BlackBerry Q10 available for pre-order on AT&T tomorrow, $200 on contract
Got a taste for a physical keyboard, but you're currently on AT&T without any QWERTY-laden LTE options? That's about to change. The BlackBerry Q10 has already been announced for the GSM network, but now we've been informed that pre-orders will officially begin tomorrow and you can get one of your own for $200 with a two-year commitment. Not exactly the price we were hoping for, but it appears that you're paying a little extra for the nostalgia of tactile keyboards. We also don't have any word on exactly when we can expect to see the device hit retail or virtual shelves. Official statement from AT&T below.
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.
BlackBerry Q10 available for pre-order on Verizon, $200 with a two-year contract
For those of you who wouldn't touch a tactile screen if we gave you one, Verizon's just put a smartphone up for pre-order that might be preferable: the Blackberry Q10. Big Red will carry the regular black model and has exclusive dibs on the dapper white Q10 we saw earlier, both of which are on pre-order for $200 with a two-year activation, or $600 sans commitment. On top of real QWERTY chiclets, you'll get a 3.1-inch, 720 x 720 Super AMOLED touch display, dual-core Qualcomm CPU, 2GB of RAM and Blackberry 10.0. As a bonus, Verizon's estimated ship date of June 6th might even line up nicely with the imminent arrival of a certain new version of the OS, too.
BlackBerry Q10 arrives at T-Mobile June 5th for $100 down
US wireless carriers have been quite cagey about the availability of BlackBerry's Q10, with most committing only to a vague June release. But as of today, T-Mobile is the first to officially lock down a hard date for non-enterprise customers: June 5th. Starting next Wednesday, UnCarrier subscribers will finally get a chance to call the Q10 their own, with a choice to either pay $100 upfront (with a 2-year payment plan) or $580 outright for a crack at BB10 in portrait QWERTY form. For the money, prospective owners are getting a 3.1-inch, 720 x 720 Super AMOLED touch display, BlackBerry's famed physical QWERTY layout and, of course, the gesture-heavy BB10 OS. Not included in the box? A complimentary Chief Creative Officer business card with your name on it and Alicia Keys' dignity.
Refresh Roundup: week of May 20th, 2013
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
BlackBerry Q10 coming to Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile this summer
We've gotten word of a new BlackBerry smartphone today, and we now also have some news about familiar one. Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile have all confirmed that they'll soon be carrying the BlackBerry Q10, although some are being more specific with details than others. Verizon is saying that it will be available sometime in June (it has an exclusive on the white version), while Sprint will only go as far as to say "late summer," with neither offering a price. T-Mobile will also be rolling out the phone sometime in June, and has confirmed that it will cost $99.99 down with its new plan structure, or $579.99 if you want to buy it outright. All this follows business registation for the device, which began last month. We've yet to hear anything more from AT&T, but it has already committed to the device and will presumably be launching it in roughly the same timeframe as well. Update: T-Mobile has reached out to let us know that while general T-Mobile customers have to wait until June, business customers can order the Q10 today, with delivery typically expected within a week.
BlackBerry Z10, Q10 and PlayBook get DoD approval
The average consumer may be able to thumb through FCC filings to get a peek at their next smartphone, but certain government employee's hopes lie in the hands of another agency: the US Department of Defense. Good news for federally employed BlackBerry fans, then -- the company just announced that BlackBerry 10 smartphones and PlayBook tablets running Enterprise Service 10 have been added to the Defense Information Systems Agency's approved product list. Finally, DoD employees can toss out that aging BB7 handset and pick up a modern OS. Check out the company's official statement after the break.
PSA: BlackBerry Q10 on sale in Canada, but only in Toronto (update: other cities too)
Today marks one of the symbolically more important launches in the BlackBerry universe: the Q10, the first keyboard-equipped BB10 phone, is at last available on the company's Canadian home turf. As promised, customers with Bell, Rogers and Telus (as well as their Virgin Mobile, Fido and Koodo sub-brands) can snap up what's arguably the true Waterloo flagship for about $199 on a 3-year contract, or between $625 to $700 contract-free. Shoppers are largely buying the same phone no matter the carrier, although Rogers is hoping to lure the undecided with both LTE on an extra frequency as well as access to the white model. Just be prepared for a slightly longer wait if you plan to buy one in person -- BlackBerry warns that it's limiting Q10 supply to the Greater Toronto Area for the first day or two to accommodate demand high demand in Canada's financial capital. Update: Although BlackBerry was emphasizing Toronto, readers in other cities have mentioned getting early access. We'd still call ahead if you're set on grabbing a Q10 at retail, however.
The Weekly Roundup for 04.22.2013
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.
WhatsApp comes to BlackBerry Q10, expands its BB10 footprint
After becoming available on the Z10 just last month, it was only natural for WhatsApp to eventually expand its horizons within BlackBerry 10. And with the Q10 finally nearing its time to take off around the globe, what better time to make the renowned messaging app also compatible with the latest in physical QWERTY keys from the Waterloo-based company. As usual, it won't cost you a dime to get WhatsApp installed on that BlackBerry Q10 of yours, however a yearly fee of about $1 will be due if you're planning on using it for longer than the first twelve months. Either way, it's up for download now, so pay the source link below a visit if you're one of the lucky few to have RIM's BlackBerry's new jewel in your possession a little earlier than others.
The Daily Roundup for 04.24.2013
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.
Skype launches BlackBerry 10 preview, but only for Q10 owners at first (update: official)
For all the hullabaloo about Skype coming to BlackBerry 10, there wasn't much to show at the Z10's launch beyond a logo. We've got more to work with today -- sort of. A preview version of Skype has indeed popped up in BlackBerry World with voice, video and instant messaging like we've seen on other platforms. However, no one in the general public can actually use it yet: the app requires BlackBerry 10.1, which won't reach the market until the Q10 ships to Brits and Canucks. That leaves Americans and Z10 owners in the lurch for a few weeks, although they can at least see the light at the end of the VoIP tunnel. Update: We've added the official press release after the break.
T-Mobile will carry the BlackBerry Q10, business registration begins April 29th
More details on the BlackBerry Q10's release in the US are starting to surface. T-Mobile confirmed in an email that its business customers will have the opportunity to register for the device starting next week on April 29th, with availability and pricing details to follow "at a later date." General consumers will likely have to wait a little longer, if T-Mobile follows the same launch strategy that it did with the Z10. Of course, registration doesn't actually equate to pre-orders or actually purchasing the phone yet -- all we've heard from official channels is that it'll be coming towards the end of May -- but it's still a solid confirmation that QWERTY fans will at least be able to get their BB10 on in the very near future.
Selfridges to get Blackberry Q10 ahead of official UK launch, available this Friday for £580
The keyboard lover's BlackBerry is on its way, and the first place to sell it will be none other than our old favorite, Selfridges. The UK department store will carry a black version of the Blackberry Q10 exclusively between April 26th and April 28th, according to a tweet from Blackberry UK, well before other retailers. You can pre-order it now for £580 (at the source) or, if you'd like to meet other people who also love keyboards, grab one at the store starting Friday.
BlackBerry 10.1 official with HDR camera mode, expansions to Hub and notifications
Never mind that a few developers spoiled the surprise last week: BlackBerry 10.1, BB10's first major OS update, is official today. The release arrives chiefly to support the BlackBerry Q10's hardware keyboard and smaller OLED screen, but it brings a swath of extra improvements that should please Z10 owners in equal measure. An HDR camera mode, which should fill out highlights and shadows in some photos, is just the start. The Hub now supports contact suggestions, PIN-to-PIN messaging and email with attached messages; notifications are more refined as well, with per-account message notifications joining options to define sound volumes and vibrations for each contact. Dive deeper and you'll also notice more granular text selection, better calendar viewing on the Z10 and the ability to copy phone numbers into (or from) the dialer. Do be patient if you're not bent on picking up a Q10, however -- the Z10 doesn't get its update until sometime in the weeks following the release of its keyboarded cousin.
BlackBerry Q10 review
You can't please everybody all the time, and if there's a company who knows this better than the rest, it's BlackBerry. At the showy launch for BlackBerry 10, the company finally unveiled its new stable of smartphones with which it would fight the likes of Apple, Samsung, HTC, Microsoft, Nokia and Google. No simple task, that, and so BlackBerry rolled out not one, but two weapons: the all-touch Z10 and the portrait-QWERTY Q10. But there was a catch: only one would launch at a time. It was a staged attack, with the Z10 forming the initial volley. Many said this was a mistake, and that the Q10 and its familiar physical keyboard should have gone first, paving the way for the more radical, all-touch Z10. After what seems like an eternity, the $249 BlackBerry Q10 is finally ready for duty, so let's put it through its paces and see which of these fraternal twins is truly the flagship.%Gallery-186645%
BlackBerry Q10 priced at $249 on two-year contract in US
BlackBerry just confirmed to us the target pricing of its upcoming QWERTY smartphone in the US, and the quick takeaway is that keyboards don't come cheap. According to company representatives, the Q10 is intended to be sold for $249 on a two-year contract when it arrives at the "end of May," which positions it as more expensive than the Galaxy S 4, iPhone 5, One and Z10. Now, the one hiccup in this equation is that carriers may turn around and do whatever pricing shenanigans they please, but outside of special promotions, you can rightfully expect the Q10 to be one of the most expensive on-contract smartphones of the day. With so few compelling QWERTY handsets on the market, however, it seems that BlackBerry is hoping you'll value a keyboard more than your hard-earned dollar. If it the company's correct, that'll mean a lot more profit. If not, well... you know the rest.
BlackBerry Q10 coming to Canadian carriers May 1st for $199 on contract
It's usually safe to presume that BlackBerry will give the most love to its home country, and that's proving reasonable with the BlackBerry Q10. Bell, Rogers and Telus have all confirmed that they'll be carrying the QWERTY-equipped smartphone on May 1st, quite possibly putting them on the cutting edge of the Q10 launch schedule. Smaller networks like Fido, Koodo, Sasktel and Virgin Mobile are also on deck. The big three are already taking pre-orders today, but we'd brace for a rather steep price premium -- they're all asking about $199 for the Q10 on a three-year contract, which is more expensive than many of the phone's touch-only rivals. BlackBerry hasn't outlined plans for the US or other countries yet, but we're hoping they get a slightly better deal.
BlackBerry Q10 hits the FCC en route to a spring launch
We're fairly certain that the BlackBerry Q10 will make its hometown debut on April 30th, but Thorsten and Co. haven't been very precise about when the handset will land in the US. Thanks to the FCC, however, we know that it can't be too far out, as the first BB10 device with a physical QWERTY keyboard has been passed fit for human consumption by the federal agency. We'd have guessed that professional keyboardist Alicia Keys would be first in the queue, but she probably got a freebie ahead of time.
