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Refresh Roundup: week of March 11th, 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!
WhatsApp lands on BlackBerry 10, offers Z10 owners a BBM alternative
Back at the Z10's launch, BlackBerry revealed that WhatsApp, along with a host of other third party applications, would be headed to its BB 10 platform. And as of today, the company's actually delivered on that promise, giving Z10 owners an open alternative to its BBM service. The messaging app, natively built for BB 10, brings with it support for push notifications, as well as integration with BlackBerry Contacts, thus eliminating the need to manually re-enter phone numbers. It's live in the BlackBerry World store now, so go ahead and grab it at the source below or download it direct from your Z10.
Verizon BlackBerry Z10 launching March 28th, pre-orders begin March 14th
It was AT&T's turn earlier this week, and now it's Verizon's. Big Red has confirmed that its edition of the BlackBerry Z10 will be in stores on March 28th, just a week after it surfaces at its first major US carrier. Pricing will remain the same $200 on a contract, although Verizon has a decided edge for fans of variety: it'll have an American exclusive on the white model, albeit with conspicuous branding. Pre-orders start March 14th at both Verizon itself (starting from 8AM) and Best Buy, so those who've embraced Hubs and Peeks can commit to a Z10 very quickly.
The Daily Roundup for 03.11.2013
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 Z10 coming to AT&T March 22nd for $199.99, pre-orders open tomorrow (update: Best Buy)
The BlackBerry Z10 has already been available in various parts of the world -- and will soon be delivered to T-Mobile business customers in the US -- but most consumers within the 50 states are still exercising a bit of patience. Fortunately, it doesn't appear that American hopefuls will have to wait too much longer, as AT&T has announced that the flagship 'Berry will be available for pre-order on March 12th for $199.99 on a two-year commitment, and should be ready for purchase in retail stores and online beginning March 22nd. Update: Best Buy says it will also take Z10 pre-orders starting March 12th, in addition to carrying the phone on launch day.
Refresh Roundup: week of March 4th, 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!
T-Mobile to begin selling BlackBerry Z10 to business customers March 11th for $249.99 (update)
The BlackBerry Z10 is finally ready to ship out to customers in the US, as T-Mobile has officially announced that it is selling Canada's pride and joy starting Monday for $250, but only to business customers initially. Deliveries of the device will arrive on doorsteps (or in office mailrooms, perhaps) by the end of the week. As for the rest of the T-Mobile customers anxious to get their hands on the first BB10 handset, we still haven't received any word. News of the launch date was reported by Reuters, and we reached out to T-Mobile to confirm pricing and availability and received the following statement (update: T-Mo sent an updated statement confirming a pre-order date): The BlackBerry Z10 will be available for pre-order for business customers starting on March 11 for $249.99 on a two-year Classic plan. Please note that pricing can be impacted by volume discounts and other factors, making the device even more cost effective. The consumer retail availability date and pricing will be shared at a later date.
Twitter, LinkedIn apps updated for BlackBerry 10, now function like the real deal
Two new app updates are currently on deck for owners of BlackBerry's Z10 aimed at enhancing the native Twitter and LinkedIn experience. And by "enhance," we mean achieve parity with app iterations on rival mobile OS platforms. With the newly tweaked Twitter for BB10, users will have the option to add or take photos while creating a tweet, delete messages, send direct messages from the 'Me' tab, report users as spam and browse conversations in a threaded view. So basically, the new version of Twitter for BB 10 is now fully baked. LinkedIn is also getting a minor overhaul, now letting users view and search for "Recommended" jobs, filter news by industry, message contacts from their profile pages and view images in full-screen. The updates should hit the BlackBerry World store within 24 hours, so practice some patience. Your Z10 just got that much more useful.
The Daily Roundup for 03.05.2013
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.
German government buys 5,000 BlackBerry Z10s, bucks the BYOD trend
Most of the worry about BlackBerry's market share has centered around its once-certain corporate and government clientele: when even stodgy institutions have either embraced Bring Your Own Device policies or have switched platforms outright, nothing has seemed safe. The company may be clawing back some stability through a newly approved deal with Germany's Federal Office for Information Security. The government agency has reportedly agreed to buy 5,000 BlackBerry Z10 phones for its staff, all of which will be locked down with Secusmart protection for data, messaging and voice. We wouldn't call it a full comeback when there's been just a few weeks for such deals. Still, the purchase is a very public endorsement for BlackBerry at a time when it's not clear that large-scale customers will remain faithful.
First BB10 update addresses battery life, low-light photography, third-party app performance and more
BlackBerry 10 has been out in the wild for almost a month, and today early adopters will begin receiving the first update to the new platform: version 10.0.10.85. Battery performance has been addressed, and over 60 "optimizations" should help lengthen the time between charges. Other changes of note are the "improved performance" of third-party apps, and that the camera should now produce superior low-light snaps. In-browser video playback has also been tweaked, and importing online contacts should work better, as should call logging in the BlackBerry Hub. Finally, the new software is supposed to fix issues with Gmail calendars. BlackBerry says the 150MB OTA update is available on some carriers right now, and will roll out to everyone "over the coming weeks." Head to the source for the full changelog.
Back to BlackBerry: international travels
Dropping a smartphone is an absolutely horrifying experience. And on my first day in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, it happened to me with my BlackBerry Z10. As much as I hate to admit, it was a dumb move on my part. Unfortunately, tragedy can strike with as simple an act as brushing one's elbow across the table, and that's all it took for me to knock my smartphone right onto a hard surface -- facedown in a perfectly horizontal position. If you've ever been through such an accident, you know the few seconds it takes to pick up the phone and survey the damage can be incredibly nerve-wracking and one of the most suspenseful moments of your life. I'm happy to say that this particular story has a positive ending, as I turned the phone over to see if I would need to call BlackBerry HQ in a panic. To my shock, it was completely fine. There wasn't a single scratch or ding, and the touchscreen was just as responsive as ever. It would've been a different story had it fallen onto a concrete floor, but this still significantly increased my opinion of the Z10's durability. Had my Z10 come face to face with concrete, I would've been in a nasty predicament. Not only would I have had to pause or put the kibosh my 30-day trial run with the BlackBerry Z10, but I'm also on the other side of the world in a foreign country. While getting a new phone isn't impossible, it's expensive, time-consuming and frustrating. Yep, this was how my 10-day international adventure began, but how well has it gone for me since?
BlackBerry Z10 for Verizon swings past the FCC
When the BlackBerry Z10 previously reached the FCC, we hadn't yet received the common courtesies of a product name or official carrier plans. Now that it's a known quantity, the device's latest FCC go-round presents a simpler picture. The RFA91LW you see here is clearly the Z10, and the inclusions of CDMA and upper-range 700MHz LTE spectrum leave little doubt that this iteration is headed to Verizon. We also see the expected GSM roaming and NFC. About the only riddle left is the Z10's release date on the network, which isn't yet forthcoming; with FCC approval, though, there's one less thing to hold back a launch on Big Red.
BlackBerry launches the Z10 in India for $800
The BB10-toting BlackBerry Z10 has just been unveiled in India, priced at Rs 43,490 ($800) for an unlocked unit. Coinciding with the announcement, the BlackBerry Music Store has also gone live in the country starting today, offering a mix of local and international music. Support for local languages aside, the app offerings have been given an Indian flavor with the inclusion of country-specific goodies spanning various genres including news, banking, travel, entertainment and lifestyle. The subcontinent is quite important for the company formerly known as RIM, and its devices are still popular in the region, despite taking a beating in market share recently (see coverage), courtesy the BBM service that makes them the go-to smartphones for those hooked on to the instant messaging platform. However, the Z10's sticker price puts it in the same league as the 16GB iPhone 5 and HTC's full-HD Butterfly (both costing roughly $50 more), and it remains to be seen how the price-sensitive Indian market will react to the new entrant.
The Daily Roundup for 02.20.2013
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.
The Weekly Roundup for 02.11.2013
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 7 days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 02.12.2013
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 Z10 goes under the knife, reveals innards similar to Galaxy S III LTE
BlackBerry Z10 devices have only been out in the wild for roughly a week, but the folks at UBM TechInsights have already forced one of the handset's open to figure out just what parts make it tick. Prying the device apart revealed the expected Snapdragon S4 Plus and three other parts from Qualcomm accompanied by Samsung-made RAM and storage. What stands out most to the dismantlers, however, is that the Z10 packs many of the same components in Samsung's Galaxy family of devices, particularly those of the LTE-toting GS3. It's not the most scrutinizing tear down, but you can hit the bordering source link for the entire parts list and full set of images.
Solavei becomes first US carrier to ship BlackBerry Z10, charges $999 for the privilege
We're pretty sure you've heard of the BlackBerry Z10 by now, but have you heard of Solavei? Let us jog your memory: Solavei is a virtual operator (MVNO) here in the US which rides atop T-Mobile's GSM / EDGE / UMTS / HSPA+ network and offers unlimited voice, SMS and data for $49 a month, contract free. The company further sweetens the deal with discounts when you sign up friends. As for the Z10, you probably know that it's already on sale in the UK and Canada but isn't supposed to land on US carriers until mid-March. Well scratch that, because starting today Solavei is teaming up with GSM Nation to bring Blackberry's flagship to its customers. We've confirmed with Solavei that pricing for the handset is a hefty $999 (unsubsidized, clearly). The company currently offers the ATIV S for $605, the Galaxy S III for $575, the Nexus 4 for $405 and the Ascend P1 for $391, to name a few. It also welcomes unlocked phones. Full PR after the break.
Super Hexagon brings concentric chiptune madness to BlackBerry 10
File this one under "things we definitely weren't expecting today:" Terry Cavanagh's Super Hexagon is now available on the days-old BlackBerry 10 operating system. Currently, the only device that runs BlackBerry 10 is the BlackBerry Z10, which is available in the UK and Canada, but won't make it to carriers in the United States until March."This wasn't originally something I had lined up," Cavanagh writes. "Laurence Muller, who ported the C++ openFrameworks version of the game to Android, has an interest in BlackBerry – he maintains the unofficial Blackberry port of openFrameworks. So when Blackberry came along and asked us to do the port, we figured, let's give it a shot!"The game can be purchased from BlackBerry World, either on the Z10 or online, for $2.99. Now all we need are PlayStation Vita and 3DS ports, and Cavanagh's mobile market saturation will be absolute.
