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Well, here goes. RIM is announcing its new BlackBerry 10 OS and hardware today. This could be the launch that gets RIM back in the game for smartphones. Or it could be the last time BlackBerry is relevant. It’s a big moment.
We’ll be covering everything about BB10 and the new hardware right here, in one place. Some of what RIM will show today has been seen in demos and previews and leaked shots, but there will be plenty of new stuff to chew on as well.
Some of the things we expect to see are details about the new Z10 phone like pricing and carrier availability, news about the state of the BB10 app store, a bunch of nerdy IT talk about how the new OS will fit into existing systems, and maybe some news about the forthcoming Qwerty models. Maybe a few features of the OS that haven’t been shown off yet, too. We’re ready to be surprised, though, since this is such an important event for RIM, and it might have a few tricks up its sleeve.
We’ll be updating this post live as soon as the event gets started at 3PM GMT.
The first major announcement is a big one: RIM is now BlackBerry. It’s changed its name to make it one brand.
The new BB phones are called the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry Q10. We’re updating with details as we have them.
The Z10 has a 4.2 inch, 356PPI screen, a textured back, and it looks a lot like the renders that we’ve seen to this point.
The Q10 has a physical Qwerty keyboard. It’s got a 3.1-inch 330PPI screen and a similar design to the Z10.
We’ve moved into the software demo now, and BB is showing the new BlackBerry Flow, which is more or less like Éxpose, but it resizes the content to make it make sense as you’re using it—no tiny type in the windows.
You can also use the Hub feature, which is like a superpowered Notification Center, by just swiping from the left side of the screen to reveal everything you’ve done recently or any new messages. BB is really focusing on how easy it is to use one-handed.
The integrated sharing and social networks looks really good. Tweets and LinkedIn (which was not shown in the demos we saw, but is a natural fit) and Facebook messages show up right in BB Hub, without going into an app or browser.
Profiles in your contacts pull information so that you’ve got social network connections, contact info, work information, and times you’ve had calendar events together. And you can do all this from the Hub. It’s the kind of integrated, first party support that everyone’s trying to nail right now, and BlackBerry 10′s looks really promising.
Typing on BlackBerry phones is a hugely important part of the experience, and the swipe-to-autocomplete/predict is a much more intuitive way to predict words than putting them in the bar above the keyboard. You can also switch the predictions between three separate languages at a time (from a larger selection).
And a big feature is that you can swipe to the left to delete a whole word, and swipe down to access punctuation, which is actually an awesome and great feature.
A big feature of BB10 is the ability to have a Work and Personal account. You just swipe down to toggle between the two profiles.
Your work account can be controlled by your IT manager, who can push apps or updates to it or even wipe it, without affecting any of your personal data. The store accounts and other stuff like BlackBerry flow are tied together in a smart way that doesn’t leave content you want stranded if you want it.
BBM is a hugely important part of BlackBerry’s experience, and the big announcement is that it’s getting video calling (in the presumed absence of a Skype app). But the more interesting detail here is screen sharing, which lets you share your whole phone’s screen with someone you’re video chatting with. This could be good for showing pictures to friends or showing your mum how to do something, but also for presentations on the business end.
Remember is a whole new app that lets you save basically anything to it. Web pages, emails, documents, etc., can all be saved with notes, due dates, and voice notes. It’s basically an Instapaper for everything on your phone. In fact, Evernote is actually integrated too. We’re not sure if the webpages will be stored offline, but even if it isn’t, the emails and documents alone being first party is hugely encouraging.
The big thing BB is pushing about its camera is that it’s using time shift to capture images 10 miliseconds both before and after you take the photo. The camera recognizes faces, and lets you pick out the best version of your friends’ faces.
The picture editor is fairly advanced for in-app phone software. You can add filters by swiping, and crop using a simple grid tool that you can drag and rotate using gestures.
Story Maker is an app that lets you edit together a video consisting of photos and videos you’ve taken, set to music. Think a BlackBerry version of iMovie that lets you easily access all your media. Seems neat, but probably won’t be used very often.
BB10 is launching with 70,000 apps, which is a pretty good number for a new store, but the news here is that there are some confirmations of big apps that were in the air: Skype, Amazon, WhatsApp, and SAP. Skype is the big deal there, since it was the holdup for a lot of people coming onto BB10.
The Z10 is hitting the UK tomorrow on all the big networks. See here for more details.
Uhh, BlackBerry hired Alicia Keys.
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Ugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rw5MosKRm4
Ugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZME6eZJF-I
Token! Good to see your face ’round these parts again.
Good to see you too Kat
I’m still a bit in limbo here in Cape Town. Will be back to my usual antics as soon as im moved in and got some vague semblance of internet going :/ Hope all is well at Giz HQ 
Ah the good old Mother City. Not even slightly jealous
One post update? I guess I’ll follow it live elsewhere…
It would appear, based on their demo, BBM video seems to have no audio :/
Am I missing something? or is it just like gingerbread running on iPhone hardware. I’d be excited about this two years ago.
Thank fuck they didn’t bring on Twat.I.Am instead of Alicia.
its the £36/month on all networks.
that is the biting point, its still an expensive gamble when phones like iphone and flagship android devices have already proved themselves
for what its worth i rather like the phone and a lot of its features, but i am not sure i would ever buy one
So basically BB has created a phone just for their existing customers? That’s what it feels like at least and listening to the EU MD’s “interview”, even he couldn’t sell it to us properly. So while existing BB’ers will be immensely happy with this offering, there isn’t much here for the rest.
Isn’t that Apple’s trick? Making a new iPhone for existing customers. What both are missing is a simple sales pitch in a single sentence, ‘You need this because….’ Jobs was good at that kind of thing.
Unless you have something like a Nexus 4 which you don’t need to try and sell, it speaks for itself, ‘A flag ship phone at a mid-range price.’ Easy sell, and the Z10 ain’t that.
I get the ‘One Brand’ thing. But what is this ‘One Promise’?
Fried chicken?
I’m in, where do I buy.
Someone had to say it. Thanks for the chuckle.
So far software wise bbm video, predictive text and remember, is that it?
And if youre not already f*cked off with it all they bring in Alicia Keys to murder your ear drums!!!
GGGGGRRRREAT!
I still think RIM is trying to win a battle it has already lost. They should just give up and move on to making some sort of man bear pig. They may have more success at it.
RIM are finished. They rebranded to Blackberry
But I you are right, but maybe a genetic ethics group will have a problem with this man bear pig thing – personally I love the idea.
They should have moved into the tyre market – RIM Tyres is an easier sell for them. I’ve also always thought that Blueberry is a much better name, then they can call a new device the Blueberry Muffin, but I guess that would get confused as a new Google OS update.
Why are gizmodo all over blackberry’s random phone. Why so much coverage on a totally crap blackberry? There wasn’t any where near this much coverage on the Lumia 920 which is a significantly better phone. Smells like Blackberry’s slipped Giz a few quid to boost their articles.
What it boils down to is, the OS is shit, there aren’t any apps. They can shove a 250mega pixle camera in it and its not going to be any good.
Blackberry is dead. Why can’t it die quietly in a corner.
Actually Nokia were the nes that paid for advertising on the site. I reckon this is getting so much coverage because its not a regular thing, a new android phone is out every five minutes. This is a last throw of the dice from a once great company.
Plus not a lot else seems to be happening at the moment, it’s this or more on slingshot man.
Because it is new and interesting? If you remember Nokia actually sponsored Giz for a week or so when the L920 came out..
This is meant to be BlackBerry’s BIG comeback after a massive decline in marketshare, fans and stakeholder confidence, so in the tech world it IS a big thing.