To Z10 or not to Z10?



The Z10: The latest addition to the Blackberry family



A History Lesson

 

Blackberry originally launched the Research in Motion (RIM) revolution in 1999 to attract business people looking for a smart phone which could serve all their business needs including access to email and internet for a fraction of the cost. Today Blackberrys can be found in the hands of people of all ages, socio-economic status and sectors of the population.

 

BlackBerry products include the PlayBook tablet, smartphones, software for businesses and accessories. However, smartphones remain its biggest seller. Apple and Samsung rank amongst Blackberrys biggest competitors and have loosened the company's foothold in the business smartphone market. With the launch of the new Z10, Blackberry hopes to win back many disenchanted users (the ones who eventually got fed up of the constant repairs and "battery rebooting'' typical of a BBs) and gain ground on the iPhone and Galaxy S smartphones taking the market by storm. Dubbed, "the biggest thing to hit Blackberry, since Blackberry", the Z10 is definitely causing waves in the cyber world.

 

 

What is so good about the Z10 anyway?



Samsung Galaxy S4 soon to be released



Well, it uses the latest Blackberry technology and OS 10 and is designed to compete with the iPhone and Galaxy 3S while still giving you the authentic Blackberry experience of Blackberry Messenger (BBM), access to email and web browsing via Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) and an 8 mega pixel rear camera too. Plus it has some nifty features that Blackberry users will be happy to test out such as a Dual Core 1.5 GHz processer, an HDMI port for micro HDMI connection to your HDTV or projector, a front and rear camera, preloaded apps (e.g. BlackBerry Hub, Contacts, BlackBerry Browser, BlackBerry Calendar, BBM, Text Messages, BlackBerry Story Maker, LinkedIn, Weather, Compass, File Manager, Box, BlackBerry Connect for Dropbox, SIM Toolkit, etc.)



Apple iPhone 5



Blackberry Hub sound fancy? Imagine being able to move from any app with just a swipe, and flow effortlessly in and out of your messages and conversations. Not hard to imagine? Thats because Nokia arguably pioneered this feature back when they released the Nokia N95 in 2007. Since then, the top smartphones have always had hubs of this nature. 6 Years later, and Blackberry finally joins them.



Blackberry has taken some of the scraps and the best technology out there and created the Z10. Check out a full list of specifications and features here and see for yourself.

   



May I have some more please?

 

“We believe that meaningful price-cuts, so soon after launch, while probably at the initial discretion of the carriers, is likely to relegate the Z10 to being a mid-tier device with very low gross margins.”

~ The Telegraph

 

The price of the Z10 has been continuously slashed since it's launch due to Netflix releasing a statement that they have no intention of releasing an app on their platform for the phone anytime soon, amongst other reasons including sheer disappointment.

I’m not sure if this is the case in other countries but in South Africa networks are slowly doing away with BIS and moving toward a meagre 200mb cap on data usage and a fee attached to use of BBM and email that sounds remarkably similar to BIS minus the unlimited browsing perk. My own Blackberry data usage takes the form of browsing, social networking & blogging, so I doubt a 200mb cap is going to be sufficient for my (or most users for that matter) needs. Imagine having a lovely new Z10 without the perks of BIS. One has to wonder if a Blackberry smartphone is worth purchasing at all based on this disagreeable case of Oliver Twist asking, “Please sir, I want some more [megs]”.

 

 

Z10 verses Top Competitors

 

 

Other smartphone manufactures may not offer you BIS but they do offer top notch phones that Blackberry should be producing too. Apple and Samsung are constantly developing new technology that sadly leaves Blackberry fighting over their scraps of tech. Such scraps, I might add, that neither Apple nor Samsung care to fight each other over. Check out what you can expect of the Apple iPhone 5 and, the soon to be released, Samsung Galaxy S4.You will likely find that the maps function better on a Z10 rather than on iPhone 5. That is the only point the Z10 wins over the iPhone 5. The Galaxy S range, on the other hand offers a “galaxy’’ of possibilities that the Z10 does not. Pardon my ridiculously bad pun.

 

The Verdict

 

 

A Blackberry Z10 is worth getting if you can afford one and you really really really, REALLY can't imagin life without BBM. And that is hard to imagine with the wide array of alternatives available including Whatsapp I predict that in the next 10 years Blackberry won't be so very common anymore. Users have already began to see the attractive qualities in android phones.

 

The Z10 looks good and is a top-of-the-range Blackberry, but it is far from competitive with other smartphones. Once Blackberry takes a turn for the worse in sales (and the tide is already showing signs of turning) users will do well to remember that its not the worst thing in the world to be without a Crackberry.

 

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