pseudoswede

About 15 days left until the launch event. I'm cautiously optimistic that the new phones they will release will actually compete with the current crop of iPhones and Android phones--at least the specs on paper say that. Mrs. Swede's 9780 is so horribly slow that I bought her an Optimus L9 Android phone as a stopgap until T-Mobile releases more information about the new BB10 as well as iPhone.

Unfortunately, the huge question mark will be whether they can get enough major players to create apps for their OS.

rajsh

I believe they've made it extremely easy to port android apps over ... Extremely EASY ... To the point people are taking android apps bought of google store and making a small change and submitting them as their own to BB store (this is wrong to do obviously and BB is cracking down on it) ... But does bode well for app availability potentially for original app devs porting over

http://www.infoworld.com/t/blackberr...p-world-210518

squatch

sorry, couldn't resist

CPRich

I suspect the actual product will be very good, but overcoming the momentum, marketplace, ecosystem challenges will be extremely hard, if not impossible.

ctuttle

I think this is the watershed moment for Blackberry, everything is at stake for the company with the launch of 10. It's not going to be easy as the delay in launch has seriously crippled the company.

I will either go to the 10 platform early or will say goodbye to the brand. There are a LOT of excellent options out there for a phone. There are a lot of things I like about Blackberry, and if the new product has evolved as it should I will become an early adopter. I have been using a Blackberry for quite some time, and have either learned it well, or it has taught me how it works and I have changed the way I do things to the way it wants me to do them.

My current Blackberry is getting old, had a lot of miles on it and it's time for it to retire. I hope the new Blackberry 10 builds on the strengths of the old platform and offers improvement. Also hope the new hardware is as rugged, security is as good, and is of the same quality.

I'm optimistic but like most Blackberry users not a lemming who will accept a device just because of the logo it sports. I have little doubt there will be lots of innovation in the new software, and even those who aren't fans of the Blackberry will see improvements in future versions of their favorite device. Competition is a wonderful thing for innovation, and I'm sure the manufacturers of other phones can't wait to see what this new device will do, and which features the public will be excited about, and how they can make their devices do it better.

New Blackberry operating system, Windows 8 phones, a cheaper iPhone, all great for the consumer, and good reason for market volatility in Apple stock price. Should be a good year to consider replacing your phone if you can sort through the hype and figure out the real improvements.

Let the hype and game begin!

wco81

Are they going full touch screen or are they going to have the keyboard with smaller screen?

pseudoswede

Here is a link to the rumored specs... http://blog.laptopmag.com/new-blackb...head-of-launch

Their initial product (Z10) will be a full touchscreen.



The second phone (X10) will be a QWERTY phone.

ajnz

I am hopeful that it won't suck, particularly the X10. The only thing that has held me back from migrating to Android has been the general lack of qwerty keyboard non-slider devices.

My current concern with BB10 is that it apparently requires an entire new BES that apparently (!) isn't compatible with older devices - so your organization needs to have two BES, one for older devices and one for BB10. This is going to be a very hard sell in a lot of organizations that are seeing their BB fleet in constant decline. We used to have 50K+ BB, now it is ~20K and dropping. This might mean we never support BB10 here .

elCheapoDeluxe

Yes and no. My understanding is that the new BES and devices are built around the ActiveSync protocol - so for users who just wish to connect to an Exchange server a BES will not be necessary. More here. This is probably key for adoption of the new devices since fewer and fewer companies seem willing to have BB specific infrastructure - and RIM doesn't want to loose out on device sales because of that. BES will be pushed on corporate customers who want better device management than Exchange offers natively. It is a big break for the company.

And I'm with you on the keyboard. I've tried going to all touchscreen and it doesn't work for the emails I find myself replying to in the field. They are too long and too technical. Specific spelling of technical terms, including capitalization and punctuation, can't be sloppy or abbreviated. Right now I'm using a Droid 4 but it has been a POC ever since the Ice Cream Sandwich update, with frequent lockups, and I'm not fond of the fat lump that is a slider phone (plus the lack of ability to use the physical keyboard one-handed). The best I've found is the cheapo HTC ChaCha - of which I have one for travel - but neither phones hold a candle to my old 9930. I should not have given that up to a coworker - and desperately want one but feel I should wait until the X10 comes out before I go buying any phones - especially since I'm not due a carrier subsidized upgrade and I will be paying full price. But the X10 looks like exactly what I want in a phone, and you can bet I'll be first in line the day it comes out.

elCheapoDeluxe

I am sitting in giddy anticipation waiting for the announcement. My forays into touch screens and sliders make me want to go back to a blackberry, and how. Please don't make us wait for the keyboard model! Gimmie gimmie gimmie!

skofarrell

+1

Jimmie76

A white Z10 16GB is listed at the Carphone Warehouse UK as being £479.95 (Sim Free) so cheaper than a sim free 16GB iPhone.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/26/b...se-price-leak/

Although the release has slipped again, it's now 10am not 9am tomorrow

wco81

WSJ interviews some CIOs on the even of the BB10 launch:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/01/...mod=djemTECH_h

Sounds like RIMM needs to put on a hell of a show tomorrow.

ScottC

Unless people who currently are on Android or iOS can switch AND get all of their favorite apps on BB10, the thing will fail. A snappy interface and nice hardware won't get anywhere without an awesome app lineup.

GadgetFreak

That is a huge difference. My employer wouldnt spring for a BES which meant I had to use an app that would run ActiveSync. If it is running native I am interested again, especially in the keyboard model.