[BBA Brian]

Roger Cheng (@rogerwcheng), executive editor for CNET, tweeted the following yesterday:

"I just saw the upcoming Blackberry 10 smartphones. They are real and actually pretty cool."

he followed that up with

"Sorry, can't say anything other than I saw and fiddled around with them."

No indication of how or why he was able to have this opportunity but it makes me wonder who else has had this opportunity given CNET seems an odd source to get exclusive contact with final BB10 hardware

CNET hasn't exactly been PRO RIM in the past; however, in reality no one other than blackberry fan centric sites have been PRO RIM in recent months

anywho, it at least shows us that the BB10 hardware is basically done, which is in a way not really that surprising as we kinda knew the hardware wasn't the issue for the latest delay.

food for though

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

He might have seen a BB10 device, or he might have just see an A or B Developer model. Either way it was a positive experience!

[black.rhino]

I wonder if he just mistook the Dev Alpha for BB10...

I've always been hoping that the hardware wasn't ready yet, only because I don't want to hear the complaints in 6 months when BB10 is running on "Ancient", almost year-old hardware.

I see he also tweeted that health care industries are interested in BB10. Great news. The world really does need a solid secure mobile PLATFORM.

[sleepngbear]

I think one of the first places they should seed early devices as they get closer to release time are the biggest BB detractors. Forbes.com offices, BGR, engadget, all these 'experts' who have been preaching that RIM is dead and BB10 can't save them. Of course some of them will stick to their story to the end; but if BB10 is really that good, it is sure to sway some of them.

Just as I loath the stories that start with "I've been a BlackBerry user and supporter for years, but...", I'd welcome a few that start with "I've been the harshest of BlackBerry critics, but...".

[cgk]

He might have seen a BB10 device, or he might have just see an A or B Developer model. Either way it was a positive experience!

Well he says "them" so he saw at least two different devices.

[princesultan]

ya, a bit worried that the hardware will be outdated once it hits the market.

[cgk]

ya, a bit worried that the hardware will be outdated once it hits the market.

That is a concern for any OEM, nobody is putting together a phone or agreeing supply chain contract in the last few weeks before release - if they are releasing in January, then by now they would had to fix the hardware design.

[Knightcrawler]

Also, he said "upcoming BB10 smartphones"....for the executive editor of CNET, it'd be a pretty big mistake to confuse the dev alpha device with 'upcoming' hardware. Im inclined to think he was referring to actual ready for launch hardware, or something very close to it.

Can someone get confirmation from him, just to make sure he wasn't referring to the dev alpha or dev alpha B.

[BBA Brian]

as a few others have already wrote, he used the word "upcoming", "they are real" and "them"

huge mistake if he was talking about future Dev Alphas

[cgk]

It would also require that his RIM handlers completely misled him on what he was playing with - unlikely.

[BBA Brian]

Also, he said "upcoming BB10 smartphones"....for the executive editor of CNET, it'd be a pretty big mistake to confuse the dev alpha device with 'upcoming' hardware. Im inclined to think he was referring to actual ready for launch hardware, or something very close to it.

Can someone get confirmation from him, just to make sure he wasn't referring to the dev alpha or dev alpha B.

I and I am sure lots of others have followed up with him and he has not wrote a peep about it.

[Bilaal]

Thank God someone from CNET appreciated anything but an Apple product.

[Neely2005]

Roger Cheng (@rogerwcheng), executive editor for CNET, tweeted the following yesterday:

"I just saw the upcoming Blackberry 10 smartphones. They are real and actually pretty cool."

he followed that up with

"Sorry, can't say anything other than I saw and fiddled around with them."

No indication of how or why he was able to have this opportunity but it makes me wonder who else has had this opportunity given CNET seems an odd source to get exclusive contact with final BB10 hardware

CNET hasn't exactly been PRO RIM in the past; however, in reality no one other than blackberry fan centric sites have been PRO RIM in recent months

anywho, it at least shows us that the BB10 hardware is basically done, which is in a way not really that surprising as we kinda knew the hardware wasn't the issue for the latest delay.

food for though

Here's the Link to his Tweet:

https://twitter.com/RogerWCheng/stat...07014647365632

Get some Re-Tweets going people!

[bbaleno]

it also sounds like he is under an NDA since he cant say more. i dont think he would have that if it was a alpha. also rim is trying to change the image and going to mainstream CNET to get the word out would be a good move.

oh and F* BGR about seeding a bb10 device to them, the have proved to be unreliable as of late, and nothing but a nusence

[BBA Brian]

it also sounds like he is under an NDA since he cant say more. i dont think he would have that if it was a alpha. also rim is trying to change the image and going to mainstream CNET to get the word out would be a good move.

oh and F* BGR about seeding a bb10 device to them, the have proved to be unreliable as of late, and nothing but a nusence

Agreed. BGR should be blacklisted for a long long time. I don't mind giving the rest a second chance, but not BGR. No way

[timmy t]

Since Heins is using one, which I assume is the product that will be launched next year, then we know they already exist and maybe Heins or someone actually showed him one.

[kolok]

So if they've finalized the hardware, maybe RIM will indeed hand over a few units for carrier testing in the coming month (two?) and these things will launch in Q1 2013....

Still a year behind schedule, but...

BTW, that twitter link there provided by the Bruins fan - someone asked if the CNET guy perhaps saw alpha devs - his reply was that the smartphoneS were the real deal, so looks like hardware is finalized (perhaps a few tweaks later on).

But then again, if the phones launch in January, February or March 2013, and the hardware is final now, it will mean that the phones will be rather "dated" in terms of tech used. Who knows, maybe there will be new/better processors, screen technology coming out in the coming months. To incorporate that into finalized devices would entail another delay..

[timmy t]

I assume they are less dated than the new iPhones that are rumoured to come out in Sept.

[kolok]

True, true... It's really tricky to decide when to "finalize" or "freeze development for production" of any electronic product these days because of the fast pace of technological advancement. Someone's always behind at any given point in time.

Becomes a crazy never-ending cycle, this "keeping up with technology"..

[kbz1960]

Also some of the newest stuff isn't mass produced yet for others to mass produce.

[imcurved]

Roger Cheng (@rogerwcheng), executive editor for CNET, tweeted the following yesterday:

"I just saw the upcoming Blackberry 10 smartphones. They are real and actually pretty cool."

he followed that up with

"Sorry, can't say anything other than I saw and fiddled around with them."

No indication of how or why he was able to have this opportunity but it makes me wonder who else has had this opportunity given CNET seems an odd source to get exclusive contact with final BB10 hardware

CNET hasn't exactly been PRO RIM in the past; however, in reality no one other than blackberry fan centric sites have been PRO RIM in recent months

anywho, it at least shows us that the BB10 hardware is basically done, which is in a way not really that surprising as we kinda knew the hardware wasn't the issue for the latest delay.

food for though

If the fact that CNET hasn't been pro RIM in the past is true, then this news is even better because nobody can say it is bias. Hooray!

[416to604]

well this is good news

[ccbs]

I assume they are less dated than the new iPhones that are rumoured to come out in Sept.

That assumption are generally not true. In term of physical design, Apple owns the tooling to do rapid spin and has the most responsive contract manufacturing partners. In case of needs, their EVT to PVT to production time is almost unreal. This fact can easily be verified with anyone who has done design and then be sent to China for bring up and talk to people in the contract manufacturing space.
In term of application processor, Apple has its own application processor team and design. Tape-out to silicon in house time are mostly standard 75~90 days but the bulk of the time is the post silicon validation. They generally have shorter validation to product release phase since they have a smaller scope of use cases compared to other application processor houses, like nVidia, TI, Samsung and Qualcomm. Their upcoming Cortex-A15 based design is most likely one of the earliest licensed core design. Screen technology wise, Apple are much more limited with their choice since they are almost always supply constraint. The requirement to ramp up quickly to 100 millions unit per year is difficult for most manufacturing partner. RIM however, will not have this mass quantity production concern since the bb10 is most likely aiming at 3 ~ 6 million per quarter till a bigger worldwide roll out. Therefore, RIM should be able to choose the more experimental, limited run screen tech to gain an edge.

[Just Me]

"@sacmtl These weren't alpha dev units. As I said, I saw the BlackBerrys that will be coming out next year." Already noted.

I wonder how long until the pictures leak?

[travaz]

What better place than to start the buzz but on some of the tech sites. A little peek for right now a few kind words build the buzz. I seem to remember Heins saying that they would be getting units late OCT to the carriers for evaluation so thay could be released by Q1. Thats not too far off. I dont know how long it takes carriers to evaluate a new phone on thier networks but you provide the carrier with phones Nov 1 you are only taking about 8 weeks if Q1 13 launch. When the carriers get them we will see picture leaks