After one month with the BlackBerry Z10, a verdict
By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla, WhatsYourTech.ca April 7, 2013
BlackBerry recently announced that it is back in black and profitable again with a $ 2.7 billion revenue and a net profit of $98 million for the previous quarter. A big reason for this resurgence is the BlackBerry Z10, which I have been using for the past month.
Built from the ground up for BlackBerry OS 10, the Z10 leapfrogs all previous BlackBerry smartphones in terms of specs and functionality.
Minimalist and low-key design in in play here with no home button because the Z10 is gesture based and swiping and pinching from the bezel will make it possible to navigate and mange apps and features.
The BlackBerry Z10 is the best BlackBerry smartphone I've ever used and has the smartest software QWERTY keyboard and predictive text feature on any touchscreen device, bar none.
The software learns your common words, adjusts for common and repeated mistakes plus is smart enough to suggest the next word and phrase. The Z10 will put the most likely next word near the letter you are likely to press next. Simply swipe up and the word flies up to the message you are typing. Going back to my other smartphone, I really missed the predictive typing genius of the Z10.
In terms of specs, The Z10's processor, RAM and LTE capability is almost identical to the Samsung Galaxy S3 so it is a 2013 handset with 2012 specs but in terms of software, a lot of touches and features within BlackBerry 10 are game changing and innovative.
TimeShift is another notable feature that shoots a burst of photos to catch the perfect portrait even if there are multiple subjects in the picture. Simply rotate back and forth to get the best shot and then the program will merge the photo.
Flow is the user interface of BlackBerry 10; the OS is designed around efficiency and quick access to critical applications such as email and messaging. Flow makes it easy to move from application to application with up to eight simultaneous open apps available on the home screen.
Flow showcases the full power of multitasking and while limited to eight open apps at a time, enables the quick and lag free transition from one open application to another.
There's a natural look and feel to Flow and once users familiarize themselves with how things move around, they can navigate the system very quickly.
The Hub integrates all your messaging, text, calling and social media accounts into one repository, which is always running in the background. Think of it as a personal assistant that triages your incoming messages and relocates them in an easy to digest from.
This means you can always access your multiple messaging accounts without having to open the applications they belong to.
Since it links all this information, the Hub can even update you on the LinkedIn status of persons you are meeting with, it is a good way to keep current on the people we most need to keep up with.
While the BlackBerry Z10 is an outstanding smartphone with all the ingredients for success, it doesn't exactly change the paradigm or leapfrog the competition in any way. It is a 'good enough' competitor right now but even with 100,000 apps, few of the top tier apps and games from competing platforms are available.
So, the BlackBerry Z10 is an awesome device but it still has some serious catching up to do.