[SuperionMaximus]

Not sure the fan base want such a large phone...

Posted via CB10

That's part of the reason that the A10 if it actually launches with the rumored specs will make the original BlackBerry Storm look like a huge success.

Since the A10 is targeting conquests - namely Android users - not the typical BlackBerry customer, it's spec sheet reads like a bad joke.

BlackBerry can milk us for profit on phones with Keyboards like the Q10 and Q5 because if you want a good keyboard phone, then BlackBerry is literally your only option.

But BlackBerry isn't going to have much success targeting Android customers with a fat, low res, underspec'ed phone that has no instagram, spotify, or Candy Crush Saga to name a few.

It won't be pretty

[doggy10]

Perhaps not everyone wants a 5" phone, buy there are many that do clearly. Just look at the sales of large screen phones. While this isn't exactly BlackBerry's type of phone (ie small enough to use with one hand) but if they want to grow their user base, they need to provide devices that appeal to all people. The Z10 being the first full all touch device by BlackBerry isn't the usual BlackBerry type phone but they knew they need to make it to compete and I think they have done a great job with it. I really like my Z10. I am looking forward to seeing this flagship device and what the actual specs will be. I think the original device was going to be 4.6" and then Kevin mentioned that it had been scraped and now is 5". So we shall see. I for one and happy to see BlackBerry make devices for all different people's likes.

Kick'n it with my Z10. #BB10believe

[SuperionMaximus]

Perhaps not everyone wants a 5" phone, buy there are many that do clearly. Just look at the sales of large screen phones. While this isn't exactly BlackBerry's type of phone (ie small enough to use with one hand) but if they want to grow their user base, they need to provide devices that appeal to all people. The Z10 being the first full all touch device by BlackBerry isn't the usual BlackBerry type phone but they knew they need to make it to compete and I think they have done a great job with it. I really like my Z10. I am looking forward to seeing this flagship device and what the actual specs will be. I think the original device was going to be 4.6" and then Kevin mentioned that it had been scraped and now is 5". So we shall see. I for one and happy to see BlackBerry make devices for all different people's likes.

Kick'n it with my Z10. #BB10believe

I agree. BlackBerry does have to cater to as many segments of the market as it can. I just hope the A10 turns out to be the right product for it's target audience because it is their first real foray into trying to win over conquests from high end Android.

[doggy10]

I agree. BlackBerry does have to cater to as many segments of the market as it can. I just hope the A10 turns out to be the right product for it's target audience because it is their first real foray into trying to win over conquests from high end Android.

Agreed.

Kick'n it with my Z10. #BB10believe

[matt4pack]

I really hope they include something hardware wise to differentiate from competitors.

I would really like the trackpad and scroll wheel to make a comeback. The trackpad for text cursor movement and the scroll wheel to scroll long documents without needing to cover the screen with your finger. That would enhance the flow of BB10 even more and I could see those appealing to the high end crowd while not being gimmicks like the S4 has.

Also the trackpad should double as a finger print reader. Maybe unrealistic but if they really want to challenge the top players they have to offer hardware features the others don't have. You can't rely just on software and they have the experience working with both.

[mithrazor]

I really hope they include something hardware wise to differentiate from competitors.

I would really like the trackpad and scroll wheel to make a comeback. The trackpad for text cursor movement and the scroll wheel to scroll long documents without needing to cover the screen with your finger. That would enhance the flow of BB10 even more and I could see those appealing to the high end crowd while not being gimmicks like the S4 has.

Also the trackpad should double as a finger print reader. Maybe unrealistic but if they really want to challenge the top players they have to offer hardware features the others don't have. You can't rely just on software and they have the experience working with both.

I don't think that would bode well with the target audience. Target audience sees anything as not touch, as outdated.


I hope they can differentiate through software. I hope to see heavy TAT influence or something. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. BB is losing the spec AND experience race.

If they don't have 1080p. I hope they don't cheap out with a 600 but have a Snapdragon 800 processor.

[doggy10]

I honestly don't think the average BlackBerry customer cares if the screen is 720 or 1080. A device that has a 720 display is still a very good looking. People already complain that BlackBerry doesn't have enough apps, and if the "A10 " comes out with a 1080 display, devs will have to redo every app they have already made already and some have said they won't bother. So that means the app situation will get even worse. There is more to a phone then just the screen. BlackBerry needs to make sure the build quality of the "A10 " is top notch and keep continue to make the OS better and better as tone goes by. I believe that these things are more important to most people.

Kick'n it with my Z10. #BB10believe

[Skeevecr]

I honestly don't think the average BlackBerry customer cares if the screen is 720 or 1080. A device that has a 720 display is still a very good looking. People already complain that BlackBerry doesn't have enough apps, and if the "A10 " comes out with a 1080 display, devs will have to redo every app they have already made already and some have said they won't bother. So that means the app situation will get even worse. There is more to a phone then just the screen. BlackBerry needs to make sure the build quality of the "A10 " is top notch and keep continue to make the OS better and better as tone goes by. I believe that these things are more important to most people.

Beyond the benefits of not fragmenting the app situation or build quality considerations, another potential positive for using a 720p would be to address the other issue that was seen as a problem by some users, which is the battery life as the device having a battery that is more than 50% larger should easily ensure very good or better battery life for everyone.

[SuperionMaximus]

I honestly don't think the average BlackBerry customer cares if the screen is 720 or 1080. A device that has a 720 display is still a very good looking. People already complain that BlackBerry doesn't have enough apps, and if the "A10 " comes out with a 1080 display, devs will have to redo every app they have already made already and some have said they won't bother. So that means the app situation will get even worse. There is more to a phone then just the screen. BlackBerry needs to make sure the build quality of the "A10 " is top notch and keep continue to make the OS better and better as tone goes by. I believe that these things are more important to most people.

Kick'n it with my Z10. #BB10believe

The A10 isn't targeting average BlackBerry customers. That's Q territory. BlackBerry Q phones will sell to average BlackBerry customers even with inflated prices because the Q stands for QWERTY and BlackBerry does make the best phones with physical QWERTY keyboards around.

The average shopper looking for a 5" touchscreen thinks that a physical QWERTY on a phone is outdated. Plus, phones with a 5" touchscreen tend to fall into only two categories in the market. They are either high end, or they are low end and inexpensive by some unknown Chinese manufacturer. BlackBerry isn't looking to compete with Chinese value brands. BlackBerry is looking to stay a top tier premium brand.

But the A10 might as well use a Mediatek chip and call it's self a budget phone if the specs as rumored are accurate or even close. The rumored specs put the A10 about on par with an HTC One X+. A high end phone from 2012. You know, before BlackBerry 10 hit the market at all.

It's not just the screen resolution that is going to cause the A10 to fail.

It's the outdated processor. Apple can get away with it because they don't publish their chips spec and don't use off the shelf chips so people buy the optimized for iOS routine. But an off the shelf Qualcomm chip from 2012 can be looked up by anyone and it won't take long to realize that the current 2013 series of chips are superior. So an S4 Pro won't cut it in a 2013 Q4 product that is going to sell for $700

It's thick. The rumored battery isn't that outrageously big as to warrant the bulk of the phone. The weaved glass back is pretty but if it's really got to add so much bulk, find something better. The Nokia 920 was a good phone with average specs but most feedback slammed it's thickness.

The Camera won't be anything special to non-BlackBerry customers. No optical image stabilizing floating lens gimmick. No Crystal Sapphire lens gimmick. No Ultrapixel gimmick. It'll just be a good mid pack shooter. It's going to be a good camera, but not a stand out one.

So that leave just BlackBerry 10 to sell the phone. BlackBerry 10 is awesome. But it's not light years ahead of anyone. It's a tough sell versus the massive ecosystems of Android and iOS. The OS it's self is great. The App situation is the problem. People living in a connected world and BlackBerry people being "hyper connected" want to be able to share experiences with their friends and family and take part in new "app of the moment" experiences. BlackBerry may never offer that. BlackBerry may never offer the latest mobile game craze. BlackBerry may never offer the same app experience. This is a problem like it or not.

I believe in BlackBerry. But I don't believe the A10 will be a market success when it's target audience has better choices in that segment of the market. So far, the A10 is shaping up to be the phone with no stand out feature. I hope they are holding a few surprises back to help that phone out, but right now the magic 8 ball is saying it's 'future is cloudy'

[doggy10]

The A10 isn't targeting average BlackBerry customers. That's Q territory. BlackBerry Q phones will sell to average BlackBerry customers even with inflated prices because the Q stands for QWERTY and BlackBerry does make the best phones with physical QWERTY keyboards around.

The average shopper looking for a 5" touchscreen thinks that a physical QWERTY on a phone is outdated. Plus, phones with a 5" touchscreen tend to fall into only two categories in the market. They are either high end, or they are low end and inexpensive by some unknown Chinese manufacturer. BlackBerry isn't looking to compete with Chinese value brands. BlackBerry is looking to stay a top tier premium brand.

But the A10 might as well use a Mediatek chip and call it's self a budget phone if the specs as rumored are accurate or even close. The rumored specs put the A10 about on par with an HTC One X+. A high end phone from 2012. You know, before BlackBerry 10 hit the market at all.

It's not just the screen resolution that is going to cause the A10 to fail.

It's the outdated processor. Apple can get away with it because they don't publish their chips spec and don't use off the shelf chips so people buy the optimized for iOS routine. But an off the shelf Qualcomm chip from 2012 can be looked up by anyone and it won't take long to realize that the current 2013 series of chips are superior. So an S4 Pro won't cut it in a 2013 Q4 product that is going to sell for $700

It's thick. The rumored battery isn't that outrageously big as to warrant the bulk of the phone. The weaved glass back is pretty but if it's really got to add so much bulk, find something better. The Nokia 920 was a good phone with average specs but most feedback slammed it's thickness.

The Camera won't be anything special to non-BlackBerry customers. No optical image stabilizing floating lens gimmick. No Crystal Sapphire lens gimmick. No Ultrapixel gimmick. It'll just be a good mid pack shooter. It's going to be a good camera, but not a stand out one.

So that leave just BlackBerry 10 to sell the phone. BlackBerry 10 is awesome. But it's not light years ahead of anyone. It's a tough sell versus the massive ecosystems of Android and iOS. The OS it's self is great. The App situation is the problem. People living in a connected world and BlackBerry people being "hyper connected" want to be able to share experiences with their friends and family and take part in new "app of the moment" experiences. BlackBerry may never offer that. BlackBerry may never offer the latest mobile game craze. BlackBerry may never offer the same app experience. This is a problem like it or not.

I believe in BlackBerry. But I don't believe the A10 will be a market success when it's target audience has better choices in that segment of the market. So far, the A10 is shaping up to be the phone with no stand out feature. I hope they are holding a few surprises back to help that phone out, but right now the magic 8 ball is saying it's 'future is cloudy'

I have to say, I can't disagree on what you said. When I said the average customer, I was merely talking about the screen resolution. Yes apps is one if to not the biggest issue holding BlackBerry back. Although it seems they are making the effort to change that. I think there are some of the "big" apps people want but many are still not there. Will they ever be? I would like to thing they will but maybe by the time they come it's too late. I am not much of a gamer but I am pleasantly surprised at the amount of good quality games that have been made for BlackBerry 10. As for the rest of the specs for the "A10", I don't know a lot about processors and chips but I also hope BlackBerry is holding some things a secret for this device that will make it stand out. The BlackBerry 10 OS is a very good OS and the changes already added and the ones that are coming in 10.2 are pretty impressive and that makes me believe that this is just the start of a really stand out OS. It's only been out since Jan 31st. I hope the cloudy future you mentioned clears up soon. I know I will be here still using a BlackBerry as long as I can.

BlackBerry for life. Kick'n it with my Z10.

[kfh227]

That's part of the reason that the A10 if it actually launches with the rumored specs will make the original BlackBerry Storm look like a huge success.

Since the A10 is targeting conquests - namely Android users - not the typical BlackBerry customer, it's spec sheet reads like a bad joke.

BlackBerry can milk us for profit on phones with Keyboards like the Q10 and Q5 because if you want a good keyboard phone, then BlackBerry is literally your only option.

But BlackBerry isn't going to have much success targeting Android customers with a fat, low res, underspec'ed phone that has no instagram, spotify, or Candy Crush Saga to name a few.

It won't be pretty

Or a10 with the 10.2 OS has Google Play integration. Imagine marketing it to people in the USA and saying it is also an Android phone? Imagine people are sick of Samsung and buy it?

Posted via CB10

[asdpro]

Aristo????

[sayf777]

Or a10 with the 10.2 OS has Google Play integration. Imagine marketing it to people in the USA and saying it is also an Android phone? Imagine people are sick of Samsung and buy it?

Posted via CB10

Android is open source, but i dont think the Google play store is.


Posted via CB10

[SuperionMaximus]

Aristo????

That code name is just BlackBerry's way of saying that they are going to try and milk people with more cash then knowledge for a phone that either lags behind, or just barely matches it's contemporaries in terms of hardware.

BlackBerry isn't Apple. They didn't go buy some little ARM chip designer to have a Asian PEM fabricate custom chips for them. Apple gets away with staying out of the Android specs race by saying the A[insert number] processor is custom designed to give you the best experience with your iPhone. That's a claim no one can counter because no one else has iOS or an A[insert number] chip to put in a non-iOS phone.

Anyone can look up the specs on the A10's rumored chip and name 3 Android phones that used it in about a minute. So BlackBerry can't say that an out dated chip is the best experience for BlackBerry 10 because if it was why do these new chips from this year blow it out of the water on another Platform? So unless BlackBerry buys up some little ARM licensee and introduces a new line of BlackBerry secret sauce processors that no one else has in their phones, they aren't going to get the same mileage Apple gets with it's A series chips in claiming that what's in the phone is the best for that phone.

Sure BlackBerry will say that BlackBerry 10 is so much more efficient then Android and doesn't need the power to run smoothly. But that argument isn't really going to fly if they phone is priced as high or higher then an Android phone with better hardware.

There has to be a value proposition and something that will make the A10 stand out in the most fiercely competitive segment of the market. I hope BlackBerry realizes this and has a couple surprises for consumers when the A10 launches.

[sayf777]

Since this is all rumours, no point saying this or that about BlackBerry

Posted via CB10

[nosmartphoneyet]

I agree. Main reason I didn't go with a Sammy is that it was a tablet, not a phone. I do have to give it to BlackBerry - go hard or go home should be the next slogan.

Posted via CB10

[pengam]

What's the fascination with apps? BBz10/Q phones are really business phones and as such do the people using them really need all the apps now available on Android etc? I originally had a Z10 ( always been a BB customer) but changed to Samsung Galaxy S4 to give it a trial run. Must say the apps on it are overwhelming with new apps appearing every day; in saying that with thousands of apps I only use about a dozen continuously which in any case are catered for on the Z10. All these apps are in most cases rubbish - for the kids I suppose but majority are a waste of time. Now waiting to see what the A10 is like.
Cheers (just my 10 p)

[Erik Lehman]

Do you mean "Aristo"...

What a d bag

Posted via SEGA master system

[BB_Bmore]

My aunt is a typical smartphone consumer. She recently bought a Gs2 note and as she was showing it too me her demo went something like this: "It has a really big screen and then this pen thingy...I love it"

She mentioned nothing about PPI or memory storage thickness etc... She never even knew about a note until she took her Droid charhge in for an upgrade at Verizon.

While us tech nerds place value on the specs and PPI ...most people just don't!

Thor seems very excited about this new device so let's not crucify it long before its scheduled to hit market. They have something up the sleeve and if you think different, your just silly.

Sent from  using Tapatalk

[amva55]

If it's curvy like the Galaxy, it'll be ugly and I wouldn't buy it. I'll stick with the Z10

[Jake Storm]

OP was right on the money about BB10 not coming to PlayBook.
TH confirmed that today.

[bigjman]

My aunt is a typical smartphone consumer. She recently bought a Gs2 note and as she was showing it too me her demo went something like this: "It has a really big screen and then this pen thingy...I love it"

She mentioned nothing about PPI or memory storage thickness etc... She never even knew about a note until she took her Droid charhge in for an upgrade at Verizon.

While us tech nerds place value on the specs and PPI ...most people just don't!

Thor seems very excited about this new device so let's not crucify it long before its scheduled to hit market. They have something up the sleeve and if you think different, your just silly.

Sent from  using Tapatalk

Thank you! Most of us on here are tech geeks and are into specs but the average user could care less, just want a phone that works. I have yet to have a conversation with family/friends about phones and anything about screen resolution, processor, or anything of the sort people on here are complaining about. All the average user cares about is how it looks, how it works, and what you can do on it. Also, to all the people who are saying "it's too big for me, it's not a upgrage from my Z10" this phone is not for you. It is to apeal to the Phablet crowd.

Posted via CB10

[AfterHoursWelds]

Op, was it thorns that you were playing tennis with? Did he wear glasses? Slim build? German accent?

Posted via CB10

[szlevi]

It will be a screen with 1280 x 720. It has already been said by BB.

Where? That would be the biggest idiocy, I swear - then BB is indeed toasted, they are so ****in' tone-def, utterly and hopelessly clueless.

[szlevi]

Android is open source, but i dont think the Google play store is.


Posted via CB10

It's part of Android so as long as you follow the lic it's fair game - and makes money to Google, remember...

...and this IS how Android 4.2 support should arrive, on-device loading, preferably even with Play Store. That and a 5" device and I'm willing to switch from Android. Anything less and I'm getting Sony's 6.4"Xperia Z Ultra in September.