[Jeremy Bivens]

Guys, lets not turn BlackBerry into the spec-hungry, stick-toting, powerhouse Android is. Specs mean a lot less if you have an optimized product built for its use.

- Android is a different beast. Its phones play the specs game for a number of reasons. 1) b/c OEMs have to build their products around the software. Hence, its not all optimized to work together. They constantly need more power to mask the lack of cohesiveness. 2) to stand out from the hundred other android phones in the market.
- Notice Nexus devices dont play the specs games. Because they are built for the OS. No need to push the power.
- Same deal with iPhones. There's no need to throw numbers around when you can do equally as good with less.

I'd rather BlackBerry save on costs by utilizing lower specs that work equally as good as high-end specs, than try to sell high-end specs that you'll never be able to tell why they're high-end.

[Deckard79]

In simple, obvious terms:

BB10 uptake is slow. BlackBerry shares are in the gutter. BlackBerry's reputation is poor. BB10 is BlackBerry's last great hope.

If BlackBerry aim to reverse this trend, their next product should be the best damned phone they can possibly make. It should look beautiful, have the best screen, the best camera, brilliant CPU, brilliant audio quality, utilize high capacities, have great battery life. It needs to be a phone that makes doubters look up and say 'wow'.

It BlackBerry go ahead and release another mid-specced, overpriced phone made out of unremarkable plastics, with an average screen, a camera on-par with a cameraphone of less than half the price and a version of BB10 that hasn't moved on considerably from where it is presently...

Well, what do you think will happen? I think I know.

[Mr.Willie]

In simple, obvious terms:


If BlackBerry aim to reverse this trend, their next product should be the best damned phone they can possibly make. It should look beautiful, have the best screen, the best camera, brilliant CPU, brilliant audio quality, utilize high capacities, have great battery life. It needs to be a phone that makes doubters look up and say 'wow'.

It BlackBerry go ahead and release another mid-specced, overpriced phone made out of unremarkable plastics, with an average screen, a camera on-par with a cameraphone of less than half the price and a version of BB10 that hasn't moved on considerably from where it is presently...

Well, what do you think will happen? I think I know.

So basically BB should buy a couple of million HTC Ones and install BB10 on them. Win win for both HTC and BB.

[Deckard79]

So basically BB should buy a couple of million HTC Ones and install BB10 on them. Win win for both HTC and BB.

Fine comparison. HTC, to their credit, finally got the message.

When will BlackBerry? Really, I increasingly feel like grabbing Thorsten by the collar and slapping him repeatedly in the face until he wakes up.

[Mr.Willie]

Fine comparison. HTC, to their credit, finally got the message.

When will BlackBerry? Really, I increasingly feel like grabbing Thorsten by the collar and slapping him repeatedly in the face until he wakes up.

Please do...

[MasterOfBinary]

- Notice Nexus devices dont play the specs games. Because they are built for the OS. No need to push the power.

Yet the current Nexus 4 will still have roughly the same specs as the A10 despite being a year older and half the price. Nexus 5 is rumoured to have 1080p, 2.3GHz quad core, and a 13MP camera. If Google still wants to lose money off it, it'll be 1/2 or 2/3 the price as well.

So what's the advantage of the A10 over the other phones coming this fall? Apps? Nope. Specs? Nope. Well-known and popular OS? Nope.

So far it seems there's nothing.

[STV0726]

Your eagle eyes can actually perceive the pixels on a screen that small in order to justify the battery life drain, processing power drain etc?

1080p on a mobile device to me is like crowing about LTE when you don't have LTE in your area, bragging about a 13 megapixel camera when all you do is post on Facebook or jeering devices that are less than quad core when you can't produce an app that makes use of the power.

I do think specs matter in terms of the smooth experience and operation of a device. But some people get hung up on specs for the sake of getting hung up on specs ... and never actually make use of said specs.

+100

Yes, yes, and yes!

FFS people constantly forget that many PC applications don't even make use of quad core yet. Now we have them on phones and we still aren't happy.

~STV on Z10STL100-3/10.1.0.2025 TMO US

[Deckard79]

Yet the current Nexus 4 will still have roughly the same specs as the A10 despite being a year older and half the price. Nexus 5 is rumoured to have 1080p, 2.3GHz quad core, and a 13MP camera. If Google still wants to lose money off it, it'll be 1/2 or 2/3 the price as well.

So what's the advantage of the A10 over the other phones coming this fall? Apps? Nope. Specs? Nope. Well-known and popular OS? Nope.

So far it seems there's nothing.

Precisely. How utterly depressing.

I'm not going to buy that. There is no value in doing so, just like there has been no value in buying a Z10 over any premium contender, and no value in buying a Q5 over... anything that isn't a Q5.

BlackBerry have seemingly forgotten that building a great smartphone requires... actually building a great smartphone.

Posted via CB10

[Deckard79]

BlackBerry themselves have helped to coin the phrase "it's good... at least for a BlackBerry".

Posted via CB10

[STV0726]

BlackBerry themselves have helped to coin the phrase "it's good... at least for a BlackBerry".

Posted via CB10

I mostly agree with you for legacy devices, but for BlackBerry 10, I still maintain my opinion that they are now fully up-to-par with what a smartphone device realistically should have.

Does that mean there isn't room for improvement down the line? Course not, however...

I'm not one that has camera wars when no smartphone camera will ever likely replace a separate, standalone, professional camera device, nor am I one to go around having peeing contests of specs like quad cores on a freakin' phone.

Specs are good now. Now let's get the ecosystem better and continue to refine and add to the BlackBerry 10 mobile computing experience which is much more important than the spec war IMHO.

~STV on Z10STL100-3/10.1.0.2025 TMO US

[MartyMcfly]

Blackberry's motto. "selling last year's tech for premium prices".

F. U. T. W. using Tapatalk

[RubberChicken76]

When will BlackBerry? Really, I increasingly feel like grabbing Thorsten by the collar and slapping him repeatedly in the face until he wakes up.

Or write to the board and tell them you're the man for the job, give them your resume, outline your plan and then get busy saving the company, leading it from 12 billion to 15, 20, 30, 50 ...

[Deckard79]

I mostly agree with you for legacy devices, but for BlackBerry 10, I still maintain my opinion that they are now fully up-to-par with what a smartphone device realistically should have.

Does that mean there isn't room for improvement down the line? Course not, however...

I'm not one that has camera wars when no smartphone camera will ever likely replace a separate, standalone, professional camera device, nor am I one to go around having peeing contests of specs like quad cores on a freakin' phone.

Specs are good now. Now let's get the ecosystem better and continue to refine and add to the BlackBerry 10 mobile computing experience which is much more important than the spec war IMHO.

~STV on Z10STL100-3/10.1.0.2025 TMO US

I disagree, they're not good. They're distinctly average. The Z10's screen is too reflective, holds smudges too easily. The camera can't take a decent photograph in low light. The battery life is 1-charge-a-day at best. The back plates on white Z10s are made of cheap plastic and have a tendency to bend. The OS lags.

The Z10 I own isn't a bad phone. In some ways I quite like it. But good value compared to the competition? No way. Good enough to win back market share for BlackBerry? No chance.

I'd sincerely hoped the A10 would be a true 'flagship'. In fact it's already flagging.

Posted via CB10

[dannykavs]

If you believe bgr for any type of news being good and correct your dead in the water right off the bat! Lmao

Posted via CB10

You would be surprised at how accurate BGR is with BlackBerry news sometimes. Anyone remember them posting an article about the Playbook 2.1 OS update delay? Everyone laughed and never thought that update would be 4 months late...until it was.

[madman0141]

OH well its BlackBerry doing what they do best and letting everyone down.

[jeffydude05]

BlackBerry A10 Revealed For The First Time In Exclusive Photo | BGR

[MasterOfBinary]

OH well its BlackBerry doing what they do best and letting everyone down.

No there are 10 people that want last year's specs. So not everyone

[MasterOfBinary]

BlackBerry A10 Revealed For The First Time In Exclusive Photo | BGR

"Unfortunately, it seems as if the display’s resolution is going to be 1280 x 720, the lowest we have ever heard of for a phone this large." It's already being bashed for the resolution.

[Saiga]

Did you read the comments? Someone thinks the 720p is a mistake because having 720 on a 5" phone in this day and age is unbelievable. Lol nope, not a mistake. It's just how BlackBerry rolls.

Typed on my Dev Alpha C, Posted Via CB10

[Jeremy Bivens]

Yet the current Nexus 4 will still have roughly the same specs as the A10 despite being a year older and half the price. Nexus 5 is rumoured to have 1080p, 2.3GHz quad core, and a 13MP camera. If Google still wants to lose money off it, it'll be 1/2 or 2/3 the price as well.

So what's the advantage of the A10 over the other phones coming this fall? Apps? Nope. Specs? Nope. Well-known and popular OS? Nope.

So far it seems there's nothing.

And the rumored Motorola X Phone (even though its not a "nexus") has mediocre specs. I can't quote them, as I am not that concerned with specs.. if I have this huge processor & crappy software, what's the advantage then? Or a awesome specs that that only burn battery life & don't cause any improvements in performance? I see what everyone is saying about wanting specs. Everyone wants the fastest car even when the speed limit is 70mph.. its all about the glamour.

What's the advantage in having 100,000 apps when you only use 10? Specs when your phone doesn't run any better than the next? Popular OS... I can't argue that b/c I have no idea why the popularity of your OS is a real advantage.

[Jeremy Bivens]

Since when did specs determine if your phone is good? I seriously don't care if my phone has the specs to run a power plant, I just want to to do what I need it to do, when I need it to do it. I understand the battle of having up-to-date specs, but if a phone with a quad core processor & one with a dual core work the exact same in real world use, why is there such a debate? Seriously.

[BBThemes]

Since when did specs determine if your phone is good? I seriously don't care if my phone has the specs to run a power plant, I just want to to do what I need it to do, when I need it to do it. I understand the battle of having up-to-date specs, but if a phone with a quad core processor & one with a dual core work the exact same in real world use, why is there such a debate? Seriously.

why don't people have BB10 on the PlayBook? specs. Now while I have no knowledge either way, lets say BB11 needs quad core to run, that means again another device let down.
People have ALWAYS complained that BB phones have been below normal specs for their positioning in the market. seems like the new BlackBerry is the old RIM in still chasing that idea.

[MasterOfBinary]

And the rumored Motorola X Phone (even though its not a "nexus") has mediocre specs. I can't quote them, as I am not that concerned with specs.. if I have this huge processor & crappy software, what's the advantage then? Or a awesome specs that that only burn battery life & don't cause any improvements in performance? I see what everyone is saying about wanting specs. Everyone wants the fastest car even when the speed limit is 70mph.. its all about the glamour.

You got it.

What's the advantage in having 100,000 apps when you only use 10? Specs when your phone doesn't run any better than the next? Popular OS... I can't argue that b/c I have no idea why the popularity of your OS is a real advantage.

The advantage of having 100,000 apps is choice. What if you need 10 apps and only 5 are available of that 100,000? With Apple's app store, nobody has all the apps. But some person may use 50 and some other person uses 20 different ones, but they're both happy.

[higherdestiny]

why don't people have BB10 on the PlayBook? specs. Now while I have no knowledge either way, lets say BB11 needs quad core to run, that means again another device let down.
People have ALWAYS complained that BB phones have been below normal specs for their positioning in the market. seems like the new BlackBerry is the old RIM in still chasing that idea.

The ONLY reason BB10 is not on PlayBook is due to the 1GB ram. In terms of processing power, PlayBook has ample and in fact, if you recall, early developer releases of the BB10 Alpha devices included only 1 active processor core.

So we know BB10 can run on a single core processor with 2GB of ram. However due to the way it multitasks active applications, it does require more than 1GB ram to keep all threads singing and dancing. This was sometimes evident even on PlayBook OS when the occasional app would drop because the system runs out of system memory for active applications.

When you say "specs" what you are really referring to is "ram". And from what we've seen, BB10 requires just a tad more than 1GB ram to operate with multiple apps running.

The core OS itself is VERY efficient and doesn't require high specs at ALL in terms of processing power. What it DOES require is 2GB of ram to rock out, and that's exactly what it's getting on current and future devices. As for processing power? Dual core is more than enough for a platform like BB10 and with the continual architecture improvements in modern dual core mobile processors, it's quite possible we'll be seeing anything from 20 - 30% boost in processing speed when the new BlackBerry model drops.

For me, this boost is excellent and when combined with the constant refining of BB10, the new BlackBerry will no doubt be the smoothest BlackBerry device ever - giving other competitors a run for their money, regardless of specs.

Think "power to weight" but for smartphones. It may not have an octo-core, but it's light in terms of OS efficiency, so it needs less.

At the end of the day, does the new BlackBerry do all I require it to do and more? Most probably.
Will I be getting one? Most definitely.

[Andrew4life]

They need stereo speakers like the Playbook, or the HTC One. Especially with the bigger screen, I'd assume more people would watch videos and the current layout with the speakers at the bottom is just terrible.