BlackBerry A10 and PlayBook rumours.
**Until earlier this year there was little reason to buy a BlackBerry smartphone. **The main problem was that the operating system being used by these devices was long in the tooth and in serious need of an overhaul,with Android, iOS and Windows Phone all making it look completely over the hill.
Thankfully, the arrival of new BlackBerry phones including the Z10, Q10 and Q5 has allowed this brand to enjoy a bit of a revival in 2013. Its relentless launch schedule is not over yet and we should be seeing a few more handsets hitting the market before the end of the year.
Here are a few of the BlackBerry phones that you can expect to see joining the fray before 2014 rolls around.
BlackBerry A10, U10 or Z30
The first rumours of a big screen BlackBerry phone started doing the rounds back in March, when a leaked roadmap suggested that the touchscreen-only Z10 would be getting a big brother.
This was initially referred to as the U10, before graduating to the A10 moniker and finally settling on the Z30 nametag, although without any official announcement it could undergo a further rebranding before its launch.
The Z30 is going to be targeted at the same audience who’ll be choosing between Android-powered rivals which have screens of around five inches in size. This includes heavy-hitters like the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Sony Xperia Z and the HTC One.
The Z30 is reported to pack a whopping five inch screen of its own, with a 720p HD resolution making it a little less advanced than its 1080p-toting contemporaries. The screen will at least be quite a bit bigger than the Z10’s 4.2 inch panel, while the Z30’s design will be similar to that of its siblings, which means it will be a big, black slab of a phone with few physical buttons to be found.
In terms of software the phone will pack the latest BB 10.2 operating system, which should fix some of the minor issues with BlackBerry’s platform without completely changing its makeup.
With leaked photos and video footage apparently showing this handset in its final form, you can expect the BlackBerry U10 release to occur in the next few weeks. Or should that be the BlackBerry A10 release, or even the Z30? It’s all so confusing!
Need a QWERTY? Why not watch our BlackBerry Q10 hands on video?
BlackBerry PlayBook 2013
So what of BlackBerry’s PlayBook tablet? Will it be getting a reprieve in 2013 and avoid the scrap heap, or after two years on the market is it finally time to retire it?
Things were looking up for the PlayBook earlier in the year, when it was known that BlackBerry was working to bring the BB 10 operating system to the tablet, replacing the QNX platform that it had used since its arrival in 2011.
However, in June an announcement revealed that this work had been cancelled, with engineers finding that they couldn’t get BB 10 to operate in a satisfactory manner using the PlayBook’s hardware.
What’s so great about BlackBerry 10 anyway? The best features of BB10.
It is a bit hard to believe that this is the case given that the tablet has a dual core processor and a decent amount of RAM, but perhaps BlackBerry also felt that the 2.5 million strong user base for this tablet was not significant enough to justify any further efforts.
As it stands the PlayBook remains one of the best value tablets still on sale, because its premium design and hardware is belied by its low asking price.
BlackBerry could have another tablet up its sleeve with full BB 10 support on tap, but for now it looks like the best way to get big screen kicks with the BlackBerry brand is to wait for the Z30 to arrive.
For the latest BlackBerry smartphone releases you can count on e2save.