Today marks the beginning of BlackBerry Live mobile developers conference in Orlando, FL. So much hoopla has been made about Nokia’s event–happening across the pond in London as I type–and the annual Google I/O on Thursday that BlackBerry Live has been put in the corner. And nobody puts BlackBerry Live in the corner. Hoping to pull itself from the dredges of the red, RIM will unleash a bevy of BlackBerry devices to compete with the likes of Apple, Samsung, Nokia, and LG. Here’s what to expect from the Canadian telecom company.
BlackBerry R10
The R10 is poised to take the role of a budget-friendly smartphone, unless we’re totally missing something. Leaked pics and specs from earlier this month indicate that the R10 will be BlackBerry’s way of breaking into a larger market with shallower pockets.
If the leaks are accurate, the BlackBerry R10 will sport a meager 3.1-inch 720×720 display and QWERTY keypad. The 5mp front and rear cameras may be able to support 2560×1920 resolution snapshots. Expect a solid 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, all to be powered by a 1800 mAH non-removable battery. The operating system should be BlackBerry 10.1.
BlackBerry 10.1 OS for BlackBerry Z10
The flagship in the BB line, the Z10 is a touchscreen device without the latest OS by RIM. Released at the beginning of the year, the Z10 is to follow up the Q10 as the next device to run on RIM’s OS.
And why shouldn’t it? This ditches RIM’s signature QWERTY keypad is looks to be its gadget of the future complete with a 4.2in, 768 x 1280 display, a replaceable 1800mAh battery, a microSD slot with support for an additional 16GB of storage, a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus processor backed up by 2GB of RAM, and respectable 8mp and 2mp front and rear cameras. All this handset is missing its the BB10.1 to make it run in tip-top shape.
If RIM isn’t opting for BB10.1 on the Z10 during the event, it’ll surely announce a date for fans to circle on their calendars.
Apps, Apps, Apps,
Though BlackBerry smartphones are beginning to be outfitted with user-friendly and competitive technology, as Mashable dutifully notes “Apps are the lifeblood of the current smartphone market.” Sure they have a slew of apps in their arsenal already, but BlackBerry phones are missing the ones that people actually enjoy using and feel are necessary staples for their devices such as Spotify, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Snapchat, Pandora, and Instagram.
BB10.1 is able to support Skype and that’s already made an appearance on the Q10, which hasn’t shipped in the U.S. yet but keep an eye out for some kind of announcement in that capacity as well.
Keynotes
Speakers are scheduled to start rambling at around 9am ET this morning so if you don’t have the pleasure of being in attendance, check out the BlackBerry Live sitefor streaming. Thorsten Heins, President and CEO, will surely be speaking today and hopefully grabbing our attention from the very beginning with something big. He doesn’t have a choice, really.
