Feature Overview and Unboxing

I already posted a BlackBerry Z10 unboxing video a couple of weeks ago, so this is just going to be a quick recap. The BlackBerry Z10 is, of course, powered by the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It gets a 4.2-inch 335ppi touchscreen, dual core 1.5GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB storage, 8MP camera, 2MP front camera, and microSD expansion. It also gets both LTE and NFC, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

On paper, the BlackBerry Z10 is quite competitive with the iPhone 5 and most higher end Android devices, except that its 4.2-inch screen is noticeably smaller than the much larger Android phones with their 4.7+ inch displays these days. BlackBerry World boasts about 70,000 apps for the Z10, many of which are ported over from their Android counterparts.

Hardware Impressions

The BlackBerry Z10 definitely feels very solid in the hands. I particularly like the rubbery back that provides a great grip. The profile is remarkably thin and I like how the front face is completely lacking in buttons, leaving a much sleeker overall appearance.

The volume controls are along the right side, which is fine, but the power button is in the middle of the top. What I found is that when I wanted to put the phone to sleep (by pressing the power button on top with my index finger), my thumb oftentimes pressed one of the volume buttons by accident. I’m wondering if this could be rectified by either shifting the power button to either side on top, or by placing it on the right side of the phone instead, relocating the volume buttons to the left side.

As I have grown accustomed to Android displays of 4.7-inches or bigger, getting back to the 4.2-inch display felt comparatively small. The overall form factor, in this way, is closer to the iPhone 5. The difference is that the word “BlackBerry” on the bottom is not a home button; it really doesn’t serve any real purpose.

BlackBerry 10 Gestures and UI

People who are coming from legacy BlackBerry products may face some confusion with BlackBerry 10. There is no BlackBerry button, for example, nor is there is a hardware back button. Just about everything is done via gestures and many of these originate from off the screen, not unlike webOS. You get back to the home screen, for instance, by swiping up from off the bottom of the display (where the BlackBerry name is). You swipe in from the right side to access functions and swipe in from the top for certain contextual settings.

The UI isn’t terrible, but there is a bit of a learning curve. One thing that BlackBerry 10 is still lacking, though, are home screen widgets. You only get a page where it displays your last eight apps in a widgetized kind of form, but you can’t “pin” any of these to stay there forever. You can rearrange the apps in the app drawer, but that’s not really the same thing.

And speaking of apps, there just aren’t enough at the moment. The pre-installed YouTube “app” is simply a browser shortcut, for example. The native Twitter app, while functional, isn’t nearly robust enough for power users. It doesn’t support lists and your DMs are bundled together with your mentions in a single column. That’s not good enough. The hope is that third-party developers will continue to adopt this platform and, in time, the app selection will improve.

BlackBerry Hub

Your real home is the BlackBerry Hub, which can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom and then toward the right. Alternatively, it is effectively the leftmost home screen. Here, all of your notifications are amalgamated into a single interface, including texts, emails, Facebook updates, Twitter, Foursquare and so on. There are several “tricks” and UI quirks here that you can use, but I feel there is still a lot that can be improved.

For instance, when you are within one of the notifications, there is no option to easily move to the next one. Instead, you have to hit back to get back to the list of notifications and then choose the next notification. It should be simpler and faster than that.

Camera and Video

The 8MP camera on the BlackBerry Z10 is decent, but it won’t win any awards either. It seems to have a habit of overexposing, leaving some washed out elements, but this really depends on your lighting conditions. Here is a macro-esque shot that I took indoors under soft incandescent lighting.

Clarity and detail are good enough to get the job done most of the time. Much like the rest of BB10, the camera app has a bit of a learning curve. For instance, it’s not tap-to-focus, as it is continually hunting for autofocus. It’s tap for shutter, so you have to make sure the square is green before tapping the display. I uploaded a full 1080p HD video to YouTube, as well as more photo samples to Flickr if you want to see some more. They’re all untouched and unedited, taken straight out of the phone.

Conclusion

I tried to be optimistic about the BlackBerry Z10. This was supposed to represent the rebirth of the company and a real push to, at the very least, be seen as a legitimate number three in the world of smartphones behind Android and iOS. The device has been able to attract some new users, to be sure, but we can already see that they’re starting to run low on momentum.

BlackBerry 10, as a platform, is an overall improvement over previous versions and it’s good to see that BlackBerry is prioritizing the development of third party apps. The phone itself is solid and it performs well, but it still feels incomplete compared to the more mature Android and iPhone offerings already on the market. It lacks a unique selling proposition that would make me want this instead of what Google, Samsung, HTC, Apple and others are giving us.

If BlackBerry manages to survive and if the Q10 gives them a little boost later this year, then I’m hoping that the BlackBerry Z11 and Q11 will be the real stars that the Z10 and Q10 should have been.

Mobilemag Score: 7/10

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You have to remember that only that gold-plated portion in the middle of your SIM card is actually serving any kind of real purpose. That’s the only part that gets you connected to your carrier, identifying your device to the network. It only makes sense that we should get rid of as much of the surrounding fodder as possible.

What we see here are the nanoSIMs that will be sold by Canadian carriers Rogers Wireless and Fido. They’ll both support the fast 4G LTE network, giving iPhone 5 users the ability to best utilize the “ultrafast wireless” in their new handset. The nanoSIM itself measures a measly 8.8 x 12.3mm, making it that much easier to drop and lose. Thankfully, it’ll stay safely stowed away inside your phone most of the time anyway. The other good news is that your new nanoSIM will be included with your iPhone 5 contract price. Interestingly, someone has commented that Telus is charging ten bucks for their nanoSIM.

The expectation is that future smartphones will likely adopt the nanoSIM standard too. That little bit of extra space can accommodate other more useful bits, like wireless radios, memory and bigger batteries.

[Source]

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The Samsung Galaxy Note is certainly an awesome device, if you have any doubt about that, click here. The LTE handset was released in Canada earlier this year, and now it appears like a white version of the Gingerbread-running Smablet (or phablet) is finally headed to the Land of the Maple Leaf.

According to the internal documents that you see here, which come to us courtesy of MobileSyrup, Telus will launch the 5.3-inch white Galaxy Note on April 4^th, which, if you haven’t realized, is today. The device will have the same price tag of $199.99 with a 3-year contract or $779.99 without any strings attached.

Bell appears to have decided to launch the white ones a few days later on April 10^th. The device will be priced the same – $199.99 on a 3-year contract or $729.99 outright. There are no hints about whether Rogers will be releasing the white model.

We are expecting to hear an official confirmation from both the carriers sometime soon, so stay tuned for updates.

The post White Samsung Galaxy Note To Be Launched On Telus Today, Bell On April 10th? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Nokia Lumia 800 has been officially listed on the Telus Mobility website, coming with an official launch date of March 2. The product page is also saying that the Lumia 800 will be offered “only from Telus,” snatching up the exclusive away from Bell and Rogers. Quick highlights include the 3.7-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display, 16GB internal memory, and 8MP Carl Zeiss camera with LED flash.

No word on pricing just yet, but we can see that Telus will have the Lumia 800 in your choice of black, blue, or pink. And yes, it’ll take advantage of that 4G HSPA network too.

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Bell and Rogers were first to do it for this round, but Telus has now joined the 6GB party too. Remember that the regular $30/month data add-on usually only provides you with 1GB of data, so this is a pretty good deal. Interestingly, unlike some of the previous offerings, you don’t necessarily have to sign up for a three-year contract to get the promotional data add-on.

The $30/6GB option is available on one, two, or three year service agreements, as well as for those of you who are doing the month-to-month thing. The catch is that you still need that “$50 minimum spend” requirement that is the same for any subsidized smartphone. The data add-on is compatible with HSPA and CDMA customers, but it’s unclear if this supports LTE too. A document from Rogers points toward a February 28th expiry date for this offer, but that could get extended. No indication from Bell or Telus about expiry.

[ source ]

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While the official rollout across “several provinces” happens on February 10, your local mileage will likely vary somewhat. The new LTE network will supplement the existing HSPA+ network and it should be accessible by 25 million customers by the end of the year. The initial launch cities include 14 cities: Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, Belleville, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Yellowknife and Halifax.

Not surprisingly, the LTE rollout needs to coincide with some LTE compatible products. We already know that the Samsung Galaxy Note will be arriving next week, for example, in addition to devices like the LG Optimus Black. They’re claiming speeds of between 12Mbps and 25Mbps with a theoretical maximum of 75Mbps. It will be interesting to see how the speeds compare to Rogers and Bell.

[ source ]

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On the AT&T side of the equation, they’ve formally announced a launch date of February 19th for the phone/tablet and it’ll sell for the expected $299.99 with a qualifying two year contract. They’re starting pre-orders this weekend with the first batch of deliveries starting on February 17th. You’ll have your choice of carbon blue and ceramic white.

For Canadians, Rogers isn’t being quite as specific, merely saying that the Galaxy Note will come to Rogers “in February.” The Rogers Reservation System has the Note listed, so you can add yourself to the pack and wait for the LTE-equipped smartphone that way. Best Buy has apparently narrowed it down to the February 14th launch date, not only for Rogers, but for Bell and Telus too. We’re hearing a $250 price point with a 3-year contract is likely.

Happy Valentine’s Day?

The post Samsung Galaxy Note Confirmed: February Release for AT&T and Rogers appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

This announcement hardly comes out of left field. We already knew that Bell/Virgin would have about a month’s worth of exclusivity on the new Android phone during the holiday shopping season, but the other major carriers would get their shot at ICS in January. While it was previously rumored that Rogers and Fido would get the Galaxy Nexus on January 10 (Tuesday), it looks like they’re getting bumped to the same release date as Telus: Friday the 13th. Hopefully that’s not a bad omen.

While Rogers, Fido, and Telus haven’t made a formal announcement about the pricing for the Galaxy Nexus, we imagine that it’ll fall in line with Bell’s pricing scheme of $160 on contract and $650 straight up. At the same time, considering what we saw with the Nexus S before it, the competition between carriers might see some price adjustments for further enticement.

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There’s the whole Mobile BRAVIA Engine thing for better visuals, as well as the 8.1MP camera with Exmor R for mobile, giving you better photos. Coupled with that is the interesting 3D Sweep Panorama feature that lets’s you create 3D images for viewing on your 3DTV. Other perks include the Sony Entertainment Network, Facebook inside Xperia, DLNA compability, gesture input, screen capture, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

We’ve previously gamed with the Xperia Play and texted with the Xperia Pro, but many people don’t like the added bulk that a side slide-out creates. That’s where the Xperia ray can come into the picture with its 9.4mm thin aluminum frame. Look for the Xperia ray — in your choice of red, black, or gold [Telus isn't getting red or gold after all] — to sell for $49.99 on a three year contract.

The post Telus Lands Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray Android Smartphone Exclusivity appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

On the one hand, we thought for some time that the “new” BC Place Stadium would be officially sponsored by Telus and would effectively be called Telus Park (or maybe Telus Field). However, Bell is the big sponsorship partner for the Whitecaps and so we’re hearing that it’s going to be called Bell Pitch. But you can’t really have two names for one place, can you?

That’s the way it’s gearing up. For my part, I wonder if they can get away with a combination name based on circumstance: Telus Field at BC Place Stadium when the Lions play and Bell Pitch at BC Place Stadium when the Whitecaps play. For all other events, it’s just BC Place Stadium unless either Bell or Telus want to toss some more money into the pot.

Interestingly, BC Place is right next to Rogers Arena (which used to be GM Place). That’s all three major telcos sharing the same postal code. It’d be fun if Wind and Mobilicity somehow sponsored some smaller venues in the same neighborhood too. The phone booth? The dropped call zone?

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