BlackBerry Z30 flagship unveiled with 5-inch display and BB 10.2 OS

BlackBerry Ltd launched its new Z30 flagship smartphone on Wednesday, as it battles to win back market share despite uncertainty around its future.

Once a pioneer in the smartphone arena, BlackBerry said last month it was weighing options that could include an outright sale, in the face of lacklustre sales for its new devices that run on the BlackBerry 10 operating system .

The long-rumored BlackBerry Z30 device, which is first being unveiled at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will be BlackBerry's new top-of-the-line device, taking the crown from the smaller BlackBerry Z10 that was launched early this year.

The new touchscreen device, which boasts a five-inch display and a 1.7 gigahertz processor, will compete against the likes of Apple Inc's new iPhone 5s and Samsung Electronics Co's Galaxy S4 , along with a slew of other devices that are powered by Google Inc's Android platform.

The company faces an uphill battle in generating interest in the new phone, however, given the lack of clarity around its future.

While the company has long aspired to make its BlackBerry 10 operating system the No. 3 smartphone platform in the market, the latest industry data indicates that Microsoft Corp's Windows Phone platform is in fact more likely to clinch that spot as its devices continue to gain ground.

Although the new line of BlackBerry devices has been well received by reviewers, analysts say the company lacks the financial heft to vie against industry giants like Apple, Google, Samsung and Microsoft, which boast massive marketing and R&D budgets.

Some analysts contend that Microsoft's move earlier this month to acquire Nokia's phone business and license its patents for 5.44 billion euros, poses another hurdle for BlackBerry, as the software giant is likely to redouble its catch-up efforts in the mobile device business.

But Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry, which is set to report its fiscal second-quarter results next week, appears to be sticking with its product roadmap for now, even as it reviews its alternatives.

The company, which touts the Z30 as its "biggest, fastest and most advanced smartphone" to date, said the device will begin to hit store shelves in the UK and parts of the Middle East as early as next week.

The smartphone will go on sale with select carriers and retailers in other regions over the remainder of the year, said the company, adding specific pricing and availability will be announced by its partners at the time of their respective launches.

BlackBerry Z30 set to launch within the week

BlackBerry plans to launch its flagship Z30 handset in Asia within the next week.

Reports emerged over the weekend that BlackBerry is planning to launch its next smartphone before the end of this week. A US launch is expected to follow between two to three weeks after. There is currently no word on a UK launch. According to Pocket-Lint, BlackBerry will be holding events in France, Malaysia and India on Wednesday September 18th. Details about the BlackBerry Z30 first emerged in July. Leaks over the summer revealed that the handset will come with a five-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 by 768 pixels. They also claim that the Z30 will be powered by a 1.7-GHz dual-core processor with 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, Qi wireless charging and an eight megapixel camera. BlackBerry has refused to comment on the speculation.

BlackBerry 9720 with OS 7.1 and touchscreen launched at Rs. 15,990

The Canadian handset maker has launched the BlackBerry 9720 in India, for Rs. 15,999. The company last month unveiled the smartphone, with the dated BB 7.1 OS operating system instead of the revamped BlackBerry 10 platform, and promised that the device will hit selected markets like Asia, EMEA and Latin America in the coming weeks. However, the pricing of the device was not revealed by the company then.

The BlackBerry 9720 boasts aesthetics similar to the company's Curve series, measuring 12mm in thickness, and weighing in at 120 grams. It features a full physical QWERTY keyboard and a 2.8-inch touchscreen TFT LCD display with a 360x480 pixels resolution, boasting of a pixel density of 214ppi. It is powered by an 806MHz Tavor MG1 processor and has 512MB of RAM. The 9720 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with 4X digital zoom and image stabilization alongside an LED flash, but lacks a front-facing camera.

The latest addition to BlackBerry's 'affordable' handsets includes a 1,450mAh removable battery that delivers up to 7 hours of talk time and 432 hours of standby time. The 9720 features just 512MB of inbuilt storage, and supports microSD card expandability up to 32GB capacity. The BlackBerry 9720 has dedicated BBM and BBM Voice shortcut keys, placed on the sides of the device. It also features FM radio functionality. Connectivity options on the BlackBerry 9720 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ aGPS and 3G.

Commenting on the launch, Sunil Lalvani, Managing Director for India, BlackBerry said, "The new BlackBerry 9720 smartphone builds on the incredible success of the BlackBerry 7 OS. This new smartphone is absolutely stunning and provides an ideal choice for urban youth and customers who are looking to upgrade from a feature phone or existing BlackBerry Curve smartphone to an affordable, easy-to-use smartphone with rich messaging and social networking connectivity."

The BlackBerry 9720 will be available in Black, Blue, Pink, Purple and White colours. The company notes that the device will hit stores from September 14. 

BlackBerry Messenger for iPhone waiting for Apple's approval

BlackBerry Messenger for iPhone waiting for Apple's approval

So Summer has already passed and we're yet to see the cross-platform version of BlackBerry's BlackBerry Messenger or BBM service.

However, it appears that the wait could be over soon as a BlackBerry representative has confirmed that the BBM app for iOS was submitted for Apple's App Store approval two weeks ago.

Alex Kinsella of BlackBerry posted on Twitter that BBM for iPhone was submitted for review two weeks ago. This implies that the app could arrive anytime on the App Store, provided Apple approves it.

BlackBerry had announced plans to extend BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to Android and iOS in May, saying that the app would be available before the end of summer.

Just a few days back, a walkthrough video revealing the features of the BBM Android app had appeared online. The video suggested that the BBM app would sport features similar to the BlackBerry Messenger's BlackBerry OS version, and that it would also include NFC-based sharing through Android Beam.
However, the video was pulled down by the site on the request of the Canadian handset maker.

It was also reported that the BlackBerry Messenger app would be official by the end of this month and that it would be available through respective app stores for both Android and iPhone users.

Prior to that, a landing page dedicated to BBM surfaced on the official site of the company, claiming that the BBM service had arrived for both, Android and Apple platforms. The dedicated page for the service said, "BBM for Android and iPhone is here." This page was also pulled and was replaced with a launch page that said, "BBM is coming to Android and iPhone" and included an option to get notified when the service launches through an email prompt.

Presently, BlackBerry Messenger or BBM allows BlackBerry users to seamlessly exchange texts, audio, videos and pictures with each other. However, a number of cross-platform mobile messaging apps including WhatsApp, WeChat and Line have taken over as preferred choices since they are available on a variety of platforms. When it comes to the iPhone, BBM would also compete with Apple's own iMessage platform that allows users who own Apple devices to send each other free messages over a data connection.