February 8, 2013 By 4 Comments

BlackBerry Z10 Review

It’s no secret in the mobile industry that BlackBerry, formerly RIM, has needed a drastic change of direction to halt what has been a rather ungraceful decline in recent years. The release of BlackBerry OS 10, built on the foundations of QNX purchased by RIM in 2010 and powering the ill-fated, although generally critically well received PlayBook, has been plagued by delays and now arrives a full 18 months since the release of the last BlackBerry device – an eon in the fast lane lifecycles of smartphones.

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No-one can be sure when the final decision was made to drop the company name RIM and drive forward under the single banner of BlackBerry, but if the Z10 box that states in small print “2013 Research in Motion Limited (“RIM”)” is anything to go by, it seems like it can’t have been too long ago. It makes perfect sense from a consumer point of view to drop the RIM brand; the average consumer likely didn’t know the difference between the two anyway and it is this type of consistency that helps to show a clear direction for a company which looks to be in desperate need of one.

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Enter the Z10, a handset with a new operating system for the modern landscape of devices dominated by Apple and a whole dessert cart of Android flavours. Could a BlackBerry be the final fruit to sweeten the market? Or will it leave a bitter taste in the mouth and be the last time it gets ordered?

As the Z10 and BB10 are completely new entrants in the current environment, I’m going to split this review in two. The first section will take a look at my first impressions of the Z10 and the standard smartphone hardware features a review generally covers. The second part is going to take a more in depth look at BB10 itself and how navigating and operating the new interface impacts on the experience of using the Z10. So read on for my full review.

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January 31, 2013 By 2 Comments

BlackBerry Z10 Unboxing

The BlackBerry Z10 was announced last night as BlackBerry’s new flagship device and the leader of what is regarded by many as its last chance to revive its smartphone fortunes. James Richardson from Tracy and Matt was sent a promotional unit by BlackBerry and created the unboxing video below. James is one of the most prominent BlackBerry bloggers in the UK so we can expect some more in-depth BB10 content from him in the coming weeks.

We’ll get our usual retail unboxing and demo video content posted once we’ve had a unit through from BlackBerry.


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January 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

BlackBerry Z10 & Q10 officially announced on BlackBerry 10 OS

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Firstly I should start with the pivotal news that RIM will no longer be known as RIM, they will be known as BlackBerry. I know a lot of us already considered RIM as BlackBerry but it’s now official. It’s BlackBerry.

BlackBerry have announced two new Smartphones that are set to launch the new BlackBerry 10 OS.

BlackBerry haven’t revealed too much in terms of the specifications on the two new handsets but they have revealed that the BlackBerry Z10 will feature a 4.2” 356 PPI touchscreen. The BlackBerry Q10 on the other hand has maintained the classic BlackBerry form factor, featuring a physical keyboard and a smaller 3.1” screen.

Register your interest

Although pricing and full specifications are yet to be confirmed we have listed the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry Q10 on the website. You can register your interest by entering your email address in the ‘notify me’ box on the product page. We will update all registered customers with the latest developments as and when we get them.

We also have a range of accessories listed for the BlackBerry Z10 from pocket pouches to charging bundles, again there is a notify me section where you can choose to be notified about estimated due dates for the latest accessories. BlackBerry Q10 accessories will be announced in the near future.

Keep an eye on the Clove Blog for all of the latest BlackBerry 10 announcements over the coming days.

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January 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

BlackBerry drops higher fees for consumers

RIM are set to drop higher monthly usage fees for consumers.

One of the big disadvantages of BlackBerry over the recent years has been for many the increased monthly data cost in comparison to Android alternatives to benefit from BlackBerry (RIM) services.

Many customers using a BlackBerry device might be paying around £5 more per month than another consumer with like for like usage but on an Android device.

News today from Mobile Magazine suggests that these additional costs will be dropped with the release of BlackBerry 10 devices, making the new BlackBerry phones, potentially a lot more competitive and attractive.

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Source: Mobile Today Magazine

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December 19, 2012 By 2 Comments

BlackBerry 10 Launch Is Getting Closer

We are now only six weeks away from the BlackBerry 10 launch event on January 30th. RIM announced this week that the event would take place in a total of six major locations around the world including New York, Toronto, London, Johannesburg, Paris and Dubai.

We have also seen some nice leaks in recent weeks. The first device that RIM will sell will be the 4.2 inch, all touch BlackBerry, which has been running with the name L-Series. An array of beautiful photos of what is alleged to be the final hardware was posted by tinhte.vn and the L-Series looks to be a gorgeous piece of kit. I know RIM have had a long time to work on the new hardware and this really shows. It looks to ooze quality.

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The same site has also posted some screen shots of the updated application icons as well as a few of our favourite social networking apps. Clearly until we see the final package from RIM in January the below images are liable to change somewhat, but they are looking good for sure.

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At last months BlackBerry 10 Jam in Asia RIM also announced a third Dev Alpha device. Developers have already had the original Dev Alpha A since May this year, and that was followed by the ‘B’. This latest version is the Dev Alpha C, which will be the hardware QWERTY device (N-Series). This will give developers who want to create apps for the smaller screen the opportunity to do so, although there is strict a strict qualification process to get hold of one.

I would imagine that as soon as the New Year is with us RIM will kick in their marketing campaign for BlackBerry 10. What this will entail is still under wraps but they have to go big with this one. The Canadian company isn’t out to win over every iPhone or Android user out there but they do want to regain some of the market share that has been lost due to consumers moving to different platforms for larger touch screen devices and a better selection of games and apps. That said, I’m pretty confident that RIM are on the right path with the new operating system. Most of what we have seen so far has been amazing and they will still have some things up their sleeves to surprise us with at the launch event.

Chances are the leaks will continue over the next few weeks so we will try to keep you updated when we can. Hands up who is excited about BlackBerry 10? We are pretty keen to test out the new devices at the earliest opportunity.

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October 1, 2012 By

BlackBerry 10

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We may have seen Windows Phone 8 launch this week, but as the UK has such a huge BlackBerry user base (9 million subscribers) we thought we would start blogging about what we already know about the new OS RIM will be launching at some point in Q1 2013. So over the next few months you should see regular articles here about BlackBerry 10 and as the release date gets nearer RIM should hopefully show us a bit more than has already been seen.

The media have had a field day with RIM over the last year or so, not just because the Canadian company is failing to make the sort or revenue it has done previously, but also due to the set back of BlackBerry 10 going live. Initially RIM promised the new QNX based OS would be available in Q4 2012 but unfortunately that was followed up with an announcement my CEO Thorsten Heins confirming that it would in fact be Q1 2013 instead. This was clearly a blow for BlackBerry fans around the world and with the fast paced mobile industry and the likes of Android and iOS doing so well the big question being asked was ‘is it too late for RIM?’

imageWhen the delay was announced Thorsten Heins was honest with the media and didn’t give any kind of excuses. Since he took over as the main man at the company he obviously can see that from past experience that releasing a product that is not 100% ready could do them more harm than good. And he has stuck to his guns over the past months. RIM’s enthusiasm for new new OS is huge. BlackBerry 10 is not just an upgrade of BlackBerry 7, but instead a totally new mobile computing experience.

So keep your eyes peeled for our next edition where we look a little closer into what we have seen already of BlackBerry 10 and if you are lucky we may also have some nice video footage of our own.

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September 26, 2012 By

BlackBerry Jam Americas shows off BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry 10 has been openly talked about for some months now by RIM and openly criticised for the delay of the OS through to 2013.

We have seen a few demo’s of some of the features of the new OS to get us interested.

What is apparent is that RIM is working extremely hard to make BB10 a real step up and a contender to the likes of Android and Windows Phone.

BlackBerry Jam Americas is the new name for BlackBerry Developer Conference and it is currently underway in California.

As part of this conference there have been a number of videos released to highlight the features and explain the concept.

You can see all of them HERE but below are a couple that we like.

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August 16, 2012 By

Standardised screen resolutions for future BlackBerry devices

RIM have confirmed that with the release of BlackBerry 10 will come two standard screen sizes:

  • Full touch devices: 1280 x 720 (16:9)
  • Keyboard devices: 720 x720 (1:1)

This is good news for all concerned.  Developers have been aware of this for some time, but it makes it easier for them to test and develop apps quicker and in turn get apps out to you the user faster. 

Just a shame BB10 is so far off.  Good things come to those who wait I guess.

Source: BlackBerry Blog Via: Crackberry

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