BlackBerry launches new device
-A A +ABy Mia A. Aznar
Friday, March 8, 2013
THOUGH behind in the smartphone game, Blackberry hopes to come back with their reengineered platform, BlackBerry 10. And to introduce the new platform’s capabilities, BlackBerry Philippines launched the BlackBerry Z10, their all-touch smartphone and the first powered by the new operating system.
Country manager Cameron Vernest unveiled the Z10 for the Cebu press on Thursday, hoping to impress by showing its sleek design and brand new features.
“The new Z10 will resonate very well with BlackBerry users,” he promised, as he pulled two models in black and white.
He assured the smartphone is for the hyperconnected, those who want to get things done quickly and want a phone to properly balance work and play, all in a seamless way.
“I’ve been using this for three or four months now and I can tell you, it’s outstanding,” he said.
BlackBerry Philippines business manager Kristian Salvo demonstrated the new phone’s features, like BlackBerry Balance, a feature that separates and secures work applications and data from personal content.
The new BlackBerry Messenger now has video and allows the user to share files stored in the phone even while having an ongoing voice or video chat. Since they consider their keyboard their best-seller, they made sure their touch keyboard still stands out by learning words that have been used frequently and offering them up as suggestions while typing to make the task quicker.
It’s Time Shift camera feature is expected to be popular with those who frequently take pictures to post on social networks, as it allows the user to immediately edit and fix the subjects who may have blinked while the photo was taken by moving back to an earlier image taken when the subjects’ eyes were open.
To separate work and personal data and their applications, they have BlackBerry Balance. They have also maintained BlackBerry Hub, a single place to manage all conversations, whether it is through BBM, personal or work emails, social media updates or notifications.
Vernest said the Philippine market “one of the most inspiring” for the company, noting its high usage of their key feature, BlackBerry Messenger. He pointed out that BBM’s ability to have its users connected is what attracts Filipinos to keep on using their phones.
The BlackBerry Z10 will be available on March 19 nationwide and is available for pre-order on www.buybb10.com and from all carriers and authorized retailers.
They consider 2013 an important year for them, as they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary in the Philippines.
He noted that the company has been transformed and reinvented, dropping their original name Research In Motion to call themselves by their more popular brand BlackBerry.
Vernest said BlackBerry now has 70,000 applications for the new platform available in BlackBerry World including gaming, social and business apps from top names like Pacemaker, Gameloft, Rovio, Disney, Foursquare, Skype, What’s App, Kindle, SAP and Cisco. He also revealed initiatives to help developers build new apps.
They have no word yet on when they will launch their second device on the BlackBerry 10 platform, although it was previously announced that the BlackBerry Q10 will be a combination of touch with the traditional keyboard.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on March 09, 2013.
Business
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