Last week, BlackBerry officially introduced the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10, the first two smartphones that'll help launch its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Today the company formerly known as RIM introduced two more handsets, but unlike the Z10 and Q10, these are ones that most of us are unlikely to ever have the opportunity to use.
On its official Inside BlackBerry Developer Blog, BlackBerry this morning officially unveiled the limited edition red BlackBerry 10 device. Only 12,000 units will be made, and in order to snag one, devs must have already been qualified to receive a Dev Alpha A or B and must also have submitted an app to BlackBerry World. After mailing their Dev Alpha device back to BlackBerry, the devs will then receive a red Z10 for their efforts. Registration for this red hot handset will end on Feb. 28.
The Z10 will officially be made available in black and white versions, so this red Z10 will certainly help its 12,000 lucky recipients stand out. Unfortunately, BlackBerry says that it can't offer a red Z10 to those devs that want a device that works on Verizon. The company doesn't say exactly what that is, only citing "unforeseen circumstances," but folks that do want a Verizon-compatible handset will have the choice of either a commercially-available Verizon BlackBerrry 10 device or the limited edition red Z10 that will work on another operator.
BlackBerry today also revealed a device that'll help developers prepare for the impending arrival of the QWERTY-equipped Q10. The new handset is known as the Dev Alpha C, which is a name we first got wind of back in November 2012. While the Dev Alpha C sports a boxier design than its retail Q10 sibling, it features a similar physical keyboard and a squarish display so that devs can get their apps ready for the launch of the Q10 later this year.
One final tidbit of developer-related BlackBerry 10 news is that BlackBerry will be updating the platform's Android runtime to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The runtime, which allows Android apps to easily be ported to BB10 devices, is currently running the aging Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread. There's no word yet on when the update will actually happen, but the bump ought to improve both the Android app porting process and the experience of actually using those apps on a BB10 device.
Via BlackBerry, Inside BlackBerry (1), (2), @Paradoksy, @BlackBerryDev, CrackBerry
