How does a nice pair of Friday afternoon BlackBerry leaks sound? Good? Good, because that's precisely what I've got for you. First up, it appears that we may finally have an official name for the BlackBerry A10 that's been popping up recently. Several official-looking tutorial videos that demonstrate the different features of the device have been uploaded to YouTube by Kris Simundson, who has listed the device as the "BlackBerry Z30." One of the tutorial videos can be found below.
In addition to the leaked tutorial videos, CrackBerry forums member "ofutur" has found files within a leaked OS that contain the name "Z30" along with the Q5, Q10 and Z10. Included in the files is a "Z30" logo that's reminiscent of the Z10 and Q10 logos found those devices' retail packaging.
Moving on to the QWERTY side of things, a new video showing off the upcoming BlackBerry 9720 has leaked. Posted by BerryInsider, the near-6 minute clip compares the unannounced BlackBerry 7.1 device to the Bold 9900 as well as the Q5 and Q10. The 9720 in this new video looks fairly similar to the model that we've seen a couple of times before, complete with an optical trackpad, physical QWERTY keyboard and dedicated BBM button.
The BlackBerry Z30 and BlackBerry 9720 are two fairly different devices that will serve different markets. The Z30 is expected to be BlackBerry's new flagship BB10 device for late 2013, with rumors claiming that it'll sport a 5-inch 720p display and dual-core processor. Meanwhile, the BlackBerry 9720 is expected to arrive with a small 480x360 display and the older BlackBerry 7.1 OS. The 9720 is intended to be a new, low-cost device for consumers in developing markets.
It's interesting to see BlackBerry preparing two phones that are such opposites, but the company still has users in other parts of the world that can't afford the higher-end BlackBerry 10 devices. Now it'll work to juggle both that market segment and the one that's jonesing for more bleeding edge BlackBerry 10 products. How well Thorsten and Co. will do remains to be seen, but both the Z30 and 9720 are due out this year, so it won't be too long before we see its latest effort get underway.
Via CrackBerry (1), (2), CrackBerry forums, N4BB