The run up to BlackBerry 10 has been long one filled with leaks, teases, rumors and more, but today that all came to an end today as BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins officially launched its new mobile operating system. The full-touch model on the left in the image above is known as the Z10, while the QWERTY-equipped model on the right is the Q10. The Z10 features a 4.2-inch 1280x768 touchscreen and will be offered in both black and white. Also packed into the Z10's body is a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel rear/2-megapixel front cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, microSD slot, micro-HDMI out and NFC. An 1,800mAh battery can be found under the Z10's hood.
The BlackBerry Q10 is the new BlackBerry 10 device that physical keyboard lovers will want to keep an eye out for. It features a hardware QWERTY, which is a feature that BlackBerry smartphones are known for, complete with styling that's similar to what previous BlackBerry smartphones have had. The Q10 also features a 3.1-inch 720x720 touchscreen for those times that users feel like getting around with some swipes and taps rather than pounding on physical keys. Like its full-touch Z10 sibling, the Q10 also includes a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel rear/2-megapixel front cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and a microSD slot. There's a micro-HDMI port and NFC support baked into the Q10 as well.
As far as availability goes, Verizon just announced that it'll offer the Z10 in both black and white here in the U.S. for $199.99 with a two-year contract. The big red carrier also noted that the white Z10 will be a Verizon exclusive. While Verizon didn't announce exactly when the Z10 will be launching, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has told The Wall Street Journal that the first BlackBerry 10 products will be hitting the U.S. in mid-March. To compare, BlackBerry 10 products will be hitting the U.K. and Canada later this week. Heins explained the delay for the U.S. launch by saying that it takes time for stateside carriers to test new products.
Other BlackBerry 10 carrier announcements have also started trickling in. Sprint has confirmed that it plans to launch the BlackBerry Q10 later this year, T-Mobile has said that it'll stock the LTE-enabled BlackBerry Z10, and AT&T has announced that it plans to offer both the Q10 and Z10. There's been no BlackBerry 10 availability or pricing details announced by AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile. However, Sprint and T-Mobile have promised to share all that information at a later date.
After all of the different leaks and teases that we've endured over the past year or so, it's nice to finally see RIM make both the Z10 and Q10 officially official. The Z10 looks like it could be one of the first quality full-touch handsets on the BlackBerry platform, and the Q10 appears to be a new version of the Bold 9900 that's been updated for BlackBerry 10, which is sure to appeal to all of the QWERTY addicts out there that just can't give up their physical keys.
The fact that we won't see any BlackBerry 10 products in the U.S. until mid-March is definitely a bit of a bummer, especially since other countries will be getting the Z10 much sooner. It'll definitely be interesting to see how much interest there is in BB10 and the Z10 once it finally launches, and how much support the carriers give BlackBerry's new devices. What do you all make of the Z10 and Q10? Have you already begun saving up your pennies for one of them or do you think that you'll be looking elsewhere when it comes time to upgrade?
Via Inside BlackBerry (1), (2), Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, The Wall Street Journal
