BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) announced the pricing and availability of its new BlackBerry Z10 on 30 January 2013, but said that they couldn’t confirm when it’s expected to come to South Africa or what it will cost yet.
However, 8ta confirmed today that it would offer BlackBerry 10 devices through its stores from 1 March 2013. A second BlackBerry 10 device that boasts a hardware keyboard, which RIM is calling the BlackBerry Q10, will become available from April 2013.
Industry speculation suggests that the flat-rated R59/month for BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) that has been so popular in South Africa will not exist in its current form on BlackBerry 10 devices. It seems unlikely that BlackBerry 10 will launch in South Africa before the details around BIS are hashed out with our mobile network operators.
BlackBerry Z10 Specifications
- 16GB Internal storage
- 4.2″ Touch display
- 8MP Rear camera
- 3G Ready
- 1280 x 768 resolution, 356ppi
- Up to 10 hours* talk time (3G)
- Up to 13 days* standby time
- 1080p HD video recording
- MicroSD memory card
- BlackBerry® 10 operating system
Design
Size
- Height 130 mm / 5.11 in
- Width 65.6 mm / 2.58 in
- Depth 9 mm / 0.35 in
Weight
- 137.5g / 4.85 oz
Navigation
- All-touch screen, with intuitive gesture based navigation
Keyboard
- On screen BlackBerry Keyboard (portrait/landscape), featuring contextual auto-correction, next-word prediction, and a personalized learning engine that gets to know the way you type
Dedicated keys
- Volume Up/Down, Mute, Lock (for Power On/Off)
Display
Resolution
- 1280 x 768 resolution, at 356 PPI
- 24-bit color depth
Screen size
- 4.2″ diagonal
- 15:9 aspect ratio
OS & desktop software
Operating system
- BlackBerry 10 OS
Desktop software
- BlackBerry® Link software for your computer to enable synchronization of data and media
Performance
Processor
- Dual Core 1.5 GHz
Memory
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB Flash
Expandable memory
- Removable microSD memory card – slot under battery door (Up to 64 GB)
USB Ports
- USB 2.0 high speed port – allows charging and data synchronization of the device with a USB cable
HDMI Port
- Micro HDMI for connection to your HDTV or projector
Power
Battery
- 1800mAH removable battery
Battery Life
- Up to 10 hours talk time (3G)
- Up to 13 days standby time
- *Note: Battery life claims are for Model STL100-3
Camera & video
Rear camera
- 8 megapixel auto-focus camera
- Back Side Illumination for better low-light performance
- 5-element F2.2 lens
- Flash, continuous and touch to focus, image stabilization
- 5 x digital zoom
- 1080p HD video recording
- Time Shift mode for pinpointing and adjusting individual elements of your picture
Front camera
- 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera
- Image and video stabilization
- 3x digital zoom
- 720p HD video recording
Multimedia
Image formats
- BMP, WBMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, SGI, TGA
Audio & video formats
- 3GP, 3GP2, M4A, M4V, MOV, MP4, MKV, MPEG-4, AVI, ASF, WMV, WMA, MP3, MKA, AAC, AMR, F4V, WAV, MP2PS, MP2TS, AWB, OGG, FLAC
Audio & video encoding/decoding
- H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC, MP3, PCM, Xvid, AMR-NB, WMA 9/10, WMA10 professional, WMA-LL, VC-1, VP6, SPARK, PCM, MPEG-2, MJPEG (mov), AC-3, AMR-WB, QCELP, FLAC, VORBIS
Apps
Pre-loaded apps
- BlackBerry® Hub, Contacts, BlackBerry® Browser, BlackBerry® Calendar, BBM, Text Messages, BlackBerry® World, BlackBerry® Remember, Docs To Go™, Pictures, Story Maker, Facebook®1, Twitter®1, LinkedIn®1, Foursquare®, BlackBerry® Maps, Games, YouTube®, BlackBerry® Newsstand, Voice Control, Weather, Clock, Calculator, Compass, File Manager, Box, BlackBerry® Connect for Dropbox, Print To Go, Smart Tags, Settings, Adobe® Reader, Phone, Camera/Video Camera/Time Shift, Setup, Help, SIM Toolkit, Search
Security
- Password protection, screen lock, and sleep mode
- BlackBerry® Balance™ offering dedicated profiles to keep work and personal data separate and secure
Alerts & notifications
- Tone
- Vibrate
- On-screen or LED indicator
Voice input/output
- Integrated hands-free speakerphone
- Hands-free headset capable
- Bluetooth headset capable
Network & connectivity
Network bands
- 3G
- 21Mbps HSPA+
- Quad band HSPA+ 1, 2, 5/6, 8 (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
- Quad band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Wi-Fi®
- 802.11 a/b/g/n
- 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz
- Mobile Hotspot
Bluetooth®
- Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy (LE)
GPS
- Assisted, Autonomous and Simultaneous GPS
- Preloaded with BlackBerry Maps application
NFC
- BlackBerry® Tag with NFC technology enables communication between BlackBerry smartphones and other NFC-enabled devices with a tap
Sensors
Advanced Sensors
- Accelerometer
- Magnetometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Ambient light sensor
Accessibility
- BlackBerry® Magnify, for customers with partial vision –
- Adjustable screen brightness, scalable fonts
- Teletypewriter (TTY) Support –
WERE CAN I GET MY BLACKBERRY Z10 ON MTN CONTRACT
Regarding the Blackberry Z10 on Contracts with MTN, Vodacom and Cell C is still unknown as yet. However the pre-order page for the BlackBerry Z10 on the Incredible Connection website suggests that BlackBerry’s new flagship smartphone will sell for around R7,000 in South Africa without a contract.