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Struggling Blackberry Launches the new BlackBerry Passport in Hopes to Revive the Brand

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Back in July we talked about how a new BlackBerry smartphone came preloaded with the Amazon Appstore and today we’re going to take a look at the new BlackBerry Passport, a new and interesting smartphone from Blackberry.

This new BlackBerry Passport is BlackBerry’s last attempt at being present on the smartphone market that it once dominated. Its last failure was the BlackBerry 10 platform that didn’t do very well in terms of sales.

Having taken a quick look at the new BlackBerry Passport we go out on a limb here and say that BlackBerry has a winner on their hands. The phone may have a peculiar design, as the smartphone is almost a perfect square with a physical keyboard, but the technical specifications are really impressive and up to par with the latest flagship models from the tech giants that are dominating the smartphone market.

new Blackberry Passport

The New BlackBerry Passport – The Next Big Thing

The new BlackBerry Passport will feature a 4.5 inch display with 1440×1440 pixel resolution and a pixel density of 453 ppi. It will also have a 32 GB internal memory, 3 GB of RAM memory and a 13 MP rear camera with a BSI sensor. The quad-core Snapdragon processor has a 2.2 GHz speed and the battery’s pretty great too, 3450 mAh!

The new BlackBerry Passport will be introduced tomorrow, September 24 in Dubai, Toronto and London and 15 days later, it will launch in stores around the world. The price of a contract-free BlackBerry Passport is going to be $599, a bit below Apple’s new iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S5.

The Canadian company was one of the most important companies to influence our smartphone culture and without it we probably wouldn’t be where we are today. Are you going to buy the new BlackBerry Passport?

The BlackBerry 10.3 Smartphone Will Come Preloaded With the Amazon Appstore

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blackberry 10.3 smartphoneBlackBerry is one of those companies who tasted failure and decided to turn the odds in its favor. We have covered many of the company’s actions, innovations and projects in the last months and we are always keeping an eye on John Chen, because we respect his determination to not let go.

Actually, BlackBerry is doing better than before, even if it is still struggling with financial loses. Recent news coming from the company and its CEO tell us that the forthcoming BlacBerry 10.3 (due this fall) will also come preloaded with the Amazon Appstore. This means a rough 200,000 Android – based apps imported from the Amazon Appstore to BlackBerry 10.3 smartphones.

How is this a good idea? Well, it may not be some miracle, but it is a solid life boat that will buy BlackBerry enough time and energy in order to focus on its primary goal: the enterprise sector. It shone once in the corporate field, it can shine again, John Chen thinks. But for that, he needs to offer its loyal individual customers something to hold on to and something to appeal them in buying the future upgraded BlackBerry 10.3 smartphone.

Amazon Appstore is quite rich in apps and entertainment solutions current BlackBerry users don’t have much access to, as the BlackBerry Appstore is poor. While Apple and Google display millions of apps, BlackBerry can only take pride in a bit over 100,000. The collaboration with Amazon can be beneficial for both companies, Chen thinks. Sharing common interests and bringing together their legions of loyal followers might translate into bigger BlackBerry 10.3 smartphone sales for the Canadian company and loads of Amazon Prime members for the American company.

Shouldn’t be the two in some sort of competition, now that Amazon released its own 3D smartphone dedicated mostly to its own members and especially to its Prime members? Does Amazon need the BlackBerry customers? According to Chen, Amazon’s new smartphone doesn’t represent competition and the partnership between the two companies cannot be seen as a contradiction.

Our focuses are different, he said. “My devices are focused on the enterprise, highly secure,” whereas the Amazon phone is more targeted at the consumer, he said.

While BlackBerry wants to give its individual customers more opportunities and perks, Amazon will never refuse a new batch of compulsive shoppers. In the mean time, the Canadian company will focus on developing and creating security and enterprise solutions for its corporate clients, the ones it is focused on for so long:

The partnership is meant to expand BlackBerry’s current offering of games, video, music and other mobile apps to help make its smartphones more appealing to consumers, while allowing it to concentrate on developing security and other apps that appeal to the firm’s targeted corporate and government market as it tries to regain market share.

All in all, starting this fall, all BlackBerry 10.3 smartphone users will have access to over 200,000 Amazon apps. And this cannot be a bad thing, no matter how you look at it.

BlackBerry Delivers A New Smartphone to Indonesian Market

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blackberry z3 BlackBerry is far away from its past glory and pride as the initiator of the smartphones cult and trend. Recent history showed that the Canadian company was on the verge of a financial collapse, even if they still struggling to provide the world with new and improved handsets to bring the brand back on track. However, since John Chen took over the company’s management, things started to look better: BlackBerry presented a new line of smartphones during the Mobile World Congress and is pushing forward in creating new mobile phones in order to regain its position on the market share. Despite all these, analysts consider it is too late to fight against giants like Apple and Samsung these days.

But John Chen’s ambition to see the company rebirth from its ashes is exemplary: recent news tell us that BlackBerry delivers a new smartphone to the Indonesian market and a dedicated phone, that is. The Z3, also known as Z3 “Jakarta Edition” is hoped by the BlackBerry officials to be a hit in Indonesia because the phone targets the middle class which has enough money to buy a cool smartphone, but not rich enough to jump for an iPhone or a high – end Samsung model. The strategy is considered brilliant by some, as Indonesia and the Southeastern Asia in general represent an emerging market with steady economy and impressive population numbers. In other words, it is quite possible for BlackBerry to conquer the customers in that area with a budget, yet high – quality phone and keep its faithful customers even more loyal to the future BlackBerry products.

Still, BlackBerry is swimming murky waters, as analysts stated that

it is already too late for a comeback by the company that pioneered the modern smartphone culture but has been unable to keep up with competition from Apple’s iPhone and handsets using the Google Android operating system.

Sudev Bangah from telecoms consultancy IDC is among the ones who lost faith in BlackBerry and its potential comeback on the market:

The launch of this device is really BlackBerry’s final stand in the Indonesian market.

Even if Indonesia is still one of the most reliable markets for BlackBerry, the company clearly lost the battle against Samsung last year. BlackBerry officials didn’t specify which other emerging markets they are planning to focus their interest on, Z3 – wise, but it is clear that they will stay in Southeast Asia and try to sell big in that area. But so far, BlackBerry delivers a new smartphone in Indonesia and sales are looking good, so let’s hope for the best!

BlackBerry’s Health-Oriented Smartphone Could Happen Soon

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BlackBerry’s Health-Oriented SmartphoneAlthough Blackberry is still launching new smartphones, there have been rumors that it was planning to shut down handset production, because of poor sales. Nothing has yet been confirmed, but the latest news point into a whole different direction: it appears that BlackBerry plans of jumping on the health bandwagon and launch a new health-oriented smartphone. BlackBerry’s health-oriented smartphone could happen sooner than you might think. Read on and find out what Blackberry’s up to.

BlackBerry has begun collaborating with Patrick Soon-Shiong, who is the founder of health care IT company called NantHealth. Together they are planning to release a novel smartphone which would be completely focused on maintaining the owner’s health.

BlackBerry’s Health-Oriented Smartphone is Ambitious

The company hopes to deliver their novel smartphone to the public by the end of the year, but what does BlackBerry’s health-oriented smartphone really entails? Apparently, the phone will have integrated two features that are quite unknown to the public: NantHealth’s cOS (Clinical Operating System) and also NantMobile’s iD Browser. The first is an OS which plans to improve the doctors’ and patients’ access to health data and the latter is a system of smart scanning with the help of a smartphone camera.

The cOS will grab information from around 1,500 types of medical devices (including IV drips and glucose monitors) and it is analyze and store it. This is absolutely amazing, if you think about it. Any doctor could see your whole clinical history and information, if you choose to share it with them.

Soon-Shiong believes that at the moment most of the important medical information is divided in ways that make it hard for the doctors to use it. Every hospital you’ve ever been to has a file on you and it is stored God knows where. With cOS, all the data will not only be stored in one location, but you’ll have access to it.

BlackBerry’s health-oriented smartphone that will run cOS will most likely be a huge hit. cOS will allow physicians and patients to access large amounts of data that will certainly help speed things up for the diagnostics and  treatment of patients.

The iD browser is another wonderful and quite simple idea that has been around for quite a while. Point your smartphone towards a movie poster and you’ll be prompted with the option of reading reviews, buying tickets for it or see a trailer.

If these two features will be implemented into BlackBerry’s health-oriented smartphone, then we’re certain it will cause quite a buzz. Are you looking forward to this novel smartphone? Do you think cOS is a good idea? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

T-Mobile stops selling BlackBerry Phones in the U.S.

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blackberryThe stream of bad news and bad moves facing BlackBerry in recent months seems to never end, as yet another blow comes to shake the Canadian company’s already frail position in the smartphones market. Recent news tells us that T-Mobile has stopped selling BlackBerry phones in the U.S.

The great schism comes after T-Mobile launched a promotional campaign that urged BlackBerry users to switch to Apple’s newest iPhone for their own benefit. This T-Mobile offer outraged BlackBerry’s CEO John Chen, who complained that T-Mobile, a long time reliable partner for the Canadian company, didn’t even show the courtesy to consult with BlackBerry before launching this marketing campaign that is rightfully considered as a back-stab.

Therefore, John Chen announced that BlackBerry will not renew the contract with T-Mobile so that the carrier can offer BlackBerry phones to its customers, although Chen expressed his hopes that the relationship could be resumed after the two companies manage to synchronize once again their business plans and common commercial strategies. But just because T-Mobile stops selling BlackBerry phones in the U.S., this doesn’t mean the manufacturer won’t provide its users with all the support they need, even if they are existing BlackBerry users or future ones who will take advantage of T-Mobile’s present inventory.

This blow couldn’t have come in a worse moment, as not so long ago, John Chen announced a revival of the company and its position on the smartphone market, with a new model boasting the long – appreciated command keys, a key-board centric smartphone dedicated to the enterprise and governmental niche. It seems that things are going down fast for BlackBerry as its continuous financial losses could turn disastrous in the next few months, although Chen claimed that he felt comfortable with the present cashflow and balance sheets and envisioned profitability in the next two years. Recently published BlackBerry financial loses (for the period ending March 2nd) edged up to $5.9 billion and even if loyal BlackBerry users openly expressed their disapproval and dismay related to the news that T-Mobile stops selling BlackBerry phones in the U.S., these are very dark times for the company’s future.

BlackBerry Z30 to be Available via Verizon, Priced $199.99

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BlackBerry Z30 is the latest mobile handset from BlackBerry to be launched this month, November. The device is a real power packed package in the 5 inch category of mobile sets. The core processor runs at 1.7 GHz and the screen is 720p by way of resolution. The other important aspect of this device would be the OS.

BlackBerry-Z30

BlackBerry has been going through rough times and is now functioning under a new CEO. One of the important issues that BlackBerry has attributed for its drop in usage is the typical OS that the devices run on. Notwithstanding this criticism and belief about its OS, the new CEO at BlackBerry is yet going ahead with the new device the Z30 being launched with the BlackBerry 10 OS. The new CEO has announced the company would not be dropping its existing hardware or software line up so soon.

The Z30 therefore comes with the BlackBerry 10.2 version as its OS which has its own set of new features. Features like BBM would now be available to the users which will allow the user to see messages coming via the BBM app without the need to pause the current operation. There is the access to Blackberry Hub and Priority Hub features also enabled with the new updated OS. Users would get to have indication on which chat exchanges are more important with this feature.

The device Z30 would come with a 2880 mAh battery pack which the latest OS would be able to charge wirelessly as the OS is Qi-standard compliant. Otherwise battery can sustain operation for 25 hours with mixed usage of the set.

The set would be available via Verizon who have announced a fetching price of $199.99 for the set. This of course is the price with a two year contract binding. A Verizon Edge plan also exists which allows an upgrade in 24 months with a $22.91 per month payment scheme. Sale of the set starts on 14 November.

BlackBerry Market Share Shrinks to 1.7 Percent, Reveals IDC Data

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BlackBerry has been in the red, financially, and they have started fresh initiatives to get themselves out of the mess. These impetuses have been initiated recently and have yet to reap effects if any. As of now the company continues its downside run and the latest stock market returns is proof enough of that. Or if you needed more, the worldwide market share of BlackBerry as per the report filed by IDC has touched a paltry 1.7 percent.

BlackBerry

This figure indicates not a US market scenario but a world market scene which gives it greater gravity so far as seriousness is concerned. The only other phone which compares to this type of world market share is Microsoft Windows Phone and their figure stands at 3.6 percent. That is double that of BlackBerry.

There is Fairfax who has pumped in $1 billion into the BlackBerry business expecting it to turn around in a year and half time period. This is what CEO, Prem Watsa has mentioned. BlackBerry also has a new CEO John Chen who has work to do for making that turn around happen.

BlackBerry started with a lot of flurry and popularity. They created their own OS and stuck to it when the Android and iOS came into the field. That idea did not pay off and is quite evident when we note that Nokia shifted to the Windows Platform and got positive results from that change over.

Whether BlackBerry is able to turn the tide their way in times to come would only be seen when the period of one and a half year is completed starting now. CEO of Fairfax Prem Watsa must sure be also keeping his fingers crossed for the $1 billion and the confidence that his company and he has placed upon BlackBerry.

Verizon to Launch BlackBerry Z30 in November

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Verizon has not stated the exact dates, but announced that it would be launching the Blackberry Z30 exclusively next month for sure. BlackBerry had introduced this handset back in September this year. Verizon have mentioned that the set would come with a contract binding as well as installment payment option lasting over a two year period. For a monthly payment option, it would be $22.91 that the buyers will be required to shell out for a 24 month period as part of the Verizon Edge contractual obligations. Or users can also opt to buy the set for $199.99 while agreeing to remain tied to Verizon for two years.

verizon-blackberry-z30

Coming to its features, the BlackBerry Z30 comes with 5 inch display and is powered by a 1.7 GHz processor, making it a fairly good device so far as operations go. The device also has the ability to be connected to a HD capable display unit wirelessly using the Miracast feature. Gamers would find this feature interesting as they would be able to get a more intuitive gaming experience playing on the large screen that the device will be connected to wirelessly. It also has a separate quad core processor for taking on the graphics intensive functions of the handset leaving the main core processor free for other computing functions.

So far as the application library of the set goes, there are the common apps that come with any BlackBerry handset, including the PriorityHub app which helps in managing conversations and notifications. The OS is BlackBerry 10.2 which has Natural Sound output capability which adds flavor to listening to music as well as for video chat.

Providing the juice is a 2880 mAh battery pack that its makers claim is able to provide for up to 25 hours of mixed usage. Charging of the battery pack itself is possible wirelessly.

Another feature of interest is the BBM Push and BBM Now app that allows users to see their message notifications without the need to shift from their current work on the set. Users would be able to select to save or reject such notifications on the fly.

BlackBerry Z10 – Touchscreen Feature of BB Z10 Had Not Been Approved by Lazaridis

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It’s something that has not been officially confirmed by BlackBerry but from sources inside the maker’s office, that there has been disdain of the Z10 model from BlackBerry being made a touchscreen device has been reported. It was at a board meeting of the company that Mike Lazaridis, a co-founding member of the company had expressed his opinion against the Z10 Smartphone being made a full touchscreen device.

Z10

It appears Mike Lazaridis had literally held a keyboard installed BlackBerry device and stated that that was what he understood and liked. He had then pointed to a touchscreen enabled handset and stated that it was something that he did not like. These have emerged from an investigative team looking through the recorded minutes of the board meeting held in end 2012.

Mike Lazaridis has, it appears, warned everyone of the grave error they were committing by launching yet another device that is entirely touchscreen oriented. This, he mentioned will place the Z10 in direct competition with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the Apple iPhone. The Z10 was launched towards the beginning of this years and marked the launching device of the company’s new platform, the BB10.

That his prediction of the future was quite correct bears from the fact that since the launch of the Z10 set, BlackBerry has not been able to make much sales headway. Only large scale company have been ordering for the set and not individual consumers. The company has been facing financial crisis and the Z10 has added to their woes. For the quarter just ended, BlackBerry has been able to sell only 9.5 million units. Insiders have related the continuing loss can be attributed to the change in the inventory that has been brought about by introducing the touchscreen enabled Z10 model.

BlackBerry has had to resort to cutting down on workforce as well as limiting their diversity in makes of smartphone’s to keep themselves afloat in the market.

With Blackberry Facing an Uncertain Future, is This The End of Smartphones With Keyboards?

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This is one question that is giving not only the company and its employee’s lot many sleepless nights; there are quite a large number of users who are also quite apprehensive. This is the company that gave the world its first phone device that had small keys to input the text or number in. That had become very popular for its ease of use. That is the company that is now on the verge of not only moving out of the keyboard devices but its very existence seems to be in serious doubt. And if you haven’t yet figured out who were talking of, it’s the Canada based BlackBerry that is being referred to here.

Q10

BlackBerry reported a loss of $1 million in their quarter ending report which has sent the tech world in a tizzy about the impending closure of the company. With the touchscreen enabled devices holding market, people who still fancy a smartphone device featuring a full QWERTY keyboard seems to belong to a dying breed. Touch enabled devices are gaining in popularity that also include a virtual keyboard to allow for text input. There have even been voice based input tech that has evolved that requires the user to speak into their device which eventually gets converted into written texts.

Analysts have therefore given out a warning that people had better adapt to the touchscreen as after BlackBerry there would be no major smartphone maker coming up with the keyboard input type of devices. What such users of phones with keyboards can hope for is that the present big names in the business such as Samsung come up with such smartphone devices that include a physical keyboard. Motorola is also known to be experimenting with such devices though nothing substantial has evolved so far on this.

In the end, what can be said with a fair degree of surety is that there does exists a dedicated group that would prefer having a smartphone with a physical keypad attached than having a full touchscreen enabled device. These largely comprise of long time Blackberry loyalists who have become so used to typing on the keypad that switching over to a touchscreen unit is least desirable for them.

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