Will BlackBerry's Z10 Release Prove to be a Successful Comeback?

Last week, BlackBerry unveiled its Z10 smartphone in the most recent move from the company to take back lost market shares from rivals like Apple and Samsung.

The enterprise smartphone, BlackBerry Z10, is the first device which comes with the company's new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It is priced at $199.99, and comes with a two-year wireless contract and a 4.2-inch touchscreen display, as opposed to the company's traditional keyboard set.

The CEO of BlackBerry, Thorstein Heins, criticized the competition from rivals in light of the Z10 launch, stating that the Samsung Android would never provide great security. As Samsung recently unveiled the Knox security solution, and has some similarities with BlackBerry Enterprise Services 10, Heins stated that Samsung's solution was like locking the windows at night, but leaving the front door open.

Commenting on the iPhone, Heins stated that the device was outdated, and also criticized Apple's failure to support real multitasking.

BlackBerry has simultaneously been showcasing the Z10 characteristics, like its dual-core ARM-based processor which operates at 1.5 GHZ, 2GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. Dissimilar to other rival smartphones which provide internal storage, BlackBerry is only launching the 16 GB Z10, which comes with microSD card support for an extra 64 GB of storage. The display resolution on the Z10 is 1,280x768, and also supports HD recording. The rear-facing camera is of 8-megapixel quality.

Despite all this, it may in fact be the Z10's software which is the device's most attractive asset; the BlackBerry 10 OS features BlackBerry Balance, that enables the creation of personal and business profiles, and BlackBerry Flow, which allows for multitasking, letting users move between applications without having to quit one each time.

It still remains unclear if the latest comeback attempt from BlackBerry is too little too late; the BB10 release was cancelled last year and raised questions about the company's future. Although BlackBerry 10 was launched in January, the devices for that OS were only made available in the U.S. last week. Furthermore, BlackBerry Q10 will not be released until late spring or early summer. (CY) Link