z10

BlackBerry Z10 rates high on repairability, iFixit says

Have no fear if your BlackBerry Z10 needs to be repaired.

Repairing the latest smartphone from BlackBerry is a snap, according to iFixit,which rates the Z10 an 8 out of 10 on its scale of repairability, something the firm notes is rare for a smartphone.

The BlackBerry Z10 represents one of the company's last chances at a turnaround, and marks the first device to use its next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform. The phone has been out for a few weeks in select countries around the world, but just launched at AT&T on Friday. It will be available … Read more

In trouble, tech CEO? Bash the iPhone

I've spent the whole week uttering rude words at my iPhone 5.

Some had four letters, some have had fewer. Several had four syllables. All were expressions of utter disdain, frustration or disappointment.

I'm very suggestible, you see. And this week, two very clever tech CEOs publicly denigrated Apple's lucky charm, making it seem like it was the result of a couple of parts that had fallen off a Segway.

First, there was BlackBerry's Thorsten Heins, who declared that the iPhone user interface is as old as Jay Leno's jokes. Well, his actual words were: &… Read more

T-Mobile kills off the wireless contract

T-Mobile continues to rev up the changes it's got in store for customers.

The wireless carrier today seems to have finally done away entirely with contracts for wireless customers. This follows earlier moves that had allowed options including either a traditional two-year contract or no contract at all.

The shift is part of a broader transformation that CEO John Legere hinted at during his Consumer Electronics Show press conference in January, changes that are intended to make the carrier more competitive in the industry. As a distant fourth-place carrier among the national players, the company has been willing to … Read more

Why I won't be going back to BlackBerry from iPhone

My story begins back in the spring of 2010, when I first became a BlackBerry user. Two years and four BlackBerrys later, battling the urge to dropkick my phone into outer space had become a daily struggle. Reader, I gave in -- I bought an iPhone.

I wasn't the only one, either. RIM -- or just plain old BlackBerry, as it's now known -- was beset by one crisis after another, and watched its worldwide market share dip dramatically.

BlackBerry 10 launched in January and, despite being massively overdue, was supposed to revive the company's fortunes and … Read more

BlackBerry CEO: Samsung security will never be 'top-notch'

Samsung Electronics will never be able to offer "top-notch platinum" security because of the inherent open nature of Android, according to BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins.

Because Android is open source, it is the most susceptible to attacks such as malware, Heins said yesterday in an interview with CNET in New York City. In comparison, he added, BlackBerry 10 was designed from the ground up to be a secure platform.

"You don't know how many keys you've given to the main door of your house because it's open software," he said about Android. "… Read more

BlackBerry's U.S. launch: Turning point or last gasp?

OK, BlackBerry, it's go time.

After several delays, broken promises, and doomsday prognostications, BlackBerry's next-generation smartphone, the BlackBerry Z10, hits U.S. stores tomorrow.

For a company still eyeing a comeback in the brutally competitive smartphone business, the U.S. launch of the device represents a particularly critical turning point. Despite the BlackBerry falling from grace here, the U.S. is still the device's largest market, representing 20 percent of total subscribers, according to an analyst. A successful launch that attracts old and new users alike could provide BlackBerry with the fuel to turn itself around. But … Read more

BlackBerry has 'exciting' flagship phone planned for holidays

BlackBerry is cooking up something CEO Thorsten Heins says he's "very excited about": another flagship smartphone that may hit during the holidays.

"There's one new product I'm really excited about, but I can't really share it," Heins told CNET in an interview today.

Heins confirmed that the company would have a midtier device later this year, and another "exciting" device for the holidays, although he wasn't 100 percent sure it would hit by year's end. He said there would be three to four BlackBerry 10 devices this fiscal … Read more

Google wants to 'Keep' your notes

Google wants to "Keep" your notes.

Yesterday Google introduced Keep, the new mobile and Web-based note-storing service that looks to take aim at products like Evernote. Boasting a simple, easy-to-use interface, Keep will work with Google Drive so that all notes are synced across different platforms. Users can edit their notes from either their phone or the Web and the information will be saved everywhere. You can also use voice dictation and photos to help enhance each note you take.

The BlackBerry Store has topped 100,000 apps, 30,000 of which were just added in the last … Read more

BlackBerry store tops 100,000 apps, up 30,000 in 7 weeks

BlackBerry's app store now has more than 100,000 apps, just in time for the launch of its BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.

The Canadian smartphone maker said developers have created more than 30,000 new apps over the past seven weeks since it unveiled its new operating system and devices.

Today, BlackBerry 10 customers can download Amazon Kindle, OpenTable, and The Wall Street Journal. CNN, The Daily Show, eBay, eMusic, Maxim, MLB at Bat, MTV News, Pageonce, PGA, Rdio, Skype, Soundhound, and Viber will be available in the coming weeks.

"The response to the BlackBerry 10 platform and applications … Read more