Mobile

BlackBerry Z30 smartphone now official: 5-inch touchscreen, BBM enhancements, BlackBerry 10.2 OS & more

Alexandra Burlacu

BlackBerry officially announced its new BlackBerry Z30 smartphone, which boasts a 5-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display and runs the BlackBerry 10.2 operating system.

The BlackBerry Z30 is the company's latest attempt to a comeback in the increasingly competitive smartphone market. BlackBerry has lost significant ground in recent years and its BlackBerry 10 OS failed to make much of a difference. The company even ditched its iconic QWERTY keyboard for an all-touch display with the BlackBerry Z10, but customers still didn't flock to its platform.

The BlackBerry Z30 now launches as another all-touch device from BlackBerry. It sport high-end specs, including a 1.7GHz processor with quad-core graphics and the largest battery yet on a BlackBerry handset. According to the company, the larger battery and the battery enhancements in BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2 now allow for up to 25 hours of mixed use on the new smartphone.

"The new BlackBerry Z30 smartphone builds on the solid foundation and engaging user experience of the BlackBerry 10 platform with features like the powerful BlackBerry Hub, its exceptional touch-screen keyboard and industry leading browser," said Carlo Chiarello, executive vice president for products at BlackBerry. "The smartphone rounds out the BlackBerry 10 portfolio and is designed for people looking for a smartphone that excels at communications, messaging and productivity. Having apps like the full Documents To Go suite that comes preinstalled, together with its 5-inch touch display, the BlackBerry Z30 smartphone gives you a best in class productivity experience on the go."

The BlackBerry Z30 also comes with stereo speakers boasting the company's Natural Sound technology, which is part of version 10.2 of BB10. The technology makes BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Voice and BBM Video chats sound more realistic and natural. BlackBerry just announced that its BBM messaging service will be rolling out to Android and iOS this weekend, but BBM Voice and Video will remain exclusive to BlackBerry handsets.

BlackBerry's latest smartphone also sports an upgrade to BBM that allows users to see a preview of any message as it arrives in whatever app may be in use. Users can dismiss the preview or tap it to read the full message. Users will also be able to reply to a newly-arrived message without having to leave the app they were in. Moreover, even with the phone locked, users will be able to tap various icons on the Lock Screen and see instant previews of the most recent messages and notifications.

The new BlackBerry Z30 will launch on select carriers and retailers worldwide starting next week in the UK and the Middle East, with other regions set to follow in the holiday season. BlackBerry gave no specific availability details so far, nor has it mentioned pricing.

© Copyright 2020 Mobile & Apps, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

more stories from Mobile

Back
Real Time Analytics