CORRECTS PHONE MODEL NAME TO Z10 INSTEAD OF 10 - Arun Kumar, a senior product manager for BlackBerry, shows off the new BlackBerry Z10 during the global launch of the new Blackberry smartphones in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. BlackBerry is promising a speedy browser, a superb typing experience and the ability to keep work and personal identities separate on the same phone, the fruit of a crucial, long-overdue makeover for the company. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)
Review: BlackBerry Z10 is good stab at rebirth
CORRECTS PHONE MODEL NAME TO Z10 INSTEAD OF 10 - Arun Kumar, a senior product manager for BlackBerry, shows off the new BlackBerry Z10 during the global launch of the new Blackberry smartphones in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. BlackBerry is promising a speedy browser, a superb typing experience and the ability to keep work and personal identities separate on the same phone, the fruit of a crucial, long-overdue makeover for the company. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)
By PETER SVENSSON
AP Technology Writer /
January 31, 2013
Text Size:
- –
- +
Page 2 of 2 --
Well, the library of third-party applications is the biggest reason. The iPhone and Android have a huge head start when it comes to getting developers to make applications that run on their phones. RIM says BlackBerry 10 will launch in the U.S. with about 100,000 apps. That sounds like a big number, and it includes important apps such as Skype and Facebook.
But it’s inevitable that the iPhone will have apps you want but can’t get on BlackBerry 10. There’s no Instagram, no Netflix. It’s also obvious that the number includes some apps that were written for the PlayBook tablet and don’t work well on the smaller phone screen.
But the biggest obstacle to a RIM comeback is simply that the iPhone and Android have become the default for phone buyers, and few will see a reason to try something else. Microsoft, which has vastly more resources than RIM, has tried for two years to get people to buy Windows Phones, with very little to show for it.
BlackBerry 10 is nice, but I can’t point to anything about it that would make me say: ‘‘Forget those other phones: you have to buy this one.’’
___
Peter Svensson can be reached at http://twitter.com/petersvensson
___
About the BlackBerry Z10:
It’s the first of the phones to use the BlackBerry 10 operating system, an attempt to bring the once-pioneering BlackBerry in line with the iPhone and Android devices. It’s not coming in the U.S. until March. All major carriers will have it, likely for about $200 with a two-year service contract.
The Z10 will have only a touch-screen keyboard. BlackBerry fans wanting a physical keyboard will have to wait at least a month for the BlackBerry Q10.
© Copyright 2013 Globe Newspaper Company.
