New purported Blackberry Z10 specs emerge

2298754 · Dec 27, 2012

http://bgr.com/2012/12/27/blackberry-z10-specs-rumor-270723/

Another week, another batch of purported leaks for Research In Motion's (RIMM) first BlackBerry 10-powered Z10. BBin claims to have most of the Z10***8242;s final specs confirmed and it is shaping up to be a powerful device. Rumored specs for the Z10 include a TI OMAP 4470 1.5GHz dual-core processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 for the U.S. and Canada), a 4.2-inch display (1,280 x 768 resolution), quad-band LTE, 2GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, a 2-megapixel front camera, a microSD card slot, and an 1,800 mAh removable battery. On the connectivity side, the Z10 is also rumored to have NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi, A-GPS, a Micro USB port and a Micro HDMI-out port. BlackBerry 10***8242;s January 30th unveiling in New York City can't come soon enough.

Pretty pathetic specs from a so-called "Android killer." It merely matches the almost 1-yr Galaxy S3 in specs.

It uses the same Snapdragon S4 processor that the S3 has had. In fact, the MSM8960 chip came out in Q1 2012. There is no reason why it should have last year's processor, when everyone else has moved forward with the Snapdragon S4 Pro (quad-core). It has the same 2gb of ram. And has a smaller battery to boot (1800 mah vs 2100 in the S3). And the display is sub-par at this point.

Let's not forget both HTC and Samsung will be showing their flagship devices in the next couple weeks at CES. Both will have 1080p displays, quad-core processors, huge batteries.

RIM is done if they think this is enough to make an impact. RIM has no chance if Samsung comes out with a class-leading Galaxy S4, which is probably what is going to happen.

Macman45 · Dec 27, 2012

I think RIM are finished anyway and I doubt that the device will even get to market...They've been teetering on the brink for a long time now.

2298754 · Dec 27, 2012

Macman45 said:
I think RIM are finished anyway and I doubt that the device will even get to market...They've been teetering on the brink for a long time now.

I bet it will come to market, but just fail. They're trying hard, too late. There is no reason why they shouldn't have been trying to keep up with competition all these years.

Smithwicks · Dec 27, 2012

The ridiculously sized blackberry branding at the bottom of that phone would be a definite dealbreaker for me.

3bs · Dec 27, 2012

Smithwicks said:
The ridiculously sized blackberry branding at the bottom of that phone would be a definite dealbreaker for me.

I didn't notice it until you mentioned it but you're right, it is off-putting. At least it's better than Verizon's logo on the Note 2's home button!

ChrisTX · Dec 27, 2012

AutoUnion39 said:
I bet it will come to market, but just fail. They're trying hard, too late. There is no reason why they shouldn't have been trying to keep up with competition all these years.

This device will more than likely flop, but that's a different story. But to credit Rim somewhat, the BlackBerry was still selling remarkably well during the first couple of years of iPhone. I think what happened though, is eventually people started to see everything the iPhone was capable of, and the BlackBerry was lacking, and that's when the mass exodus took place. They lacked any sort of vision. They thought that by placing the existing BB software on a touchscreen phone(Storm 1, and 2) that it would keep people from diverting. But anyone that's ever used a storm knows just how badly implemented it was.

Smithwicks said:
The ridiculously sized blackberry branding at the bottom of that phone would be a definite dealbreaker for me.

Agreed, they could use the extra space for more screen real estate. Too much bezel on the top, and bottom here.

2298754 · Dec 27, 2012

ChrisTX said:
This device will more than likely flop, but that's a different story. But to credit Rim somewhat, the BlackBerry was still selling remarkably well during the first couple of years of iPhone. .

Ya, that's a good point, you bring up. But that was also at a time when iOS/Android weren't being used by big corporations.

As iOS and Android matured, IT folks and the public realized that you can have a business phone, but still play Angry Birds on it when you're bored, so the mass exodus to iOS/Android in the biz world started to happened.

Merely matching one year old Android hardware is a poor choice, when Samsung will waste no time marketing their new Galaxy phone with a 1080p screen. We all know how good Sammy really is with marketing nowadays.

ChrisTX · Dec 27, 2012

AutoUnion39 said:
Ya, that's a good point, you bring up. But that was also at a time when iOS/Android weren't being used by big corporations.

As iOS and Android matured, IT folks and the public realized that you can have a business phone, but still play Angry Birds on it when you're bored, so the mass exodus to iOS/Android in the biz world started to happened.

Merely matching one year old Android hardware is a poor choice, when Samsung will waste no time marketing their new Galaxy phone with a 1080p. We all know how good Sammy really is with marketing nowadays.

Not only were business folk embracing iOS/Android but they were all finally realizing that it was cheaper to implement the "bring your own device" policy. Unfortunately for Rim, no one was bringing BB devices.

siiip5 · Dec 27, 2012

This phone was built much like the Playbook. Get a somewhat okay product on the market that is a big improvement over what Blackberry owners are used to. This phone is already outdated by Android standards, but leaps and bounds above what BB users have right now.

RIM is still going under though. Unless Canada bails them out.

nfl46 · Dec 27, 2012

siiip5 said:
This phone was built much like the Playbook. Get a somewhat okay product on the market that is a big improvement over what Blackberry owners are used to. This phone is already outdated by Android standards, but leaps and bounds above what BB users have right now.

RIM is still going under though. Unless Canada bails them out.

How is it outdated? Hell, even Apple can't keep with Android specs. Apple has proved, it's all about OS optimization. The new Blackberry specs are pretty good for a early 2013 device. I watched some videos of it, and the OS is fluent.

As someone stated in the comments:

iPhone 5 1.2Ghz vs BB 1.5Ghz
iPhone 5 1GB Ram vs BB 2GB Ram
iPhone 5 8Mp Camera vs BB 8Mp Camera
iPhone 5 1.2Mp front Cam vs. BB 2Mp front Cam
iPhone 5 no hdmi vs BB micro hdmi
iPhone 5 4 inch screen vs BB 4.2 inch screen
iPhone 5 Battery 1440mAh vs BB 1800mAh

Pixel density on iPhone5 - 326ppi
Pixel density on BB - 356ppi

Needless to say, we aren't getting a new iPhone 5S until Fall 2013.

2298754 · Dec 27, 2012

nfl46 said:
How is it outdated? Hell, even Apple can't keep with Android specs. Apple has proved, it's all about OS optimization. The new Blackberry specs are pretty good for a early 2013 device. I watched some videos of it, and the OS is fluent.

As someone stated in the comments:

iPhone 5 1.2Ghz vs BB 1.5Ghz
iPhone 5 1GB Ram vs BB 2GB Ram
iPhone 5 8Mp Camera vs BB 8Mp Camera
iPhone 5 1.2Mp front Cam vs. BB 2Mp front Cam
iPhone 5 no hdmi vs BB micro hdmi
iPhone 5 4 inch screen vs BB 4.2 inch screen
iPhone 5 Battery 1440mAh vs BB 1800mAh

Pixel density on iPhone5 - 326ppi
Pixel density on BB - 356ppi

Needless to say, we aren't getting a new iPhone 5S until Fall 2013.

You're forgetting that RIM can't match the brand name/recognition of Apple. A good amount of iOS users are bitter old BB owners. Apple proved that it is all about OS optimization, but they've done it year after year and built a huge base around it. RIM has been ****ing around all these years and making half-assed phones, like the BB Storm to suddenly be taken seriously.

And if the benchmarks say anything, the iPhone5 already is faster than the S3. If this BB is merely matching the S3, it's still going to lag behind the iPhone5.

SomeDudeAsking · Dec 27, 2012

AutoUnion39 said:
You're forgetting that RIM can't match the brand name/recognition of Apple. A good amount of iOS users are bitter old BB owners. Apple proved that it is all about OS optimization, but they've done it year after year and built a huge base around it. RIM has been ****ing around all these years and making half-assed phones, like the BB Storm to suddenly be taken seriously.

And if the benchmarks say anything, the iPhone5 already is faster than the S3. If this BB is merely matching the S3, it's still going to lag behind the iPhone5.

Specs don't matter. At least that's I kept hearing when the S3 beat the 4S in specs and benchmarks.Now with the iPhone 5, specs matter again even when the S3 and the Note 2 have higher GeekBench scores?

2298754 · Dec 27, 2012

SomeDudeAsking said:
Specs don't matter. At least that's I kept hearing when the S3 beat the 4S in specs and benchmarks.Now with the iPhone 5, specs matter again even when the S3 and the Note 2 have higher GeekBench scores?

US-spec S3 with the S4 SoC does not have a higher GeekBench score. 1584 vs 1410.

Note 2 is faster because of its Exynos chipset.

siiip5 · Dec 27, 2012

nfl46 said:
How is it outdated? Hell, even Apple can't keep with Android specs. Apple has proved, it's all about OS optimization. The new Blackberry specs are pretty good for a early 2013 device. I watched some videos of it, and the OS is fluent.

As someone stated in the comments:

iPhone 5 1.2Ghz vs BB 1.5Ghz
iPhone 5 1GB Ram vs BB 2GB Ram
iPhone 5 8Mp Camera vs BB 8Mp Camera
iPhone 5 1.2Mp front Cam vs. BB 2Mp front Cam
iPhone 5 no hdmi vs BB micro hdmi
iPhone 5 4 inch screen vs BB 4.2 inch screen
iPhone 5 Battery 1440mAh vs BB 1800mAh

Pixel density on iPhone5 - 326ppi
Pixel density on BB - 356ppi

Needless to say, we aren't getting a new iPhone 5S until Fall 2013.

The 5S is slated for a March release, as is a retina display iPad Mini. But that's not the point.

I'm not sure why you compared a vaporware BB10 specs to what will be a 6 month old iPhone 5 and not to what we are expected to see from from companies like Samsung with the S4 (also scheduled for a March release). And by the way, we still don't know when the BB10 phones will go on sale. We only know that RIM (is supposed to announce the phone on Jan 30th. But with their track record, you can expect a delay in the announcement, or a delay in the ship date!)

Back to next years Android phones: 1080p screens (that is over 400ppi on a 5+ inch screen, not a little screen like the iPhone or BB10), quad-core, 3gb of RAM, S5 Snapdragon SoC or equivalent, minimum 32gb of internal storage, with SD Card extension, and of course a larger, removable battery.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Blackberry is dumb enough to price the BB10 the same price as an iPhone of S4/Note3. So except for a small niche of Blackberry users buying these, we can expect sales to be less than what WP8 phones have seen. There are several points of failure for RIM, but a small app selection will be a huge one. (Hopefully, they allow Android apps to work on it.)

All that said, I still wanna get my hands on one. I'm pessimistic about RIM's survival, but I wanna try out the phone and maybe buy one for posterity when RIM finally files for bankruptcy and disappears from the mobile market.

----------

AutoUnion39 said:
US-spec S3 with the S4 SoC does not have a higher GeekBench score. 1584 vs 1410.

Note 2 is faster because of its Exynos chipset.

Lowest score I get is low 1700's on my S3. Not that it matters. These scores have been and always will be based off b.s. No two phones, even the same make and model, will show the same scores. Unless there is a vast difference in numbers, a user won't tell the difference when using the phone.

2298754 · Dec 27, 2012

siiip5 said:
Back to next years Android phones: 1080p screens (that is over 400ppi on a 5+ inch screen, not a little screen like the iPhone or BB10), quad-core, 3gb of RAM, S5 Snapdragon SoC or equivalent, minimum 32gb of internal storage, with SD Card extension, and of course a larger, removable battery.

Yup, the next round of flagship Android phones are around the corner and if Apple does launch a 5S in the Spring, RIM is toast.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Blackberry is dumb enough to price the BB10 the same price as an iPhone of S4/Note3. So except for a small niche of Blackberry users buying these, we can expect sales to be less than what WP8 phones have seen. There are several points of failure for RIM, but a small app selection will be a huge one. (Hopefully, they allow Android apps to work on it.)

If RIM is dumb enough to sell these phones for more than $99 on contract, they don't stand a chance. They need to take the underdog approach, but I somehow doubt they will.

Diiiiips · Dec 28, 2012

siiip5 said:
The 5S is slated for a March release, as is a retina display iPad Mini. But that's not the point.

willing to bet you any money you like that the 5S will not be out in March or even within 3 months of March!

The S4 on the other hand, you might get it in April/May if youre lucky.

ucfgrad93 · Dec 28, 2012

Macman45 said:
I think RIM are finished anyway and I doubt that the device will even get to market...They've been teetering on the brink for a long time now.

I think the phone will get to market, but no one will really care. RIM sat on their laurels for too long and are paying the price.

siiip5 · Dec 28, 2012

Diiiiips said:
willing to bet you any money you like that the 5S will not be out in March or even within 3 months of March!

The S4 on the other hand, you might get it in April/May if youre lucky.

Why would I want to bet you? I said it is 'slated' for a March release, but that is based on rumors.

thejadedmonkey · Dec 30, 2012

AutoUnion39;16560827Pretty pathetic specs from a so-called "Android killer." It merely matches the almost 1-yr Galaxy S3 in specs. [/QUOTE said:
Microsoft showed that specs don't mean everything. I have a Samsung Focus, which is over 2 years old now, it has a 1ghz single core CPU, 512mb RAM, and I'd still pick it over some of the crap Android phones out there. Maybe not against the Droid DNA or S3, but definitely against the S2. Depending on how optimized the BB OS is, it might run very snappy on this.

What is pathetic is how Android needs a quad-core CPU and 2gb of RAM to function without lag, but definitely not the specs on this phone.

0dev · Dec 30, 2012

The problem with RIM is they were very short sighted. They achieved success by offering smartphones with e-mail and good keyboards and thought that was the central pillar of what a smartphone should be. They never developed beyond that basic idea to realise that the real developments would come from further internet functionality, further integration with web services, and most importantly, computing ability.

Even worse, they literally haven't developed either their hardware or software at all. The basic design of BlackBerries today is the same as it always was, as is the OS. It took them far too long to realise reliance on the good old days wasn't enough to keep the company relevant.

So now they finally realised this, they took years to actually do something about it, and they've still not brought anything to market. And you know what? It's a real shame. This is a company with a rich history which brought us the first ever (commercially successful) internet enabled smartphones. But they thought their dated approach was enough and laughed when Apple and Google told them otherwise and now they're paying the price for that.

Sorry RIM

Melab · Dec 31, 2012

The industrial design looks great. Ever since the iPad first came out that is all I've ever cared about.

Awakener · Dec 31, 2012

Smithwicks said:
The ridiculously sized blackberry branding at the bottom of that phone would be a definite dealbreaker for me.

Unless I'm missing something that's just on the home screen for the advertisement?

AutoUnion39 said:
You're forgetting that RIM can't match the brand name/recognition of Apple. A good amount of iOS users are bitter old BB owners. Apple proved that it is all about OS optimization, but they've done it year after year and built a huge base around it. RIM has been ****ing around all these years and making half-assed phones, like the BB Storm to suddenly be taken seriously.

And if the benchmarks say anything, the iPhone5 already is faster than the S3. If this BB is merely matching the S3, it's still going to lag behind the iPhone5.

You may be right, but Apple's image is changing as it grows.
Hopefully Blackberry OS 10 will take off because it will force Apple to innovate.

Diiiiips · Jan 1, 2013

siiip5 said:
Why would I want to bet you? I said it is 'slated' for a March release, but that is based on rumors.

Because it's not "slated" for a March release and never has been by any credible website.

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