The BlackBerry Z10 has outperformed industry analysts’ expectations, selling more than 1 million units in the early going. That sales figure is also matched by a commercial order of more than 1 million units, giving BlackBerry executives and shareholders some positive news little more than a week after the BlackBerry Z10 launch. The BlackBerry Z10 debuts the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, and first debuted on the AT&T wireless network, but recently also made its way over to Verizon.
Slated to hit the network with a $199 price tag, Amazon Wireless is one retailer who has decided to discount the Verizon variant of the BlackBerry Z10 down to $139 on contract. The Z10 is a fully touchscreen driven 4G LTE capable smartphone from BlackBerry, formerly RIM, and gives us a glimpse of the direction the Canadian smartphone manufacturer is headed in. As recently as 2007, RIM ruled the mobile handset marketplace, but when phones like the iPhone began to deliver touch screens, RIM stuck with their iconic physical keyboard design.
That was the beginning of the end for BlackBerry’s dominance in the smartphone arena, but the early sales success and popularity of the Z10 could be a sign that BlackBerry will be a dominant smartphone player in the very near future. The handset looks similar to the Android and iOS smartphones currently on offer, and it delivers a large 4.2 inch LCD display with 1,280 x 768 pixel resolution. Pixel density is extremely high at 356 pixels located over each inch of display space, and the dual core 1.5 GHz processor joins a full 2.0 GB of RAM memory in the handset’s hardware package.
16 GB of internal storage has been pre-installed, with a microSD card slot providing for storage expansion opportunities and offboard data access. BlackBerry made the handset slim and light, and it measures just 0.35 inches (9.0 mm) in thickness, weighing in at 4.85 ounces (130 g). Standard capacitive, multitouch gestures are used to navigate the touchscreen, and standard light and proximity sensors are on board to help conserve battery power.
A full 10.0 hours of talk time can be expected on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE system, as well as 13.0 days of standby battery power from a full battery charge. Matching the standard camera specs found on the back of most current smartphones, the BlackBerry Z10 provides a rear facing 8.0 megapixel camcorder capable of 1,080P HD resolution video recording. The BlackBerry Z10 for Verizon is also NFC capable out-of-the-box.
