The Blackberry Z10 that running on BlackBerry 10 OS has almost all functionalities customers would expect in a smartphone and a competitive new platform. Email and messaging is seamless as usual on Blackberry devices and its web browser speed is comparable to Chrome and Safari. It also integrates the major social networks efficiently and cloud service support is impressive too. But when it comes to apps, the platform seems to have a long way to go to reach its goal. Initial critics’ and user reviews claim that though the new platform takes a while to get used to, its new gestures, once familiar make the experience praise-worthy.
Like any new platform, Blackberry also faces the same challenges of getting developers to create popular apps for BB 10. The most used apps or the ‘first wave’ of apps that are likely to be installed initially like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Foursquare are interestingly pre-installed in Z10. Unfortunately, these apps feel more like Android apps than BlackBerry apps. As the apps seem more Android-ish, they don’t feel at home in Z10. For example, if the iOS apps or Windows Phone apps are considered, they blend in with the OS and work in ways specific to the OS and yet are similar, thereby providing the same features but in a customized environment.
Another problem with Blackberry apps is their availability. Some basic apps are indeed available but apps like Instagram, NetFlix, Pandora, and Spotify seem to be missing. Some users may not need these apps at all, but there are and will be users who do. Blackberry 10 is definitely a promising OS but its success solely relies on the developers and the company’s ability to woo them. Consumers will definitely find it risky to buy into a new platform, especially with a two year contract.
The fact that Windows Phone is still not complete after three years in spite of Microsoft having enough money to invest in developers cannot be ignored. Blackberry will have to invest a lot to make it fully functional and attractive enough to pull users away from Android, iOS and Windows Phone to Blackberry. Blackberry today also announced that the platform had hit 100,000 apps, which are encouraging signs given that Windows Phone is just north of that figure and poses the next obstacle in the smartphone wars.
