Several years ago I worked for Cingular Wireless (later rebranded back to AT&T) in the National Business Services department. My group handled major business and government accounts, and the bulk of our work seemed to involve Blackberry devices. In fact, I was generally relieved whenever I learned I’d need to troubleshoot an issue with a Blackberry, because the process with them was so straightforward comapred to other smartphones (such as they were at the time). Research In Motion (RIM) also provided the tools we needed to troubleshoot and were generally helpful and easy to reach when we needed to escalate an issue. Then, the iPhone came along.
For the first year or so that AT&T was selling iPhones (as the exclusive U.S. carrier for this device) they couldn’t be used on business accounts. Many executives took over financial responsibility for their work numbers just to be able to have an iPhone. Around that time Android phones started to hit the market. I left AT&t and moved on professionally after that, but with everyone else I’ve watched the rise of Android and iPhone smartphones and the dramatic decline of the Blackberry. I thought RIM (which as of yesterday will be known simply as “Blackberry”)would never recover. It still might not, but based on the buzz I’m hearing since yesterday’s big announcement regarding its new line.
The Z10 is a touchscreen-only phone, and the Q10 is a touchscreen-capable phone with a QWERTY keyboard. The Z10 was the device used primarily in the presentation. From what I’ve heard, these devices should be available in the U.S. on Verizon, TMobile, AT&T and Sprint, although the white version of the Z10 will be exclusive to Verizon. As of the time of this post I’ve not heard anything about ano-contract price (if possible) but I’m definitely interested in getting a Z10 for my move to Brazil. As I’ve said in a previous post, I would prefer to have the Ubuntu phone, but since it seems like it will only be available perhaps by Q1 2014, it looks like I may go with Blackberry.
The video below, from Crackberry.com, shows the Q10. Yes, the screen is small, but for what I’ll want it to do in Brazil, it’s plenty.
Would you consider getting one of the new Blackberry phones? Let me know in the comments.
See Also:
Ubuntu Phone: I Want One