BlackBerry smart phones finally out

The much-anticipated new range of BlackBerry smartphones was released yesterday after long delays which allowed devices made by Apple and Samsung to build substantial leads in a competitive market.

However, it could be a long wait before the devices come to New Zealand.

BlackBerry, known as Research in Motion (RIM) until yesterday, released the Z10 and Q10 without much detail but early reviews on overseas websites provided some details.

According to Verge, which gave the Z10 a score of seven on a 10-point scale, the phone had a 10.5cm screen with a 1280 by 728 pixel resolution, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16GB of storage. The Z10 will have only touch-screen keyboard, like Apple's trend-setting iPhone and other handsets running on Google's Android software, including Samsung's popular Galaxy.

Less was known about the Q10. BlackBerry did not reveal much about that phone other than it had a physical qwerty keyboard.

Among the few features the company did demonstrate was one called the BlackBerry Hub, which streamed every message a user might want to see into one screen that could easily be accessed. Those messages included texts, emails and messages on social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter.

BlackBerry unveiled its long-awaited line-up of revamped smartphones and software at simultaneous events in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Dubai, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Delhi.

They will run on a redesigned operating system called BlackBerry 10, which the company began working on after buying QNX Software Systems in 2010.

The new software and devices were supposed to be released a year ago but were delayed. In the meantime, Apple and Android device makers won more zealous converts to their products. Microsoft also rolled out a new Windows operating system for smartphones giving RIM another technology powerhouse to battle. The delays helped wipe out $US70 billion ($NZ83.3 billion) in shareholder wealth and 5000 jobs.

''It is the most challenging year of my career,'' BlackBerry chief executive Thorsten Heins, whose anniversary leading the company occurred last week, said.

''It is also the most exhilarating and exciting one.''

The wait for US smartphone users interested in buying the new BlackBerry line was not over, AP reported. The Z10 would not be released in the US until March and the Q10 might not arrive in the country until April, to give wireless carriers more time to test the product. The estimated US prices for the phones were not announced either.

The Z10, which BlackBerry will call the ''Zed-10'' outside the US, will go on sale in the United Kingdom next week. The same model will be released in Canada next week and will cost about $US150 there with a three-year contract. No details about a New Zealand release date were available.

BGC Financial analyst Colin Gills said the new phones' tardy arrival to the US threatened to cause even more BlackBerry users to defect to the iPhone or an Android device.