Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

The problem Blackberry will most likely face is that the market is not willing to accept a PR1.0-type device any more.

The N9 was the exception to the rule as Nokia's fate didn't depend on it and in fact we all know measures were taken to limit its spread.

BB Z10 OTOH is a mass-market targeting product for which consumers won't have time for if its a PR1.0 device. This is one of the reasons why WP isn't able to gain traction as there are still functionalities missing on it which are on iOS and Android.

For BB to succeed it needs to very quickly (~3-4 months) catch up for all the holes it has vs Android & iOS and then start to come up with unique features otherwise the prospects don't seem too good especially when there is no low-budget phone yet to sustain the Company. BB7 is really long in the tooth and hopeless even when compared to the Asha series.

Furthermore, its not like as if BB didn't have time to get on market a polished product, it has been delayed a number of times so it should have already come with holes all covered up. In this day and age to have a pathetic maps application is kamikaze in all honesty...

I agree that BB10 has some catching up to do in comparison to iOS and Android. But I'm not as sure that the timeframe is so short, nor do I think that BB's strategy is to be as mass market as the duopoly are at this stage of the game.

I think BB's idea is to slow the rate of customer defection to the duopoly (I think BB still has 70-80 million subscribers), protect the business market segment by focusing on core strengths (security, connectivity, etc.), and expand app, media, and content offerings to be a legitimate business + personal smartphone solution.

In my view, the big difference between Nokia's transition to WPx and BB's is that BB is playing to its traditional strengths, PLUS new goodness. Most everyone agrees that BB10 is a huge step forward over BB7. I think this means that their retention rate of loyal customers should be good, which buys them time and gives them a base on which to build.

OTOH, Nokia's change to WP has been a disaster. Elop has managed to lose something like 17 out of every 20 smartphone customers. The regressions are huge. Most of us are in this forum because we preferred the old spirit and quality of Nokia to its current MS/WP approach. We mostly do not see WP8 as an improvement, and we wait and reach for Sailfish, Unbuntu, Tizen, BB10, Android, etc. as our next devices. Elop has pissed away his base, and he cannot steal a new one from the duopoly. His time, and perhaps Nokia's, is running out.

Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

You mean like Apple? :) One can side-load the Google Maps .bar and apparently it (mostly) works very well. Agreed though that Maps will eventually need to become more competitive.
But that's one major aspect, there's soooo many other things (major & minor) that need to be tallied-up, & the importance of each varies hugely from person to person...
Also apparently support for latest version of Android is coming this yr, no firm dates though, could be very end of the year, which is good as they need to focus mostly on native anyway.

Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

After using the Z10 for two days I can say I am terribly disappoonted. The thing is a bugfest. And this comes from somebody really used to loving products like the 5800, N900 and N9 which are far from bug-free.

I eagerly switched my sim from the N9 when the Z10 arrived. Every time I went into an elevator or something the phone lost signal and never recovered. It did this once or twice without notice so I had to constantly keep an eye on the signal bar. I searched the relevant forums and people suggested to switch from automatic network selection to manual. I did that and the next few hours the signal didn't drop. To my disappointment it appears that it had, but without refreshing the signal bar. Nobody could reach me and I couln't make calls. A switch of airplane mode on and off would solve the problem temporarily in both cases. Then came the spontaneous reboots and occasional freezes, once while loading tmo. The straw that broke the camel's back was the infamous notification bug which some attribute to bluetooth headsets or other accessories but I don't have aby of them. The OS loses the sound subsystem altogether so that no sound comes out whatsoever, be it ringing, the other party in a phonecall, dialling button sounds, music, everything. That is a reason to miss calls or answer calls where you can't hear the other party. A reflash seems to have sorted the disconnection problems (something about unrecognized sim #MM3), it did nothing for the crashes and sound problem. Saying that the required reboot is an inconvenience is a hell of an understatement. This behavior from a self-proclaimed business phone is unacceptable so the sim went quickly happily back to the N9.

The fact that all these issues are completely unrelated software bugs shows that it isn't a special condition but overall beta software quality for a flagship product that is supposed to save RIM. I somehow believe the rumors about insane amount of returns as any one of my issues is return-worthy. RIM has acknowledged the sound problem, and their knowledge base article suggests to reboot your phone as a workaround, with no solution provided. I really hope they fix this mess because deep down I like BB10 and I want it to survive.

Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

thanks for the perspective.
After using the Z10 for well over a month, i can offer a diametrically opposed point of view.

In the very first instance, I would call anyone who is a long time N9 user to think back to the initial firmware released with their handset. The N9 also copped heaps of flack from many here for being "beta" quality and the list of bugs was enormous! Despite the last PR update fixing a lot, the N9 is still left with a number of major bugs and issues....

A number of the issues you have identified have been covered extensively on various BB forums and it would appear at this stage, may relate to some specific carrier related firmware "tweaks", many of which will hopefully be addressed with the 10.1 update which should come through in the next month or so.

I have had a couple of random reboots and have missed some audible message notifications (usually when I'm actually in the hub or using the device).
I have had nothing but AWESOME signal and reception at all times. In fact, compared to my N900, SGSII, One X, Bold 9900 and a handful of legacy android and symbian devices, I would say that this is the ONLY device i've had that performs as well as my N9!

There are a number of things that, in my opinion, can be improved with the OS and UI, and I expect that with upcoming releases (I've already had 1 firmware update and 10.1 will make 2 in 3 months - some other OEM's could follow this form!), users can see tweaks and adjustments.

This isn't an N9. I had some re-thinking to do when adjusting to the UI (kept swiping down to close apps and a whole host of other things that had become second nature over the last two years!) but it has presented a great and refreshing alternative to the current batch of crap devices targeted solely at consumption and not productivity.

The device, for me, has been quick, fluid and incredibly easy to adapt to. The hub, combined with at a glance notifications on screen and the baked in core apps, has made for an easy transition across to BB and I look forward to what future updates will bring. (Also Heebo is in the BB market which is my no 1 time wasting game)

I am truly enjoying the use of my Z10 and can say without a doubt that, as a first version, this device and OS, in it's own way, is one of the few devices on the market that has implemented their own version of the amazing gesture driven paradigm that was embraced by the N9.

Of course it's still only a stop gap measure until Jolla release their device! :D

Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

The fact that qwazix and onethreealpha have so different view of the device suggests to me that there is a lot of variance in the HW quality of the device. (provided both are running tha same base release and same set of applications)

Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

Don't believe it's related to hardware quality although there are 4 variants of the Z10 available. Carrier updates were installed on startup after my SIM was installed which is standard for non carrier branded devices. It is known that, specifically, Verizon handsets in the US are having all sorts of issues.
Mine is a STL100-2 and is running 10.0.10.90 on Telstra.
Although it's a 4G device, I don't use LTE as I don't need it.
I don't use the Android runtime and have no side loaded apps. Haven't installed any of the known battery killers either.
With screen brightness at 75% and NFC, Blue tooth and GPS off, I routinely get 1 1/2 to 2 days and that's with multiple calls, texts, social media apps and 3 email accounts active.

Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

Just wondering have you managed to sync your contacts using carddav , did manage to connect DevAlphaC to my ownclound but no xfer yet

Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

caldav - ok.
carddav - no luck even though there's support for both built into BB10.

most people using owncloud are having connection/authentication issues.
see here for some discussion:
http://forum.owncloud.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9187

will dig around and have a play over the weekend and update on this thread

Re: BlackBerry 10 Launch
 

onethreealpha I mostly agree with you despite the different experience. The phone is good, but those bugs are blockers, it's not that I can live with with them like I managed to live with the N9. In that case, having to remove accounts once or twice and set them up again, or kill smartsearch once in a while were things I could live with so that I enjoyed using a nice, multitasking phone. The weirdest of all things is that the DevAlpha B had neither reception, nor sound problem. And while it occasionally crashed (and the android runtime was more often non working than working) it never spontaneously rebooted.

I don't have a carrier's phone, but an unlocked LE device straight from blackberry, and no carrier updates were installed. (we don't have branded phones here at least for the last couple of years) I hope the issues will be solved with 10.1. The Dev Alpha C seems much more stable, and doesn't seem (yet) to have those weird issues.

btw, is there a way to sideload apps from the Z10 on the alpha C? I would kill for gtalk on that keyboard.

The browser speed on the Z10 is awesome. I wouldn't believe that a phone would be able to render that fast. On the DevAlphaC, not so much, and some times the browser just hangs on ~3% and you have to reload the page.