BlackBerry unveils the Z30 as its new flagship smartphone

(Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd launched its new Z30 flagship smartphone on Wednesday, as it battles to win back market share despite uncertainty around its future.

Once a pioneer in the smartphone arena, BlackBerry said last month it was weighing options that could include an outright sale, in the face of lacklustre sales for its new devices that run on the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

The long-rumored Z30 device, which is first being unveiled at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will be BlackBerry's new top-of-the-line device, taking the crown from the smaller Z10 that was launched early this year.

The new touchscreen device, which boasts a five-inch display and a 1.7 gigahertz processor, will compete against the likes of Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) new iPhone 5S and Samsung Electronics Co's (005930.KS) Galaxy S4, along with a slew of other devices that are powered by Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android platform.

The company faces an uphill battle in generating interest in the new phone, however, given the lack of clarity around its future.

While the company has long aspired to make its BlackBerry 10 operating system the No. 3 smartphone platform in the market, the latest industry data indicates that Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Windows Phone platform is in fact more likely to clinch that spot as its devices continue to gain ground.

Although the new line of BlackBerry devices has been well received by reviewers, analysts say the company lacks the financial heft to vie against industry giants like Apple, Google, Samsung and Microsoft, which boast massive marketing and R&D budgets.

Some analysts contend that Microsoft's move earlier this month to acquire Nokia's (NOK1V.HE) phone business and license its patents for 5.44 billion euros, poses another hurdle for BlackBerry, as the software giant is likely to redouble its catch-up efforts in the mobile device business.

But Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry, which is set to report its fiscal second-quarter results next week, appears to be sticking with its product roadmap for now, even as it reviews its alternatives.

The company, which touts the Z30 as its "biggest, fastest and most advanced smartphone" to date, said the device will begin to hit store shelves in the UK and parts of the Middle East as early as next week.

The smartphone will go on sale with select carriers and retailers in other regions over the remainder of the year, said the company, adding specific pricing and availability will be announced by its partners at the time of their respective launches.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Mark Potter)

This post has been edited by SyathibiyMegat: Sep 19 2013, 05:32 PM

BlackBerry Z30 is now official, runs BB10.2 out of the box

BlackBerry has just announced the Z30 - the smartphone with the largest touchscreen it has even put into production. Moreover, it's the first BlackBerry to ship with the company's latest version of BB 10 OS.

The BlackBerry Z30 is built around a 5" Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This makes the pixel density meter stop at 295 ppi. In its core, the Z30 is powered by a dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset and 2GB of RAM.

Behind the battery back cover lies a 2,880mAh battery and measures 140.7 x 72 x 9.4mm. The larger battery found in the Z30 hasn't made it much thicker than the Z10 - the difference is just 0.1mm. The BlackBerry Z30 supports LTE as well as dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.

The back of the Z30 holds an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 lens and 1080p video recording capabilities. Video chatting has been taken care of with an 2MP front-facing snapper, which records 720p video.

As we mentioned, the BlackBerry Z30 runs BB 10 OS version 10.2 out of the box. It brings some improvements to the BlackBerry ecosystem including BB Priority Hub, message previews in the lockscreen as well as Wi-Fi Direct support, multiple alarms and standard Unicode emojis.

BlackBerry Q10 and Z10 users would be happy to know that the company will be launching the BB 10 version 10.2 update in mid-October. There might be some delays, which would be due to carrier approval of the update.

BlackBerry hasn't specified any pricing or availability information just yet, but the Z30 is expected to hit the UK as early as next week.

This post has been edited by SyathibiyMegat: Sep 19 2013, 05:33 PM

Sell it at an RRP of RM1499, and BB will surely come back on track

Nahh, I'm saying in terms of specs if compared to Android devices. Dual-core and everything at RM1998? Most people will think it doesn't worth to give it a try because BB isn't as valuable as it was before

Moto X is wayyy more valuable than Z30 But still, Z30's price has to be RM1499

On contract? I believe most telco will offer RM699 with contact, bro

Nope. So far, I can only think of Apple and BB's products. Even Nokia has learned how to price their products accordingly

I'm thinking, it's from BB?