The BlackBerry Q10 launched in January this year, along with the BlackBerry Z10 but the company's latest operating system, BlackBerry 10, did not receive a lot of attention at the launch event. However, now the QWERTY handset will make it to various Canadian carriers starting May 1.
The BlackBerry Q10 is the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone to feature the traditional BlackBerry QWERTY Keyboard and the handset will be available in Canada starting May 1 on Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility and TELUS. The BlackBerry Q10 combines the power of the BlackBerry 10 platform with a large and re-engineered physical keyboard, along with a touchscreen display. The handset will be the largest-ever BlackBerry QWERTY smartphone.
"We're thrilled that the BlackBerry Q10 will soon be available to Canadians," Andrew MacLeod, managing director for Canada, said. "The new BlackBerry Q10 combines the power of BlackBerry 10 with a classic BlackBerry keyboard to help people communicate and collaborate faster and more efficiently. We're seeing strong momentum behind BlackBerry 10 from carriers, customers and partners around the world. The BlackBerry Q10 will accelerate this trend."
The press release also announced that the BlackBerry Q10 will be available from Rogers, Bell and TELUS at a price tag of $199.99 on a three-year contract. The handset will also be available on Virgin Mobile Canada, Fido, Koodo Mobile and Sasktel, and available in select retail locations, including Best Buy, Future Shop, TBooth Wireless, The Source, Walmart Canada and WIRELESSWAVE.
Along with a QWERTY keyboard, the BlackBerry Q10 will sport a 3.1-inch 720p touchscreen, a 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4470 processor, 2GB of RAM, NFC, a microSD slot and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Interestingly, reports indicate that the BlackBerry Q10 is priced higher than the company's all-touch flagship BlackBerry Z10. In the world of bigger screens and all-touch devices we will have to wait and see if the BlackBerry Q10 is able to make an impression on mobile phone buyers.
