BlackBerry 10 review

BlackBerry 10 is an operating systems for smartphones from BlackBerry. It’s a completely new platform, designed by BlackBerry to take on other smartphones using software such as iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8.

It has all the features you might expect: BlackBerry 10 offers phone, text, email and IM. Voice control, photography, media playback. BlackBerry 10 offers apps, music, movies and more. 

BlackBerry 10 is focussed on multi-tasking and messaging, as you might expect from a company with such a strong history in business communications. But it is also intended to attract consumers – BlackBerry 10 gets its apps from BlackBerry World, and out of the gate that app store has 70,000 apps, and music and movie offerings. Indeed, phones running BlackBerry 10 are designed to separate work from play.

We took BlackBerry 10 for a spin on the BlackBerry Z10 handset.

BlackBerry Hub and messaging

BlackBerry first made popular the concept of the mobile communications device, comprising phone and emailer. Indeed, for a while ‘BlackBerry’ was the generic term for any email-enabled phone. Then in 2007 Apple launched the iPhone and suddenly everything changed: a smartphone had to be a fun gadget as well as an efficient business tool.

BlackBerry 10 brings in all the modern smartphone features you would expect, but it remains a killer messaging platform.

How it looks

This is, of course, subjective. To our eyes BlackBerry 10 looks good. It is colourful and bright – on the Z10 at least. It looks modern and businesslike, but is recognisably a BlackBerry OS. The fonts are classic BlackBerry, for instance. The background is a blue gradient, and apps sit on opaic boxes which are also shaded in a gradient. In this case a gradient of grey.

One criticism we do have can also be levelled at Windows Phone 8: in our view the animations take too long, and give BlackBerry 10 the impression of being less snappy than it probably is. It used to be a problem with Android, too. It’s a small thing, and it may be just us, but we found it irritating over a period of use.

Keyboard

BlackBerry is good at keyboards. Indeed, one of its first BlackBerry 10 products is the Q10 – a smartphone with a physical keyboard. And the onscreen touch keyboard within BlackBerry 10 is impressive – it’s certainly a big improvement over onscreen keyboards of BlackBerry phones of the past.

The big step forward is the next word prediction. As you type words appear on the silver bars that sit like guitar frets between the rows of keys. These spacers create a sense of, well, space, meaning typing feels less cramped. The suggested words are pretty small and – frankly – hard to hit without training. But they learn from your typing as you learn to hit them so the more you use this keyboard the quicker you’ll get.

BlackBerry World – apps and media

At the BlackBerry 10 launch event BlackBerry said that there are 70,000 apps in the new BlackBerry World app and media store, and that all major movie and music labels will be supporting the platform with media sales. It also said that all major apps are there, or will be, including Skype, Kindle and Angry Birds. This was… how can I put this?.. disengenuous.

Skype and Kindle may be coming, but they aren’t there yet. Neither is YouTube, although BlackBerry 10 comes with a native YouTube ‘app’ it is merely a shortcut to the mobile website.

Apps is going to be a huge challenge for BlackBerry 10. It is unlikely ever to catch Android or iOS in terms of sheer numbers of apps, but it needs to provide the main ones. The announcement suggests this is in hand and BlackBerry is not using the Windows Phone 8 argument that Responsive Design and HTML 5 will mean apps become less important than mobile websites.

There are a lot of apps in BlackBerry World. We could install BBC iPlayer, for instance. And the pay-for apps such as Angry Birds Star Wars are cheap – around 75p seemed standard.

The media selection seemed pretty good too. A large selection of music albums from big name artists is available from around £5 (Coldplay) through £8 (Rihanna) to £10.50 (Mumford and Sons – I know, where do they get off?)

And there are movies that you can rent or buy, although with similar inconsistency over price. It is a strange world in which Best Exotic Marigold Hotel costs £8.99 to buy and Prometheus £15.99 to buy and £3.99 to rent.

Browser

The BlackBerry Browser in BB10 is a typically cut-down mobile web browser. It has its URL bar at the bottom, like the mobile version of IE10. We’ve read reports that Flash support is built in, but in our tests when we were faced with Flash video a warning message told us we needed to install Adobe’s software. And there is no Flash app in BlackBerry World.

We tested the BlackBerry Browser’s Javascript speeds in the SunSpider 0.9.1 Benchmark, and the Z10 turned in a slow time of 2085.ms (other test runs were closer to 1700ms). This is slower than the iPhone 5, Lumia 920 and Nexus 4. It’s worth pointing out that this is not a test of web-browsing speed, and we found the BlackBerry 10 browser plenty zippy enough.

Camera app

The BlackBerry 10 camera app is up there with the best on modern smartphones. You launc the camera by hiting an icon at the bottom of every home page, or the lock screen. You can take a picture by tapping anywhere in shot, and options include selecting the aspect ratio, using auto flash or manually switching the flash on and off, as well as scene modes.

There’s also a feature called ‘Time Shift’. This takes multiple shots of a person, allowing you to zero in on their head and select the best smile. You can do this for multiple people in the same shot. It works well, but is very similar to Best Face on Samsung phones and Smart Shot on Nokia’s Lumia phones.

One problem with this OS is the amount of space it demands. On our 16GB BlackBerry Z10 no fewer than 4GB were taken up by the OS. That’s twice as much as Windows Phone 8 – our previous hog of the year.

We’re also disappointed that you can’t ‘see’ BlackBerry 10 phones as storage devices when they are attached to Windows PCs via USB. We love the way that Android lets you chuck music and video files into your phone.

Blackberry (formerly known as Research in Motion) CEO Mr. Thorsten Heins announced the company’s name change right after the Blackberry 10 launch ceremony.

Mr. Heins said “We want to be one brand. One brand that is recognized all around the world. We have reinvented this company and we want to reflect this in the brand. Saying we have reinvented this company is not enough. We decided to build our own OS, not use someone else’s”.

Source: Carly Page, The Inquirer

RIM needs to build energy and enthusiasm around their new product line, while playing down the unfortunate setbacks current BlackBerry owners will feel. That’s going to be an enormous challenge as the company lays it all on the line on Wednesday. To survive, they need to take a page from Apple’s playbook.

RIM, after all, is playing Apple’s game.

RIM has a lot in common with Apple.

The best public enthusiasm around a product is accompanied by mystery. People need to a feel a sense of anticipation around a launch day. They need to feel like something amazing will be announced that even the best blogs didn’t see coming. They need to feel like a company is really pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Mystery and secrecy are what drives those emotions.

Apple has turned this into a fine science. Small leaked details on niche blogs precede the lavish keynote address at Apple’s headquarters. The company routinely then offers a “one more thing” moment, where a new product is updated, an extra feature is announced or a previously rumoured product is revealed to be true. The “one more thing” — coined by former CEO Steve Jobs — has become an iconic marketing tactic for the company as a tactic to push fan enthusiasm up to 11 when it’s only starting to break past 8.

RIM has a lot in common with Apple.

RIM is one of the few consumer electronics firms on the planet that supports the Apple ideology of manufacturing both hardware and software for cutting edge products. It’s lofty. It’s challenging. Up until about 2010, RIM and Apple both played that game well. Then RIM got left behind.

A year of delays and poorly-received product launches forced RIM’s hand way too early in the game, denying them that “one more thing” moment at Wednesday’s event.

RIM’s antiquated operating system could not come close to supporting the applications that iOS and Android products could boast. Its security was top-notch, but expensive and unable to appeal to mass-market consumers more interested in glossy touch screens and simple games.

So RIM got to work on BB10. The latest iteration of the BlackBerry operating system will finally bring that company in line with what iOS and Android already offer the majority of the world’s smartphone systems. But a year of delays and poorly-received product launches forced RIM’s hand way too early in the game, denying them that “one more thing” moment at Wednesday’s event.

The BlackBerry Playbook was a disaster. Failure to ship with native email and calendar functions, requiring it to be paired with a BlackBerry, immediately alienated most of the tablet-buying public. Then delays in BB10, forcing its release back almost a full year, further convinced investors and smartphone buyers the company was in trouble.

As RIM’s stock price plummeted in 2012. By July of 2012, their stock price was down 85% from 2011. By September, the company had to give investors and the public something to chew on just to maintain their credibility in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.

This is where they went wrong.

Instead of leaking details to tech media and letting them filter into mainstream media, they held a lavish keynote four months before product launch.

The event succeeded. Share prices rose. Tech bloggers were impressed. Public sentiment increased.

Then Apple released a new iPhone. Google released a new Android phone. Microsoft launched a new Windows phone and accompanying tablet. RIM, suddenly, had an announcement with no product. They were once again in catch-up mode.

Today, RIM has a four-month old announcement and a feature set that is generally well-regarded by reviewers, but accepted by consumers paying attention. Their brand is once again shockingly behind the rest of the industry. If they don’t have anything new to offer the faithful, the entire event will be considered a disappointment.

RIM’s core product became known as the “Crackberry” and was the dominant force on the planet because they pushed the limits of technology, integrated their software with their hardware and effectively marketed to consumers. Along the way they lost that pulse, and Apple picked it up.

RIM is playing in Apple’s court now. But they forgot to learn the new rules of the game.

If CEO Thorstein Heins doesn’t have a “one more thing” moment on Wednesday, BlackBerry could very well be dead in the water by that evening.

[ooyala code="FiaWl0ODoAoDsR2VVvWRbyILj2IFOvmu" image="http://ak.c.ooyala.com/FiaWl0ODoAoDsR2VVvWRbyILj2IFOvmu/promo183666054" title="Can RIM make a comeback with BlackBerry 10?" ]

“There was a point there where RIM said they were thinking about getting out of BBM,” John Boynton, chief marketing officer at Rogers Communications Inc., recalls. “We said, ‘No, no! We think it’s great.’”

[np_storybar title="RIM CEO Heins draws praise after first year, but biggest test remains" link="http://business.financialpost.com/2013/01/21/rim-ceo-heins-draws-praise-after-first-year-but-biggest-test-remains/"]Analysis: Only the rollout and eventual success or failure of BlackBerry 10 will define Thorsten Heins’s tenure as the company’s CEO.

Continue reading.
[/np_storybar]

It was the early 2000s and Rogers’ growing employee base had become hooked on the service it was supposed to be selling, becoming the single largest organization using BlackBerry Messenger in the world, the executive said.

BBM, which glided into the all-important consumer segment more easily than BlackBerry as a whole (as popular with teens as with lawyers), is set for a major facelift in a matter of days when the company launches its epoch-shifting new operating platform, BB10.

Not surprisingly, RIM shares a long history with Canadian carriers, which RIM executives say is being relied on for a successful launch.

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Among operators here perhaps the most important is the country’s largest. Rogers was the first in the world to commercially go to market with the technology giant’s early devices more than a decade ago: boxy, rectangular handsets with pixelated icons that sent emails to one another.

“It’s a great Canadian story. A couple of guys [former co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis] in Kitchener had this paging technology on these little square devices,” Mr. Boynton says, admitting that at first, it was a “tough sell.”

BlackBerry in many ways got its start with these wonderful relationships we have with the Canadian carriers

It took RIM half a decade, between 1999 and 2004, to amass its first million users. Early clients were at first confounded by the technology, writing it off as glorified paging. That would change rapidly.

RIM’s second million came in a matter of months. Then came a crush of orders from Canadian and U.S. corporate and government departments. The company’s secure and stable software had hit an inflection point by late 2004, with so-called enterprise users igniting RIM’s surge into a global powerhouse.

At home, the BlackBerry’s sudden rise catapulted Rogers over competitors BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. in the enterprise market, establishing both the carrier and RIM as the unparalleled wireless service of choice for corporate Canada and government — a crucial success story RIM was able to leverage with larger carriers the world over; “See the success Rogers is having with us? You can too!”

RIM has grown its subscriber base to 79 million since.

And while RIM’s fortunes have changed markedly, Canadian carriers are once again playing a critical role in the company’s product launch.

Andrew MacLeod, RIM’s country director for Canada, said in a recent interview that RIM is banking on “strong and healthy” relationships with Rogers, BCE, Telus and regional carriers Wind, Videotron and Mobilicity to heavily promote the new product line.

“BlackBerry in many ways got its start with these wonderful relationships we have with the Canadian carriers,” the executive said.

Sheer economics are also playing an important role. Canadian carriers, like others in mature mobile markets like the United States, often cover a portion of the upfront costs on devices in exchange for customer’s signing multi-year contracts. A resurgent RIM will help lower device costs as the firm competes for carrier orders with Apple and handset makers supporting Google’s Android platform.

“I think the Canadian carriers, much like many other carriers around the world, are looking at the evolving smartphone [operating system] landscape, I think it’s very much in their interest to see a very strong and viable, diverse ecosystem,” Mr. MacLeod said. “In order to achieve that, you need multiple players. So it’s in their interest to ensure that the BlackBerry OS continues to be very strong.”

Whether RIM can execute on a turnaround and begin to reclaim lost ground and market share pivots on a successful early launch in Canada and elsewhere, analysts say. If the early uptake is there, it could trigger a self-reinforcing barrage of marketing at the carrier level to capitalize on the pent-up demand until it’s exhausted.

“If they [carriers] see strong interest in the first few days or weeks of launch, some positive uptake whether it’s consumer or enterprise, they’ll put more resources behind it to move RIM back up the pecking order,” Jeff Fan, telecom analyst at Scotia Capital said.

“Our BlackBerry customers continue to want to upgrade to another BlackBerry. And interest in BB10 is very high,” Rogers’ Mr. Boynton said. “There’s a combination of intent and awareness, that’s a decent sign.”

Today is an exciting day indeed; not only is it SNOWING, but my blog is now available in app. form for your mobile!!! I’m a huge fan of BlackBerry, though I only converted about a year ago when I started working for them and was given my first BB. Nowadays, I no longer work for the company but still love their products and cannot wait for the launch of BB10 later this month.

Anyway, I digress… the point of this post is to tell you that if you are a BB lover like me, you can now download my blog as an app. on your BB so you can catch up with my ramblings super easily when you are on the move The app. is free and all you need to do is go to the BlackBerry App. Store, search 20 Something Freak and there you will find it. I’ve downloaded it already and I love it, I hope you do too!

Happy reading my little snow angels!!! x

BGR

To read the rest of the article, click here.

RIM gave us a brief peek at the BlackBerry 10 virtual keyboard during the BlackBerry World, showing off both the look of the ‘board as well as the ability to swipe up on a predicted word to insert it into a message. Today RIM has posted a new video that goes a bit more in-depth on the software QWERTY found on its new platform. Vivek Bhardwaj, Head of Software Portfolio at RIM, spends some time in the video discussing the look of the keyboard, including the BlackBerry “frets” and the white, capitalized letters set against a black background. Bhardwaj also said that the next word suggestions of the keyboard are personalized to a user’s vocabulary.

Another new keyboard feature that Bhardwaj talks up is space inference. This gives the keyboard the ability to recognize when a user misses the space key while typing multiple words and then automatically insert spaces where it believes they should be included.

While there have been BlackBerry smartphones with software keyboards in the past, such as the Torch 9800 and 9850, the virtual QWERTY on those devices weren’t considered to be particularly strong, especially compared to the ‘boards on competing platforms. It looks like RIM is trying to change that with BlackBerry 10 by focusing quite a bit of effort on its new software keyboard. Considering that RIM’s first BlackBerry 10 handset will be a touch-only model, just like most other smartphones released nowadays are, that’s probably a smart move. You can check out the BlackBerry 10 keyboard demo below.

Source: Inside BlackBerry

The split-screen feature allows customers to talk and text at the same time, so for example, they can send a picture to their contact while talking with them. They can also check other BBM text chats, check email, or navigate to other apps while engaged on a BBM voice call. BBM provides a visual indicator that shows when contacts are available for a voice call. This is recent development but what when it comes to Whatsapp? It’s known as an amazing SMS replacement app! Recently dated 23rd Aug. 2012 WhatsApp announced new hits record with 10 billion total messages in one day, in which 4 billion outbound messages sent, and 6 billion messages received. I must call it “SMS/MMS Killer”. Viber, acts as SMS replacement + audio calls. These applications provide delivery, read reports & last seen status of the recipient. With Viber providing audio calls Blackberry introduced voice calls on Wi-Fi for their devices having OS 6 and above by saying that it’s won’t work on 3G? Surely they had taken care of mobiles operators worldwide but even Wi-Fi calls would affect mobile operators because most of us connect BB in Wi-Fi zones. It’s beginning of another competition.

With operating system like IOS, Android, Windows, Symbian introducing & improving upon features, mobile operators would be forced to act? In what sense but? Whether they would appeal for cancellation of number portability? Or they would increase processing fee on new connections? Or they would hike changes of 3G/4G data plans? Seems that upcoming time would be more challenging for mobile operators worldwide, not due to competition among themselves but due to technological changes happening globally!

But who bought these tremendous technological changes into? Can’t be a mobile operator itself! It can’t be a cell manufacturer also. Yes!! But can be an OS which was named as Android (means- Robot “आदमी के समान”). It was initially developed by Android Inc, whom Google financially backed and later purchased in 2005, it was unveiled in 2007. The first Android-powered phone was sold in October 2008and by the end of 2010 Android had become the world’s leading Smartphone platform, overtaking Symbian (Nokia) which held the record previously. It had a worldwide Smartphone market share of 75% during the third quarter of 2012 with 500 million devices activated and 1.3 million activations per day. Application of the operating system has also moved beyond mobile phones and tablets, currently televisions, notebooks and cameras are some of the types of devices Android is featured in.

With Nokia suffered from “Marketing Myopia”, Blackberry, Apple follow Competitor array but could not meet it 100%, instead defining industry, scope & nature of the industry they involved in determining their competitors, They lacked focus on determining their customers & what benefits they expect, what the key success factors are in your industry. Samsung had lost $1.05bn in a patent related issue against Apple but does it cost a big loss to Samsung? Not really. Instead they are on way to improve their market share & are going to introduce their window based version of smart phone, Tab, Smart PC & Laptop. The designs & features are world class, good enough to compete with Apple’s Mac book & BB Tab.

These are implications of 360 degree & research which made Samsung so huge in smart phone market. Wish competition stay on & one day we’d’ say Good Bye to mobile calls!!

Research In Motion announced on Monday that it will hold its BlackBerry 10 launch event on January 30th, 2013. The event will happen simultaneously in multiple countries around the world. This day will mark the official launch of its new platform – BlackBerry 10, as well as the unveiling of the first two BlackBerry 10 smartphones. Details on the smartphones and their availability will be announced at the event.

“In building BlackBerry 10, we set out to create a truly unique mobile computing experience that constantly adapts to your needs. Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities. All of this will be integrated into a user experience – the BlackBerry Flow – that is unlike any smartphone on the market today,” said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research In Motion.

“Thanks to our strong partnerships with global carriers and a growing ecosystem of developers, we believe our customers will have the best experience possible with BlackBerry 10. We are looking forward to getting BlackBerry 10 in the hands of our customers around the world.”

BlackBerry 10 will offer a large catalog of the leading applications from across the globe and across all categories, including Games, Productivity, Social, Lifestyle and Leisure, Multimedia and Published Content, as well as applications designed for business and enterprise use.

The BlackBerry 10 platform has recently achieved FIPS 140-2 certification, which means that government agencies will be able to deploy BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 as soon as it is available. This marks the first time BlackBerry products have been certified ahead of their launch. In addition, RIM recently announced that BlackBerry 10 smartphones have now entered more than 50 carrier labs with many more entries expected in the coming weeks.

Some key features of the new BlackBerry 10 devices already unveiled recently include:

BlackBerry Flow and BlackBerry Hub

BlackBerry Flow is a new user experience that allows seamless navigation across open applications and the BlackBerry Hub. All messages, notifications, feeds, and calendar events come into the BlackBerry Hub and no matter what the user is doing with the device, with a simple gesture, they can peek into the Hub at any time.

BlackBerry Keyboard
The BlackBerry Keyboard learns how you write and adapts to how you type so you can write faster and more accurately, giving you the kind of legendary typing experience that only BlackBerry can deliver.

BlackBerry Balance
BlackBerry Balance offers the most elegant way to satisfy both customer and corporate needs without compromising on either. With BlackBerry Balance, personal apps and information are kept separate from work data, and the customer can switch from their personal to work profile with a simple gesture. The work profile is fully encrypted and secure, enabling organizations to protect their content and applications, while at the same time letting customers get the most out of their smartphone for their personal use.

While RIM has already taken to directly rewarding developers who write for BlackBerry 10 in order to stock up its app catalog, it’s about to offer a slightly stronger incentive for the gaming crowd. An upcoming Got Game Port-a-Thon starting November 16th will give producers $100 for every game successfully ported to the upcoming platform, with the perks climbing the more titles make the leap. Three or more ports net a BlackBerry PlayBook, and the first handful who port five or more get a Dev Alpha device to test their creations in a truly native environment; particularly avid developers porting 10 or more games will even score a trip to the Game Developers Conference this March. The catch, as you’d imagine from the telethon-inspired label, comes from the fixed timeframe. There’s just 36 hours open for submissions once the event starts, which will have most developers scrambling to get their code ready in advance. If RIM gets all its developer ducks in a row, however, we’ll have no shortage of fun (or distractions from work) when the first BlackBerry 10 devices hit the shelves.
MobileSyrup
Inside BlackBerry Developer Blog

www.engadget.com

The BlackBerry-maker said Monday it has been chosen by EnStream, a mobile payment company set up by Canada’s three largest wireless networks, to provide the security infrastructure that would make the technology work at retailers.

The system can be used as a substitute for debit and credit cards at checkouts.

Under the agreement, RIM will manage security credentials for SIM cards in BlackBerrys and devices running both Google’s Android and Windows operating systems.

“RIM is very pleased to play a key role in this Canadian mobile payments solution,” said Canadian managing director Andrew MacLeod.

“For banks and for Canadian consumers, RIM’s (technology) is designed to make payment with your smartphone both seamless and secure. Whether you’re filling your gas tank, picking up a coffee, or buying groceries, making a purchase will be as simple as tapping your smartphone.”

EnStream is a joint venture set up between BCE Inc.’s Bell (TSX:BCE), Rogers (TSX:RCI.B) and Telus (TSX:T) specifically to manage mobile payment technology, which also includes gift cards, and loyalty rewards programs.

Aside from its mobile phone hardware business, RIM also owns technology for secure payments between consumers and retailers on mobile devices.

Newer BlackBerry smartphones, including the latest models in stores, have the ability to make mobile payments as do some phones using the Android operating system. The new iPhone 5, however does not have Near Field Communication short-range wireless technology to link to credit card information.

EnStream chief operating officer Almis Ledas said the company will have to wait until the next model of iPhone, likely due sometime next year, before it will be able to consider supporting encrypted payments on an Apple device.

“We intend to support the global platform standard for handset connectivity and if the iPhone has a Near Field Communication capability we’ll support it — if it doesn’t, there’s not much we can do about it,” Ledas said.

In the meantime, Rogers (TSX:RCI.B) and CIBC already have announced they will launch Canada’s first mobile payments system later this year, giving Canadians the ability to pay with their credit card using a smartphone.

Last month, Rogers CEO Nadir Mohamed said the company is also awaiting approval from the federal Finance Department for a credit card that would be available to its 9.4 million subscribers. It made the application just over a year ago.

Mobile phone payments are considered one of the next waves of wireless technology in North America, driven by the growing number of credit cards, rewards programs and identification that many people carry.

Mohamed suggested the average Canadian carries 22 plastic cards in his wallet.

RIM has been working on other forms of encryption for its next generation of BlackBerry smartphones that will allow them to double as access badges for buildings with secure entry systems in place.

The company is preparing to launch its new BlackBerry 10 operating system and BlackBerry devices early next year, after numerous delays, though a specific launch date hasn’t been set. A touch screen version of the smartphone is expected to debut first, followed by a keypad variation of the device.

Last week, the company sent out an invitation to some of Ottawa’s key government officials for a sneak peek at the new BlackBerry operating system. The event is designed to drum up excitement on Parliament Hill where the BlackBerry remains the dominant phone.

RIM shares gained six cents to $7.75 in trading Monday morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

A leaked specs sheet details the BlackBerry Laguna for Verizon, an L-series device (those are the touch-only ones) that seems to be the CDMA version of the oft-leaked BlackBerry London.

According to this sheet, the Laguna will pack a 4.2” screen with the non-standard 1280 x 768 resolution (only the dev units and the London are supposed to use this one instead of 720p). The pixel density works out to the impressive 355ppi.

The phone will be powered by a dual-core Krait CPU and feature 1GB RAM (Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset), the same that powers the upcoming crop of WP8 flagship devices. Other specs on the BlackBerry Laguna include LTE (with GSM 2G and 3G for roaming), dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n with mobile hot-spot and Wi-Fi direct, NFC and microHDMI port.

Then there’s an 8MP camera capable of shooting 1080p video, 16GB of built-in storage and a hot-swappable microSD card. An 1800mAh battery is set to power the whole thing.

We’ve already had a look at what BlackBerry OS 10 is like from the Beta 3 demos, but these leaked tutorials give even more detail on the new touch gestures.