Just hours earlier, I attended the BlackBerry 10 Launch Party for the Singapore market.
Granted, there was not really anything new to unveil at this event, since we have pretty much seen it all on the 30th January global launch event. Still, it is nice to finally have an official date in which consumers in Singapore can get their hands on their own BlackBerry Z10. The date is March 7th.
Of course this did not come as a surprise to most of us at the event, as earlier in the day, all 3 of our local carriers opened up their pre-order/registration of interest website for consumers. The date March 7th already appeared there. Which of course once my carrier started taking pre-orders, i ordered my own Z10 in Black. Arranging delivery for the earliest date I could get it, 7th March.
Anyway, back to the event. I already have a quick summary of the event posted up on ourberries.com, so i shall not go into detail all the stuff that happened, like I normally do for these events. Instead, perhaps simply my thoughts about the event. (forgive me for the lack of imagery as i was not equipped with a image capturing device)
Thoughts:
I felt that the event went pretty smoothly. People seem to be having fun and enjoying themselves. Of course including myself. It was a great event to catch up with friends I made during past events, and of course make new friends.
The general vibe of the event seemed positive. Evident by the hashtag used during the event #BB10SG. Tweets from fans was streamed live and it was pretty encouraging to read them.
Of course, amongst the people I spoke to there are still skeptics. But overall most seemed to be impressed by BlackBerry’s effort. I can’t say that I completely disagree with the skeptics at this point. To elaborate, a crucial app is still missing. Whatsapp. In Singapore, people seem to be pretty reliant on whatsapp for communication, and understandably so, as it is a popular cross-platform instant messaging (IM) client. At this point of time, there is still no timeframe given regarding the released of Whatsapp for BB10. The only thing we know, is that it is coming. We just do not know when. Even though my friends and family use Whatsapp to communicate as well, I am still not that reliant on it, and could live with a few months without it (or perhaps living with an Android port).This can be a real deal-breaker for some though.
After the event a friend messaged me and asked me about Z10. He expressed interest in it months back and we had a great chat discussing various platforms. So naturally I had to inform him about the app situation, particularly Whatsapp. I did not want him to buy the device, only to end up frustrated with it as it lacks the apps he wants. Whatsapp is a deal-breaker for him. I simply told him to wait for a while before buying it to see if there are any updates from developers.
I can’t stress enough on the importance of apps. The importance of wooing, and retaining valuable developers onto the platform. Last May, BlackBerry, the company formerly known as RIM issued a press release about partners for BB10. In the article, Endomondo (an app that I use a lot to track my workouts) was cited as giving their support for BB10. Almost 10 months, and a device launch later… Nada. Naught. Zilch. I found a tweet by them last December, saying NO support is planned for BlackBerry 10. What the hell happened?
sigh.
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Hands-on:
Other than my rant above, I did get a chance to play with the devices for a good amount of time. The gestures took a while to get used to, but quickly became second nature. The OS felt fluid and smooth the time that I had tested it. Though some quirks became apparent soon after as mentioned by various reviewers and people who have the device. I really hope that BlackBerry are reading these comments and working on updates already to fix them. Continue to enhance the OS with more features (particularly some that were left out from BBOS 7 like custom profiles for different apps for example), things that people are asking for.
Next, I did get to try out the camera. Despite the room being dimly lit, it took a pretty decent photo. Not the best I have seen from a mobile device, but definitely still pretty decent in my opinion. Time shift works pretty well too, with the edited photo showing no signs of manipulation.
The hardware feels absolutely fantastic in my opinion as well. The battery door for the Black model feels grippy and great to hold in the hand. The size of the device is great for one-hand ease of use similar to iPhone. I don’t exactly have large hands but am able to use the phone comfortably with one hand (since my other hand was holding a glass of red wine).
The predictive input for the keyboard seemed pretty good too. One of the best virtual keyboard that I have used before.
Overall, I was glad I ordered my Z10 and I can’t wait for it to arrive. Despite knowing its shortcomings, the feature it provides are worth the compromises to me. It is worth being an early adopter, worth waiting for apps to come, worth living with some initial bugs. I get to enjoy the unified inbox i loved so much from older BBOS devices, along with a great browser running LTE.
For a brand new operating system, it feels even more feature-rich than the Windows Phone 7.8 Lumia 800 that I have. Which is a pretty darn impressive job.
For now, after more than half a bottle of red wine, its time to end this long post and call it a night.
The date March 7th is marked in my calendar. Without a doubt after I get the device, I shall post more detailed thoughts about it. Perhaps even a comparison with the Nexus 4 I have with me.
Ciao.
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