iPhone 5s romour

Apple iPhone 5S release date, features, price and rumours :

The Apple iPhone 5S release date could be as soon as September 2013, with the phone tipped to feature a fingerprint scanner, NFC, Full HD and different colours 

 

When it comes to smartphones, the first few months of 2013 moved the proverbial goalposts.Android handsets flourished with Full HD screens, aluminium or glass unibodies and every feature under the sun.

Apple’s iPhone 5 has been on the scene for a while now but its thunder is in danger of being stolen by the Android Army.

The question we all want to know is what will Apple do next? With Cupertino updating the iPad 3 just months after releasing it, there are reports that aniPad Mini 2 or even an Apple TV could be on the way.

What we know for sure though, is that the company will want to reclaim its smartphone crown. So, T3 has gathered together everything we know about the rumoured iPhone 5S.

Apple iPhone 5S production shots and specs

News reported on 9 to 5 Mac shows what appears to be production shots and specs of the new iPhone 5S. The site says the specs and shots are unverified but "don’t seem out of the realm of possibility".

According to the leaked specs, the iPhone 5S include an NFC reader, a Fingerprint Reader, a 4-inch 1136 × 640 display and a new 12 megapixel backside camera with dual LED flash. The new handset also allegedly boasts 2GB of RAM, a quad-core SGX 554MP4 GPU, an A6 CPU and improved LTE. It also has a bigger battery than its predecessor.

The pictures on the site, it they are to be believed, show that the 5S has identical casing to the iPhone 5.

Apple iPhone 5S casing

A range of leaked images have poured onto the net showing brightly coloured devices reported to be the so-called iPhone Light. French website NoWhereElseposted the images that share similar physical traits to the iPod Nano.

Its exterior is said to be plastic polycarbonate and much more economical to build suggesting that Apple are aiming at a younger target market or at least consumers with less disposable income.

The devices come in blue, green, yellow, red and white yet Apple unsurprisingly has remained quiet on the subject with nothing being confirmed. Leaked schematics and blueprints also report that the Light is a bit thicker and wider than the iPhone 5.

With two types of chasis being leaked one could come to the conclusion that Apple might retain the same metal design for the iPhone 6 whilst the iPhone 5S will now come sporting this cheaper plastic body

Up until now, Apple hasn’t strayed from the white/black colour scheme for its phones but Topeka Capital Research analyst Brian White has said he believes that along with different colours, the iPhone 5S may arrive in different sizes.

This appears to be backed up by Japanese tech site Macotakara which also believes the iPhone 5S will have three extra colours added to the black or white standard.

If Apple launched three models, for example with 3.5-inch, 4-inch and 5-inch screens, it would allow the company to grab both premium and budget customers.

However, this could be more of a plan for the iPhone 6 with Apple surely looking to compete with the larger handsets out there like the Galaxy Note 2 and the Xperia Z Ultra. At the bare minimum, we’d expect to see a better camera (although don’t expect ultrapixels, HTC One-style) and a faster processor.

Apple iPhone 5S specs

When it comes to the specs of the next iPhone, at the very least we expect Apple to use the A6X chip currently found in the latest iPad. However, the latest rumours suggest Apple could be working on an A7 chip for the forthcoming iPad 5.

In years gone by, Apple has previously worked with Samsung to produce processors for it's iPhone range. But, given the recent legal tussels between the two companies, many speculate that Apple will want to distance itself from the Korean company. Some rumours have hinted at an Intel chip being included in the next iteration of the iPhone.

Some purported images of iPhone 5S prototypes appear to show a change in the hardware configuration that suggests Apple is moving things around to make space for a bigger battery or extra features such as NFC.

Apple famously decided to withhold NFC for the iPhone 5 and since both theSamsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy S4 have arrived toting the new connectivity, Apple may want to incorporate it this time around.

Recent reports from Taiwan and tech website NFC World indicate that manufacturer Chipbond has won a major contract to build components for the iPhone 5S - including NFC. What's more, other rumours suggest that Apple will go further and include a fingerprint scanner in the iPhone 5S, adding in extra security.

In terms of storage, there is the strong possibility of Apple launching a new phone with 128GB storage – similar to the latest iPad upgrade.

Meanwhile Jeffries analyst Peter Misek told Business Insider that he believes the iPhone 5S will feature a “Super HD screen” along with a range of colours similar to the iPod Touch range. Considering all the top Android handsets feature Full HD displays, we reckon its unlikely Apple will launch the iPhone 5S with anything less than a 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution.

Apple iPhone 5S camera

It’s well known that one of the key battlegrounds of smartphone warfare is the specifications of the on-board camera. The Sony Xperia Z and Galaxy S4 arrived sporting 13MP cameras while HTC upset the apple cart by including a 4MP “ultrapixel” camera into its HTC One handset.

Apple has consistently upped the camera specs in each of its models and its no stretch to think that the company will do the same for the iPhone 5S. According to iLounge, Cupertino isn’t planning to go down the HTC route and will instead launch the 5S with a 13MP camera – putting it in league with the Sony and Samsung handsets.

Of course, hardware is only half the story and if Apple can come up with some killer in-house apps to take advantage of the camera in new ways it will give them a good start on the competition.

Apple iPhone 5S pictures

A few interesting pictures have leaked out onto the web regarding the iPhone 5S. One of the first to emerge was the back of an unspecified type of iPhone that was leaked to Nowhereelse.fr.

There’s not much to go on here, but – as expected – the casing and design looks almost identical to the iPhone 5. Tellingly though, the serial numbers underneath the iPhone moniker aren’t listed.

While it would certainly fit with the design of the current iPhone it doesn't yet confirm whether the 5S will come in a range of colours - much like it did with the iPod Touch - or whether the company will simply stick to the black/white variants.

This second image (pictured at the start of this article) apparently shows stripped-down iPhone 5S casing next to a current iPhone 5 teardown image. The snap was initially uploaded to iPhone4Parts and looks very similar to Apple’s current design – except with a few screws lost along the way.

Apple iPhone 5S release date

Plenty of sources have weighed in with opinions on when the iPhone 5S and the overriding good news is that it appears to be sooner rather than later. For the most part, the majority of rumours hinged on late summer as the likely date for the new phone.

Business Insider recently came across reports that the new iPhone 5S will be enter production in June 2013. Manufacturers like Sharp, LG and JapanDisplay are said to be constructing displays for the new hanset and the actual device itself may arrive in "the Fall".

This would be in line with Apple's announcement at WWDC 2013 where the company unveiled its new mobile operating system iOS

Still, fingers crossed, eh? 

Sales slump

Microsoft Surface sales slump :

Micorsoft shares have slumped 7 per cent as the Software giant has admitted that poor Surface tablet sales have cost it $900 million

It's been just under a year since Microsoft unleashed its Surface tablet on the world, and the world, it seems, has been rather luke warm in its response.

The software giant admitted on Thursday in an investor call that the poor sales of its tablet since its launch last year in October have cost the company $900 million in "inventory adjustments". Following this announcement, Microsoft's shares plunged 7 per cent to $33.10 at the end of trading yesterday.

Microsoft's chief financial officer Amy Hood said during the investor call: "We know we must do better. We are confident we are moving in the right direction".

"This journey will take time," she said.

The news comes just days after Microsoft slashed the price for its tablet in the UK by 30 per cent. Gaming website Eurogamer reported that the 32GB Surface will drop from £400 to £279, while the 64GB edition will be sold at £359. Microsoft also announced Surface price cuts in the North American territories.

It's hoped that the recent price drop will encourage Surface sales, which have been lacklustre to say the least. CVG reports that Microsoft produced around 4 million Surface tablets at launch, but have only managed to sell about a quarter of tem.

New Game !!

Call Of Duty Ghosts preview :

Call Of Duty Ghosts marries Activision’s traditional blockbuster action with a palpable sense of restraint. The Gadget Club took a closer look at E3...

Fans of the Call Of Duty are used to seeing the world blow up. Ever since Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the sheer spectacle of this series’ action set pieces has been enough to make the shenanigans of the entire eight seasons of 24 seem plausible.

To wit, COD fans thus far have witnessed the Vietnam War, a nuclear bomb detonated in the Middle East, the destruction of the cities of LA, Paris and New York and World War III. Call Of Duty: Ghosts, then, looks remarkably restrained by comparison. T3 got an exclusive first look at COD Ghosts back when theXbox One was announced, and this time we've been out to E3 for a closer look.

Call Of Duty Ghosts: Plot

The pitch for Call Of Duty: Ghosts is that it’s set in a world where some cataclysmic event has put paid to the USA’s status as a superpower. Players take on the role of some ‘Ghost’ operatives, an elite band of special forces soldiers who are waging a guerrilla war against invading enemies who have landed on what’s left of the USA’s shores.

In the E3 demo of the game, there was no action set piece of the size seen in either the COD Black Ops or Modern Warfare entries in this series. Instead, Call Of Duty Ghosts intimated at the harrowing price the USA had paid in its game with the stunning back drops of smashed highways, crushed buildings and, in one underwater section of the demo, submerged highways filled with rusted cars.

Call Of Duty Ghosts: Dog

In the first part of the reveal, which was named No Man’s Land, we got to see the much-touted gameplay involving the canine member of the Ghost Unit. Players can control a dog named Riley, who can be used as an attacking weapon and a scout.

According to the developers Riley is based on real life SEAL unit dogs that are in the field of war today. He comes a equipped with a  vest that has a camera on it that feed back into a tablet carried by the Ghosts, and he has an ear-piece and a collar with motors in it, so the Ghosts can guide his movements.

Call Of Duty Ghosts: Gameplay 

The other two segments that Infinity Ward demoed at E3 were set in a skyscraper in Venezuela with Ghosts rappelling down the side of it and underwater in the Caribbean.

In all three segments, the most immediately noticeable aspect was how sedate and restrained the action was. Rather than steaming into the fight guns blazing, the Ghosts mostly utilised stealth to obtain their objectives.

Their entire MO revolved around staying hidden, sneaking through their environments and tactically picking off enemies using silenced firearms. In a way it makes sense; after all, in this alternative universe the USA is on the back foot and its troops are in no position to tackle their enemies head on.

It’s a bold move for a franchise that made its name through super-sized action-packed set pieces and over the top firefights.

Call Of Duty Ghosts: Verdict

That sort of high-octane action hasn’t vanished altogether; at one point the Ghosts were seen fleeing from a skyscraper that was shaking with internal explosions. As they made their way across an office foyer, the Ghosts were sent tumbling as the building began to topple like a felled tree.

But for the most part Call Of Duty: Ghosts looks and plays like a stealthier, calmer and altogether more tactical entry in the series and we’re genuinely interested to see how this approach pays off when it’s released.

Call Of Duty Ghosts release date: TBC

Call Of Duty Ghosts price: TBC

Oh yeah ios 7 !!

Apple unveils iOS 7 

Latest version of mobile operating system sports new flat-design; released later this year 

Apple has unveiled iOS 7 after months of speculation.

"iOS 7 is the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone," said CEO Tim Cook, introducing iOS 7. "It's packed with amazing new features, and a stunning new user interface."

The latest version of Apple's mobile operating system represented the biggest change to the look and feel of iOS since the first iPhone launched in 2007.

As anticipated, iOS7 sports a flat-design, with the skudeomorpism of the previous design done away with.

"We wanted to take an experience that people know very well and add to it," Ive explains in a video shown during the keynote event. "We see iOS 7 as defining an important new direction ... and in many ways, a beginning."

The redesign of iOS has reportedly been underway for the last six months since Craig Federighi took over software development for the mobile platform.

Very little of the new operating system resembles the old version of the software. Almost every part of the software has been redesigned.

Among the new features are multiple pages within folders and the introduction of a today view for notification centre.

Apple also showed off its new Control Centre, which offers a quicker and simpler way to control many of the most used settings.

Another major change includes the introduction of a revamped multitasking interface, which is part of the Control Centre. Instead of icons, iOS 7 displays a preview of the screen. It is also smart enough to recognise when you use an app a lot during the day – such as Facebook – and devote more power and processing time to it to keep you updated.

iOS also introduces a raft of small, but all the same useful features, such as a Flashlight built into the device, and AirDrop, allowing you to share files and photos without needing to send them via email or text.

Other small features introduced in the latest version include FaceTime audio, per app VPN and perhaps long overdue, the ability to block people from calling you on the phone and via FaceTime, and sending texts via Message.

Siri sounds more human like in iOS 7. It's also smarter and faster – very much needed with the superior processing available via Google Now. Siri also now has Twitter, Wikipedia, and most interestingly, Bing support.

Apple has also beefed up security on the device, enabling enterprise single sign on support for those of you who used your iPhone in the workplace, and a revamp of find my iPhone that locks the device until you sign in with your Apple ID and password.

Apple has said that the software is still under development at the moment and will be released later on in the year.

PS4 hands on :

Sony PS4 review: Hands-on

The Sony PS4 has made its debut at E3 and T3 was there to get our grubby mitts on it for a game or two. Here are our initial impressions...

Deep in Sony's bunker at E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, T3 spent a good few hours investigating the veritable might of the new PS4.

In a series of demos, we got to grips, quite literally, with the new DualShock 4controller, the PlayStation Camera, the companion iOS and Android app, and a smattering of new titles such as DriveClub, Killzone Shadow Fall and Knack, plus a Play Room demo.

Sony PS4: Controller

The controller itself is sturdy and reassuringly weighty in the palm compared to the always-a-bit-light-for-us DualShock 3, which is interesting as the Xbox Onehas slimmed down just as Sony has homed in on heft. It's not bulky though, and its sleekness is married to an almost textured coating on both the base and dual sticks that helps grip.

Xbox One vs Sony PS4: Next-gen showdown

The dual sticks feel stiffer compared to the PS3's, and while this initially jars, we found with more exposure to them we actually preferred it for accuracy, though it takes some getting used to.

The triggers are now really very trigger-like indeed (although Killzone, rather bizarrely, still doesn't assign them as aim and fire) and their close placement to the shoulder buttons is a good design move that aids quick changes.

Sony PS4: Touch panel

The central touch panel is very responsive when navigating menus and a satisfying click acts as a surrogate Start button in its absence.

We actually really missed Start and Select to, well, start with (how do you pause?!), but the more time you spend with the touch panel, the more you realise what an increasingly exciting addition it is. Indeed, it's as at home replicating a touch screen as it is the movements of a PC trackpad.

On Killzone it brings up a secondary menu of attacks, while on Play Room it was used for everything from throwing things onto the screen to rubbing to interact with on-screen characters to moving on-screen paddles for air hockey. The bridge between smartphone games and the new raft of independent developers that PlayStation's busy pleasing is a very palpable one.

Sony PS4: 10 things you need to know

The motor rumble of the controller and speaker combine to generate some very impressive feedback, though not quite of the standard of the Xbox One's new joypad.

There's no rumble in the triggers here, but there is a real feeling of weight being moved around. At one point in the Play Room, AI bots fill the controller, and you can hear and feel them moving around inside the pad as you manipulate it. Alas, none of the demos used the new Share or Options button so we were unable to test their use.

Sony PS4: Camera

The PlayStation Camera is a bit of a micro-Kinect, following in the best tradition of EyeToy. Like Move, it reads the light bars on the rear of the DualShock 4s so that you can manipulate items on screen with it, but also reads your flailing arms to interact, too.

The resolution is decent if nothing too scary – it doesn't track your expression or engagement, but it can tell if you've covered your eyes (the crowd of AI bots on the demo hushed, before we pulled our hands away and they all cried in a really quite charming game of Peek-a-boo). It will also set your head on fire – virtually, at least – in that AR style that Reality Fighters and its Vita brethren did.

Sony PS4: App 

Even more exciting was the PlayStation companion app, which will be available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets (in this case an Sony Xperia Z tab, obviously) as well as the PS Vita.

This is what the likes of Ubisoft are using in Watch Dogs and The Division as Sony's answer toSmartGlass, but here it was used to draw objects on a very simplified version of art package and literally 'throw' them on to the big screen. It's basic so far, but again, there's real potential there if they can expand the options.

The Play Room, a thoroughly enjoyable tech demo that's not confirmed for any official release, makes great use of the cam and we think Sony would be bonkers not to include as a getting-to-grips-with-the-hardware retail release. Maybe it could be packaged with the PlayStation Camera now Sony has confirmed that omitting that from the PS4 box was a way of keeping the costs down?

Sony PS4: Games

DriveClub is a decent racer with some nice features, although graphically we weren't as blown away as we expected (though the 'Pre-Alpha, 35% complete' sign should explain that). Handling is decent, with a focus on drifting with the shoulder buttons, but the system of Fame points is what is really interesting.

You race in clubs, but as you make your way round the track, independent challenges pop up with headshots of other drivers attached. You then have a variety of durations to better the random opponent – be it cornering, average speed or, yes, drifting – for extra goodies. It certainly keeps you interested, even if you've raced well ahead, and we can only imagine the online integration that will follow.

Sony PS4: Games we want to play right now

Knack is a rather basic combat brawler that has you smashing up scenery and growing your body, Katamari-style, before beating up a succession of bulky henchmen. Some twitchy camera angles aside, it's fun, though very much a 'first wave' title at first glance.

Finally, Killzone Shadow Fall looks rather gorgeous, although, in forests and detailed shrubbery, the particular level we played looked bugger all like typical Killzone.

The sheer number of combat options across triggers, d-pad and touch pad baffled us to the extent that we blew ourselves up twice with a grenade before we knew what was going on, but with persistence we actually killed some people and left intrigued by exactly where the extensive weaponry and drone assistance would take us.

Sony PS4: Verdict

While it's far too early to reach any genuine conclusions on the PS4, what with all games way off completion, few actually playable, the UI and Share features yet to be shown off and the full hardware setup hidden from view, the controller and the implementation of new technology bodes well.

The DualShock 4, for us, is an improvement on its predecessor, more comfy in hand and with a wealth of immersive bells and whistles to see it through years of innovation. The PlayStation Camera is clever and fun rather than intrusive and being removed from the console package to keep the price low makes financial sense, though this could stymy software development focusing on the new tech in the same way Xbox struggled with Kinect support.

First-party launch games at the moment seem decent rather than stunning, yet the potential, in terms of graphical output, is clear, and is already being exploited to a greater degree outside the PlayStation camp, while the nifty companion app hints at greater connectivity than we first suspected. We're eager to try out more.

Sony PS4 release date: November 2013

Sony PS4 price: £349

What!!!!

Xbox 720 now officially known as the Xbox one :

 

For years we've heard about the ever-widening appeal of video games and game-playing devices. Women gamers, senior gamers, casual gamers, and even the kind of social/mobile gamers who would never refer to themselves with the dreaded G word.

But, when it was time to reveal its first major gaming hardware of the post-iPhone era (the first-gen iPhone was released in 2007, the Xbox 360 in 2005), what did Microsoft do? It narrowcast the launch presentation of the Xbox One to a very targeted demographic group. And no, it wasn't the cliched teenage or twentysomething twitch gamer, it was the graying dad demographic that the original Atari 2600/Nintendo Entertainment System generation grew up to be (and some would say they grew up to be grups).

The evidence is clear. The first images of the Xbox One presentation were not of young, overly excited gamer-types straight out of a television commercial casting call, but of graying establishment figures, from Bill Gates to game designer Cliff Bleszinski to J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg (an observation first made by a former EA employee and games writer here).

 

Next came the physical product itself. The actual Xbox One hardware has been described many ways, but I think it's most accurate to call it retro-modernist. The boxy black rectangle with its chrome accents and glossy finish looks more like an '80s/'90s stereo rack component than a modern game console. It might be the type of thing you'd see in the background ofPatrick Bateman's apartment. 

While nearly everyone uses some combination of iPhone, Jambox, and Spotify for music these days, there's an entire generation (or two) of Gen X-ers who still dream of big, shiny, rack-style stereo components, the sort of thing one of my college roommates blew much of his student loan on.

After the introduction of the Xbox One console came the features. Not new games or social media tie-ins, but instead the most basic of all home entertainment functions -- watching television. Is there any group besides the 35-to-45-year-old dad demographic that would really look forward to making their passive on-the-couch viewing experience require even less effort than rooting around for a remote control and pushing a few buttons?

That the onstage example then morphed into sports, ESPN, and overlaying fantasy football content merely sealed the deal, as did a quick hit of online sports video chatting (using Skype, just like at the office!)

From there, we heard about made-for-Xbox video content, with an onscreen cameo from Steven Spielberg and talk about a Halo live-action series (based on a game franchise that started 12 years ago).

By the time we got to actual games, we saw a Forza driving game -- clearly aimed at the same demographic that flips past BBC America hoping to catch a "Top Gear" rerun; and the latest Call of Duty game, certainly a series with cross-generational appeal, but also one that has been pumping out sequels since 2003. In fact, after the Xbox One launch event, these was much grumbling from the gamerati about how they had been essentially ignored by Microsoft (although Microsoft's upcoming E3 video game trade show presentation will no doubt lean more heavily on the games).

But, as brilliant as this dad-first strategy may appear to be, it's still disappointing to see the Xbox One ignore the broadening base of interactive-entertainment consumers. There was essentially nothing for female gamers, nor for social-media gamers, nor the growing demographic of consumers who are slowly eating away at EA, Activision, and the like by spending their time on free-to-play games such as Candy Crush Saga or Fast & Furious 6 on their phones and tablets-- leaving the living-room TV -- and any big, black, glossy boxes attached to it -- free for dad to enjoy.

HTC First Facebook Phone :

Facebook Home on HTC First can be disabled for stock Android : 

HTC and Facebook officially announced the "Facebook Phone," AKA. the HTC First this week and reports show that the device is running stock Android.

According to Phandroid, the HTC First "will not only be the world's first Android device tailored to run Facebook Home, but it's also the first HTC device to run stock Android since the T-Mobile G2.

HTC have confirmed that users have the ability to disable Facebook Home or clear its defaults and run on the stock Android interface.

Stock android means an un-skinned version of Android that comes with stock Android apps like messaging, camera, gallery, stock notification bar etc.

Important to note that the ability to get direct updates from Google is not available, users would need a device such a Nexus handset for that privilege.

Android have created a phone running a UI 'skin,' which in this case is Facebook Home which can be easily disabled and switched to plain 'stock' Android settings.

HTC First will be available on AT&T on 12 April, followed by EE launching it in the UK over summer.

The handset will be available in four colours: red, baby blue, white and black and will feature a 4.3-inch 720p dispaly, 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.6-megapixel front camera, 1GHz dual-core processor, LTE, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, and the pre-loaded Facebook Home.

The Facebook Home application will be also be available for download from other smartphone devices on April 12th.

BlackBerry Z10 smartphone review :

To be honest, I can’t remember the last BlackBerry device that I reviewed. It’s been many years ago and they’ve been off my radar until recently. The announcement of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone caught my eye because of the phone’s good looks. But can this smartphone run with the iOS and Android big dogs, or are the best days of popularity and market share behind them? Verizon Wireless sent me a BlackBerry Z10 loaner device and I’ve been using it exclusively for the past week. Does my Samsung Galaxy S3 have anything to fear? Let’s see.

Note: Images can be clicked to view a larger size.

Hardware specs

Operating system: BlackBerry 10 OS
Processor: Dual Core 1.5 GHz
Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB Flash
Expandable memory: Removable microSD memory card (Up to 32 GB)
Display: 4.2″ 1280 x 768 resolution 356 PPI, 24-bit color depth, 15:9 aspect ratio
Camera: Rear camera 8 megapixel auto-focus camera, Front camera 2 megapixel
Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth: 4.0 Low Energy (LE)
GPS, NFC
HDMI Port: Micro HDMI for connection to your HDTV or projector
Battery: 1800mAH removable battery, Up to 10 hours talk time (3G), Up to 13 days standby time
Size: Height 130 mm / 5.12 in, Width 65.6 mm / 2.58 in, Depth 9 mm / 0.35 in
Weight: 135.4g / 4.78 oz

What’s in the box

BlackBerry Z10 smartphone
USB cable
AC adapter
Quick Reference Guide

Physical design

The Z10 is available in black or white. I was sent the black version which you see above with an iPhone 4S and a Samsung Galaxy S III for a size comparison.

This phone looks very iPhone-like to me due to the squared sides, rounded corners and solid feel in hand.

It’s not too thick and not too thin. Although it’s a similar length and thickness to my SGS3, it feels smaller in my hand.

 

The face of the phone is mostly the display. But there is a band of soft touch Black plastic or metal (not sure which it is) on the top and bottom edges. There are no buttons on the face of the phone, but there is a microphone under the mirrored BlackBerry logo at the bottom edge of the display. The top edge has a speaker, status LED and a front facing camera.

The back of the phone has a soft grippy micro-dimpled cover that is easy to remove for quick access to the battery, microSD card and SIM card slots.

On the left side you’ll find a micro USB port that is used to charge and sync the phone with a computer. There’s also a mini HDMI port, but you’ll have to buy a cable if you want to hook the phone up to your TV.

Separate metal volume buttons with a play/pause/voice control button in the center are located on the right side of the phone. The voice control button can be held down to wake the phone and go straight into the voice control app.

The top edge has a metal power/wake button, 2nd microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The BlackBerry Z10 feels great in hand. It’s solid and has a bit of heft to it that gives it a quality feel. It passes my ever popular Gadgeteer squeeze test with absolutely no flexing, creaking, cracking or whimpering. I love the feel of this device. Especially the grippy back cover which I wish I had for my SGS3.

Display

The display, while small (compared to my SGS3), is very crisp, clear and has vibrant color. It is viewable at almost any angle and is easier to  view outdoors in direct sunlight than most phones I’ve tried.

Since the Z10 uses gestures and swipes for navigation instead of buttons, a sensitive touchscreen is a must. Most of the time I had no problems, but fairly often I did notice some of my touches would go unnoticed.

Making and receiving calls

No complaints here. I did not have any dropped calls or other call issues during my week long use of this phone. Granted I don’t make a lot of calls every day, but no one commented negatively with the way I sounded and I noticed nothing unusual on my end of conversations. Volume levels were adequate for calls with the phone held up to my ear and signal strength seemed on par with other Verizon phones that I’ve used.

Using the Z10 as a speaker phone fared a little worse. Trying to hold a speaker phone conversation in a slightly noisy area was tough as volume didn’t seem to be high enough. Quiet rooms were fine though.

Camera

The Z10 has a pretty good camera that can snap images by tapping the display or by using either volume button as a shutter.

  

The camera interface is easy enough to use, but it took me awhile to figure out that you have to drag the focusing box to the area that you want in focus and then tap the screen a 2nd time to capture the shot. This seemed odd when compared to other phones that will allow you to just tap the area you want in focus and then snap a photo automatically.

There’s built in software that you can use to edit your images by adding filters, cropping, adjusting brightness, sharpness, etc.

System performance and battery life

The Z10 feels snappy loading apps, scrolling through lists, loading web pages, etc. The only noticeable lag problem I really noticed was in booting the phone. Wow, that’s slow. Resetting to default settings is also painfully slow. I know this isn’t an every day task, but I almost thought the phone was bricked because it took about 15 minutes to recover from a hard reset.

Battery life has been pretty good. Better than my SGS3. I was able to get a full day to day and a half with one charge. That was with a couple calls, more than a dozen texts, email checks, a couple games, and other light work.

User interface and software

As I mentioned above, the BlackBerry Z10 doesn’t have a home button or on screen nav buttons. Everything is touch based. That even includes a way to wake up the phone…

 

You can wake up the Z10 by swiping your finger up from the bottom edge of the display. If you swipe halfway up and let go, you’ll see the lock screen which shows the current time, date, next event on your calendar and other notifications for new emails, text messages and other social media.

If you then swipe down from the top edge of the display from the lock screen, you will switch into night mode. Night mode offers a special red on black clock display and alarm options.

 

Swiping all the way from the bottom to the top of the display bypasses the lock screen and takes you to where ever you left off before the phone went idle.

Scrolling left to right allows you to switch from a thumbnail view of currently running apps to an icon view of installed apps. The thumbnail view scrolls vertically to show 8 apps, some even update in real time like the weather app. Whenever you’re in an app and swipe up from the bottom of the display, that app will minimize and will be added to this thumbnail view.

You can bring up the settings for a running app by swiping down from the top of the display.

 

The icon view / list of installed apps looks ugly in my opinion. For one thing, it looks too much like iOS, only way less attractive. I don’t know who had the idea to put the dark shadow boxes behind the icons, but bleh…

BTW, there’s a cool thing about the swipe from bottom to top gesture to go back to the thumbnail view… if you swipe just halfway, you’ll see your email, facebook, texts, etc, notifications on the left side of the display. This gives you a quick way to check if you have new messages.

 

Speaking of notifications, BlackBerry offers what they call the Hub, which consolidates all your incoming communications into one place. It’s a handy feature and can be accessed at anytime by swiping up from the bottom display and to the right… kind of like an upside down L. You’ll probably either like this feature or hate it as it gives you a running list of emails, texts, facebook posts, etc all in one screen.

One thing that I was really surprised and disappointed with the Z10 was how the notifications for unread emails, facebook posts, etc almost never reflected the true counts. That’s because they were never syncing in real time. The shortest sync time that can be used is 15 mins. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with the fact that I use Gmail or if it’s just the way it is, but it makes using the Hub less than useful. Back in the day I recall BlackBerry was faster at receiving / showing new messages than even my desktop PC. Not sure what’s changed.

 

My Gmail for domains account worked fine with the Z10. I would have preferred a dedicated Gmail app though. As is, it doesn’t allow for labels, or stars which is a deal breaker for me.

 

Text messaging with the Z10 is relatively standard except for the interesting predictive keyboard feature. See the little words in the image above on the right? That’s the Z10 trying to predict the word I am typing. If it guesses the word correctly, you can choose it by flicking it up with your finger. This was kind of cute at first, but it quickly became distracting to me because I was wasting time watching for the words to appear and then lifting my finger to flick it. I think this feature made my typing slower instead of faster. I’ll stick with Swype or Swiftkey on my SGS3 

The built in browser on the Z10 is ok. It gets the job done, but it’s not nearly as nice as Chrome, which I use on every device I have because it syncs bookmarks and open tabs across devices.

The Z10 comes with a decent selection of pre-loaded apps:

BlackBerry Hub, Contacts, BlackBerry Browser, BlackBerry Calendar, BBM, Text Messages, BlackBerry World, BlackBerry Remember, Docs To Go, Pictures, Music, Videos, Story Maker, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, BlackBerry Maps, Games, YouTube, Voice Control, Weather, Clock, Calculator, Compass, File Manager, Box, BlackBerry Connect for Dropbox, Print To Go, Smart Tags, Settings, Adobe Reader, Phone, Camera/Video Camera/Time Shift, Setup, Help, SIM Toolkit, Search

A trip to BlackBerry’s app store, called BlackBerry World, was met with disappointment when I couldn’t find a large number of my must-have apps like: Evernote, Netflix, Skype, Words with Friends, DirecTV, Gmail, Chrome, Feedly, Instagram, Pandora, Hulu, Spotify.

Summing it all up

After a week (almost 2) using the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone exclusively, I can say that it’s a decent handset which has good performance, an easy to use interface, nice camera and an adequate collection of pre-loaded apps. I had no really complaints while using this phone other than a lot of my favorite apps aren’t yet available for it. The thing is, that while the phone works just fine, there’s nothing about it that makes me want to keep using it and buy one of my own. Other than the gestures, the phone feels a little behind the curve for me. I think BlackBerry has a hard climb ahead of them and I’m not sure they will see the top anytime soon, if at all.