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BlackBerry 10 video shows hands-on with software and some apps
[January 15, 2013]

BlackBerry 10 video shows hands-on with software and some apps


(Guardian Web Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Research In Motion's announcement of its new BlackBerry 10 software is only a couple of weeks away, on 30 January, more and more detail has begun to leak about the phones involved, and especially their new operating software.



The latest video, from Telekom Presse, shows what is reckoned to be a working - but possibly not feature-complete - version of BB10.

The audio description is in German, and the phone itself looks very like an iPhone 5 with its metal back (though it looks like an unfinished prototype) - though the winking red light on the top right will indicate to any existing (or former) BlackBerry owner that you have some email waiting.


It's a 4.2in full touch HD display, 1200x860: 8MP rear camera, LED flash, 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage. The weight (if I heard correctly) is 153g.

The video then goes through demonstrations of the various elements of the interface. It doesn't show the camera in action, nor any typing on the touch keyboard - probably because those wouldn't really have worked very well given the fixed camera position used to film it.

There's a main screen that shows which apps are running, and a "BlackBerry Hub" which appears to be emails, along with the address book, Facebook, Gmail and other data sources. From that screen, there's a pull-down lock screen (which shows a clock). Or you can drag upwards from the bottom to switch between apps, if you're running an app. (Anyone who has tried out a PlayBook may be familiar with that.) The app collection is in screens on the right of the BlackBerry Hub - the phone here shows three, though there might be room for more. Among the apps that are shown - very briefly - is Dropbox, which is an extremely important one to get onto any mobile device these days.

Perhaps confusingly, if you pull down while you're in the "apps" screens, then you don't get the lock screen - you get a set of functions, such as alarms and Bluetooth, completely different from the main screen.

So here's the video. Does it begin to interest you in BB10 - and do you think it will persuade people to switch back to RIM (c) 2013 Guardian Newspapers Limited.

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