z10

Use either volume button as a shutter release on BlackBerry 10

One of the smaller features I have appreciated in the iPhone's camera app has been the volume up key acting as a shutter release. Instead of tapping on a digital button, pressing the volume up key will snap a pic.

When I first launched the Camera app on the BlackBerry Z10, I instinctively pressed the volume up button and to my surprise it snapped a pic. The normal method for taking a picture on BlackBerry 10 requires you to tap anywhere on the screen. But with either volume key acting as a shutter release, you can avoid tapping on … Read more

How to edit an e-mail signature on BlackBerry 10

One of the first things I do after setting up a new device is to change the default e-mail signature. The default signature on new devices is usually a free advertisement for your carrier, device manufacturer, or both.

The default signature on a BlackBerry 10 device is "Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone."

See what I mean? Free advertising.

Shortly after setting up my Z10 I sought out to change the e-mail signature. I looked in the Accounts section of the Settings app to no avail. I dug through other sections in the Settings app, even went into … Read more

How to set up your BlackBerry Z10

Before you begin setting up your brand-new BlackBerry Z10, make sure you have a few minutes to spare and a speedy Wi-Fi connection available. Part of the setup process for BlackBerry 10 is ensuring that your new device is running the latest version of the new operating system.

The first time I ran through the setup process on my Z10, the update came in at several hundred MBs, with the latest update (as seen in the video) coming in at just 2MB. Of course your experience will likely vary depending on your location and wireless carrier.

If you don't … Read more

How to take a screenshot in BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry recently launched its BlackBerry 10 platform with the Z10, with the keyboard-equipped Q10 on the horizon. While the new operating system does come with the ability to share your screen with fellow BBM users, not everyone has a BlackBerry 10 device. In those situations, taking and sharing a screenshot is the best way to show off your home screen layout, or perhaps troubleshoot an issue with another user.

To take a screenshot on your BlackBerry 10 device, you simply need to press and hold both the volume up and volume down keys at the same time for a few … Read more

Episode 31: BlackBerry Z10 vs. BlackBerry Z10 in Barcelona

Always On's last gig in Barcelona veers away from Mobile World Congress and lands Molly and Jeff in the streets of Barcelona with only their BlackBerry Z10s to guide them. While an Amazing Race-style mission involving lunch under the famous Arc de Triomf and a Spanish ragtime band at La Catedral should have had our hosts overflowing with enthusiasm, the BlackBerry Z10 had other plans.

Whether it was an inability to map the crew a half-mile east, wacky gesture control, or wildly imbalanced NFC photo exchange rate, BlackBerry's comeback kid left us lost in a strange land. Never … Read more

BlackBerry Z10 gets updated Facebook, Twitter apps

Buyers of the new BlackBerry Z10 phone will find updated versions of both its Facebook and Twitter apps.

As detailed in a BlackBerry blog yesterday, Facebook 10.0.1 offers the following features:

Friends Nearby: You can now find out if your Facebook friends are in the area by seeing if they've checked into a nearby location. Photo Updates: You can now tag any photo that you've uploaded into Facebook and save photos from Facebook onto your BlackBerry phone. Events: You can now view and respond to events and invite your friends to those events. You can also … Read more

BlackBerry's off to a nice start. So now what?

Don't hang up the banners and throw the ticker-tape parade for BlackBerry yet.

BlackBerry's fiscal fourth-quarter report brought a bevy of good news. The company surprisingly returned to profitability; it shipped 1 million Z10 smartphones, the majority of which were snapped up by consumers; and it appears as if it it's taking share from competing platforms.

It's a strong start for BlackBerry. But by no means can the company declare "Mission Accomplished" on its comeback. Indeed, there are a lot of unanswered questions that won't get answered until another several months of results … Read more

BlackBerry: BB10 is stealing customers away from rivals

It's not just the BlackBerry faithful signing up for the BlackBerry Z10.

More than half of the customers snapping up a Z10 -- 55 percent -- are coming from a different platform, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said during a conference call today.

Heins wouldn't go into detail about the breakdown of where these customers were coming from, but it's an encouraging sign that the Z10 was enticing enough that people were willing to switch over to the new device. It's one sign of progress for a company badly in need of a home run.

"We'… Read more

BlackBerry swings to profit, sells 1M Z10 smartphones

BlackBerry swung to a surprising profit in the fiscal fourth quarter amid early signs of progress with its BlackBerry Z10 flagship phone.

For the three months that ended on March 2, the Canadian smartphone manufacturer reported a profit of $98 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a year-ago loss of $125 million, or 24 cents a share. Excluding items such as its cost-savings program, the company reported an adjusted EPS of 22 cents. Sales, however, fell by 36 percent to $2.68 billion.

More importantly, BlackBerry said it sold 1 million units of the Z10 in the period. … Read more

Testing T-Mobile's 4G LTE

T-Mobile just took a bold, new step by shredding the contracts for its plans plus launching its new 4G LTE data network. But what kind of speeds can you really expect to see on the carrier's hot, new devices? Judging from what I observed at T-Mobile's splashy press event in New York, apparently quite a bit. … Read more