BlackBerry Z10, Q10 details scant but early Z10 reviews positive

BlackBerry, known as Research In Motion before Wednesday, has formally announced its next two smartphones, the Z10 and Q10. However, the company didn’t provide much details about them.

During its launch event Wednesday morning, BlackBerry focused on demonstrating its new BlackBerry 10 operating system rather than walking the audience through specs for the phones. The company simply revealed the two devices’ names and said the Z10, which is touch screen only, will arrive in the U.S. in March.

But early reviews of the Z10 have began pouring out, and they are providing some notable details.

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According to the Verge, which gave the Z10 a score of 7 on a 10-point scale, the phone has a 4.2-inch screen with a 1,280 by 728 pixel resolution, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 GB of storage.

The LTE-capable phone also has a microSD card slot and is enabled with Near-Field Communication, or NFC, technology. The Z10 also has a 2-megapixel forward-facing camera that shoots 720p HD video and an 8-megapixel rear camera that can shoot full HD 1080p video.

Following the BlackBerry announcement, AT&T;, T-Mobile and Verizon said they would carry the Z10 phone, but were also vague on the details, including when they would start selling the phone. Only Verizon gave a price, saying the phone will be available for $200 with a new two-year contract. Verizon also said it would have an exclusive white version of the phone.

Less is known about the Q10. BlackBerry didn’t reveal much about that phone other than that it has a physical qwerty keyboard. Sprint, Verizon and AT&T; said they would carry the device, but also did not give a date.

Among the few features the company did demonstrate was one called the BlackBerry Hub, which streamlines every message a user might want to see into one screen that can be easily accessed. Those messages include texts, emails and messages on users’ social media accounts.

BlackBerry stock was down more than 5% in mid-session trading. It had climbed more than 120% in the run up to Wednesday’s announcements.

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