Good news for BB OS fans. BlackBerry Z10 has just been launched on Verizon for only $199.99 for a 2-year contract. The touchscreen smartphone is available online and on Verizon outlets.

This 4-incher features a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor that clocks in at 1.5 GHz, 2GB RAM, is LTE-enabled, 16GB internal plus expandable memory, and an 8MP back camera.

On the other hand, some Verizon competitors will also be offering the device to their clients. First up is AT&T, which offers the same plan as Verizon. Sprint has not yet decided if it will launch the BB Z10 as it earlier on announced that it will wait later in the year to launch the BB Q10. It's not yet too late anyway.

T-Mobile arguably has a better payment plan as it only requires $99 down payment and $18/month for a two-year contract. According to some critics, the Z10 may just be the best touchscreen phone that BlackBerry has created, more positive news for them as they announced that they have just shipped 1M units of devices during their first fiscal quarter. Good job, BlackBerry!

Source: Verizon Wireless

BlackBerry recently shipped 1M units of Z10 devices to various key markets and has apparently sold most of the shipment, resulting in early profits this year. This is very unlike the typical earnings news by BlackBerry as they have posted a net loss of $125 million last year in the same quarter.

Aside from BlackBerry Z10 devices, they have also sold 370,000 units of their Playbook tablet as well as 5M units of earlier smartphones. However, the company saw a decline in the number of users from 79 last quarter of the previous fiscal year to 76 million at present.

According to Thorstein Heins, cost-cutting has been implemented to ensure that BlackBerry will not suffer from further losses. Looks like whatever it is they're doing is effective and that the Z10 is looking good, considering it's been only out since January in UK and February in Canada and the UAE.

Source: USAToday

AT&T will start taking pre-orders of the BlackBerry Z10 tomorrow prior to its official date of release on March 22nd. This phone is not only a new device since BlackBerry has revamped its name and removed RIM. It will also introduce the newest OS from the company, along with as many as 70,000 initial applications to boot. It will run on the BlackBerry 10 OS and is 4G LTE-enabled.

AT&T is offering it at $199.99, which is $50 less than what T-Mo is offering its business customers. The Z10 looks sleek and promising with its dual core Snapdragon S4 chipset that clock in at 1.5GHz each. It has front and rear cameras at 8 and 2 MP, respectively and 2GB memory. It will come in black and white variants. Who knows, this might just be the redeeming factor that BlackBerry has been waiting for in "ages"?

Link: AT&T Website on Z10

Someone is selling the unreleased BlackBerry Z10 on eBay, current bid is well over $1,500 dollars.  Click below for the ebay to the auction.

eBay Link

Specs as follows:

• Processor: Dual-Core 1.5GHz - Snapdragon S4 Plus
• Display: 4.2", 4 point multi-touch LCD display, 1280 x 768 resolution at 356 DPI, Touch On Lens
• Camera: 8MP rear facing camera, Auto Focus, 5X digital zoom, 1080p HD video recording ・2MP front facing camera, 3X digital zoom, 720p HD video recording
• Memory: 2GB RAM ・16GB Internal Storage ・Hot Swappable microSD Slot
• WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n ・2.4/5GHz ・4G Mobile Hotspot
• GPS: Assisted, Autonomous, and Simultaneous GPS
• Battery: 1800mAh Removable ・Talk Time: up to 10 hours on 3G・Standby Time: up to 305 hours on 3G, up to 316 hours on 2G・Audio Playback: up to 60 hours・Video PlayBack: up to 11 hours
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Proximity, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor
• Connectivity: NFC ・microUSB ・microHDMI-Out ・Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy
• ・4G LTE
• Size (LxWxD): 130mm x 65.6mm x 9mm

eBay Link

RIM has had a rough couple of years, there's simply no beating around that bush by this point. With Android and iOS taking up a whopping 96% of the total smartphone market, the team at BlackBerry and the unfortunate recent releases that have plagued their brand have been beaten to a pulp by more responsive touch screens, cleaner notification systems, and ecosystems that were pre-designed to sustain millions, if not billions of devices at a time without a hitch.

We've assembled a quick list of pro's and cons from the proposed OS, so you can decide if the next round of BlackBerry's is a purchase or a pass.

Pros

BlackBerry Messenger gets an upgrade called BBM Screenshare, which allows you to share either what's being seen by the primary camera or what's on your screen, during the video call.

The BlackBerry camera uses Timeshift, a feature not unlike Samsung's BestFace that allows you to take multiple pictures of the same setting and combine the best elements from each.

Cons

The keyboard looks like it may take some getting used to for any Apple or Android veterans. They have implemented new ways to auto correct that seem ingenious on paper...but so did a lot of ideas that RIM has had over the past half-decade, so we remain skeptical.

No details on the browser yet, which can't bode well for a company notorious for the worst mobile browser currently crawling the web.

Source: GSMArena