RINGING SUCCESS
Those used to the ‘in and out’ nature of other phones will need time to adjust to Blackberry’s offering. When they do, they’ll discover a multi-tasking powerhouse, writes VITO PILIECI.
BlackBerry 10 is every bit the game-changer we were promised, writes Vito Pilieci.
BlackBerry 10 changes the way people have traditionally interacted with cellular phones. There is no home button. Applications keep running in the background, even when minimized.
Gestures control almost every function.
And the addition of BlackBerry Balance turns the device into a dual-functioning machine that IT departments everywhere will have no qualms about deploying to their workforces.
The interactions are so different, in fact, users who have become accustomed to the “in and out” approach from Apple Inc.’s iPhone or Google Inc.’s Android may feel alienated.
Especially for long-term iPhone users, operating the Z10, which is the first BlackBerry 10 model, can feel unnatural and even frustrating.
Spending a few days with the device, which won’t be an option for the casual shopper at an electronics store, is the only way to fully appreciate the nuances of the new operating system.
The first big plus is the BlackBerry Hub, which acts as catch-all for every message and email sent by your friends and contacts.
At first glance, the hub appears a little overwhelming, as Facebook feeds, LinkedIn updates, email and text messages all collide to form one giant list.
But the unified inbox ensures you will never again miss an important message, text or email.
And the ability to sort information based on its source — you can choose to see just Facebook traffic, for instance — is a welcome feature, allowing users to flip through various social media platforms and email accounts without having to open separate applications for each. It’s all in the hub.
A feature called Cascades allows the user to open multiple tabs in the hub. If an important email comes in while you are composing a Facebook message, you can open another tab and respond immediately without losing the unfinished Facebook message.
The BlackBerry’s Internet browser, which the manufacturer boasts is incredibly advanced, feels incredibly simple. Users are presented with a series of large tiles showing sites they frequent. An address box across the bottom allows direct access to any site on the Internet. The browser supports Flash, which means older sites will run on BB10, and also supports next-generation HTML 5 sites. As with many other mobile browsers, multiple tabs can be opened, displaying multiple sites. It’s fast, straightforward and easy to use.
Where the device surprises is with its onscreen predictive text keyboard. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. Type a letter on the onscreen keys and possible words that you are trying to spell pop up. If one matches, a quick flick of your finger sends it to your text or email, complete with space afterwards. With this feature, you can walk and text at the same time — although that may not be a great idea. A second BB10 model, the Q10, with a physical keyboard will be released later this year.
The Z10’s camera, which is capable of taking eight-megapixel still shots and 1080p video, is a mixed bag. Time Shift is brilliant. Photograph a group of friends and you can select specific people in the group and rewind the image to a point when they weren’t rolling their eyes or blinking. But, while this is impressive, it’s not the kind of feature people will use daily.
For still images, the quality of the photos doesn’t seem to live up to competing devices. Pictures taken under low light come out grainy. The BB10 does have image stabilization, which “steadies” the camera, a handy addition. It can also take pictures in a quick-fire burst, perfect for parents at a child’s sporting event. Video recording is stellar.
The addition of an app called Story Maker is a smart move. The app makes it easy to weave together music, photos and video into an edited movie, complete with titles and credits, to send to family or friends.
Multi-tasking is where the device truly shines. Users can run several applications at the same time and flip between them seamlessly and without the apps pausing. Movies will stay running in the background, live streams of sports events will continue to update and text will remain in a page even as you move from one application to another.
One hurdle for BlackBerry: the device seems to be a bit of a battery hog. After charging the BB10 overnight and using it sparingly the next day, I was surprised to find only 20 per cent of the charge remaining the following morning. It appears it will need daily charging.
While BlackBerry World launched with more than 70,000 applications, that may not be enough for consumers used to scrolling through thousands of pages of available programs. As well, many noticeable apps are missing, including Netflix and Instagram.
The addition of a mini-HDMI port, which allows the device to be hooked up to a nearby display, and a micro-USB port are welcome.
At a time when cyber criminals are increasingly targeting mobile devices, BlackBerry Balance, which creates a partition between work and personal applications, will be applauded by the business community, making this device extremely attractive to corporate customers.
The BB10 is a glowing technical achievement, but its success is far from certain.
It changes things. It forces people to adjust to a new style of mobile computing.
BlackBerry has introduced this kind of earth-shaking change once already with its Playbook tablet computer. Those tablets were left to languish on store shelves while consumers opted for more familiar user experiences and app stores stocked full of choices.
BlackBerry wanted to make this device a powerhouse, and it has succeeded. Whether consumers respond in kind is yet to be determined.