TORONTO – Canadian consumers who wish to support ailing smartphone-maker BlackBerry will soon be able to get their hands on the company’s latest device.
BlackBerry Ltd. announced Thursday that the BlackBerry Z30 will be available in Canada on October 15.
The Z30 is the Waterloo, Ont.-based company’s answer to the increasingly popular “phablet” style smartphones – devices that fall in between the size of a smartphone and a tablet. The Z30 will feature a five-inch screen, improved battery life and a faster processor than the models released by the company earlier this year.
Read More: BlackBerry unveils five-inch screen device
The new device will be available from Bell, Telus, MTS and SaskTel, along with retail partners including Best Buy and Future Shop.
BlackBerry announced the phone during a low-key event in Malaysia with minimal fanfare in mid-September, the same day reports surfaced that the ailing company was poised to deliver another round of layoffs.
Soon after it was announced that BlackBerry had struck a conditional deal to sell itself to a consortium of investors led by Fairfax Financial for $4.7 billion and take the company private.
Read More: BlackBerry shareholders, potential partners in dark as Fairfax constructs bid
But the release of a new device seems surprising given BlackBerry’s uncertain future; especially after the company revealed last week that it lost US$965 million in the second quarter as revenue plunged 49 per cent from a year earlier.
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The company noted that the disappointing results were due in part to dismal sales of its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones – in fact, most of the units the company sold in the quarter were its older BlackBerry 7 devices.
Read More: BlackBerry reports $965M loss as unsold phones pile up
BlackBerry did release the new Z30 to U.K. and Middle Eastern markets first, signalling a concentration on emerging markets. The smartphone-maker used the same approach when releasing the BlackBerry Q5 in May.
Experts have suggested that BlackBerry is turning its attention to emerging markets in order to gain market share after losing their competitive edge in North America; however, experts have cautioned this won’t be the company’s saving grace.
BlackBerry Z30 gets good reviews
Though a dark cloud continues to hang over BlackBerry’s future, the Z30 has been receiving good reviews.
Mobile Syrup described the phone as a well-made device that offers the user a great viewing experience.
“After using the phone briefly, it’s clear that this is the best BlackBerry 10 experience you can get,” read Mobile Syrup’s review, posted on Thursday.
“Apps like the newly-released Flipboard or Badland play well and look great on the screen, which is closer to the surface and less reflective than previous BlackBerry 10 devices. Touch response is excellent, and we definitely noticed better performance throughout the UI, though I can’t tell whether it’s due to hardware or software improvements.”
The screen size and capabilities appear to be the biggest stand out for the Z30. Technology website Cnet’s review noted the display matches the Motorola Droid Maxx’s HD resolution and produces vivid colours.
Cnet also gave the Z30’s core components and BlackBerry Hub messaging centre the thumbs up.
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