Americans waiting to get their hands on a BlackBerry Z10 can now preorder the new smartphone from AT&T starting today. The mobile carrier says the phones should be in customers' hands by Mar. 22.
The Z10 is available for $199.99 with a two-year contract, and both business customers and the general public can purchase the phone.
Rival T-Mobile disappointed some customers recently when it announced business customers could order the Z10 this week for a Mar. 15 delivery, but the general public would need to wait until the end of the month.
The BlackBerry Z10 is the first in a line of new phones running BlackBerry 10, the new operating system from the embattled phone manufacturer. BlackBerry hopes to break back into the mobile phone market now dominated by Apple and Samsung, but it is facing competition from HTC, Sony and LG, which are attempting the same task. Whether the market can support additional, smaller manufacturers without them getting squeezed by the giants remains to be seen.
While the Z10 is finally arriving stateside, the impact of its release could be dampened by the impending unveiling of Samsung's flagship phone, the Galaxy S IV, which will launch in a huge media event from New York's Times Square on Mar. 14. If the specs of the S IV far outstrip the Z10, American customers could hold off on their purchases.
The BlackBerry Z10 features a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 plus processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 4.2-inch 1280x768 display, an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video, 16 GB of internal storage and runs the newly revamped BlackBerry 10 operating system.
Check back for the latest information on the BlackBerry Z10 as it becomes available.