All the focus lately has been on the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone just hitting the U.S. market. But the QWERTY keyboard-enabled Q10 is on the way, and it will be available unlocked in the U.K. on Apr. 26 for £529.98.
U.K. retailer Unlocked Mobiles has the BlackBerry Q10 available for pre-order SIM-free now.
The Q10 has been eagerly anticipated by BlackBerry loyalists as a true successor to the RIM handsets of old. Mobile warriors adept at thumb typing and yearning for a real keyboard have been waiting impatiently, though that convenience comes at a cost. Because the keyboard doesn't slide away like some Droid models, the Q10's screen is smaller than its sibling phone, the Z10, but it is still a capable touchscreen.
In general, unlocked versions of phones hit the market before the standard subsidized versions available through major carriers. No word yet on when U.K. carriers will offer the Q10, but it's likely that it will hit the United States shortly after that.
The Q10 has been confirmed in the U.S. on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. The latter declined the Z10 in favor of waiting for the Q10. T-Mobile says it won't carry the Q10. While the phone's debut is a big deal for BlackBerry, they expect to sell fewer Q10s than Z10s, perhaps only a quarter as many, as most customers have gotten used to typing on virtual keyboards.
The BlackBerry Q10 features a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 plus processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 3.1-inch 720x720 touchscreen display, an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video, 16 GB of internal storage, an SD card slot for up to another 64 GB of storage, a full physical QWERTY keyboard and runs the newly revamped BlackBerry 10 operating system.
Check back for the latest information on the BlackBerry Q10 as it becomes available.