Verizon Blackberry Z10 Release In April Alongside The Q10, Rumors Say

It looks like Verizon might end up releasing both the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones in April, perhaps simultaneously.

"Word on the street has it that Verizon could be planning to launch the smartphone come April," writes UberGizmo. "As some of you guys know, the Blackberry Z10 is expected to be followed by the Blackberry Q10 which is the QWERTY version of a Blackberry 10 smartphone, and that the Q10 could be seeing a launch in April. This has led some to speculate that perhaps Verizon is hoping to launch both the Z10 and the Q10 at the same time, perhaps to nab more customers in one fell swoop."

T-Mobile has made it clear that it wants to be the first U.S. carrier to offer the Z10, and they currently have a projected release date of mid-March -- perhaps a week earlier than that for business customers.

The rumor doesn't say when in April Verizon might offer the Z10, so it looks like there's a good chance it will be technically correct; there's only a two-week window for Verizon to bring the Z10 to market before April.

As for the Q10, it seems unlikely that Verizon would unveil the two similar phones too close together; customers waiting for the Q10 will probably cut into sales for the Z10, so a simultaneous release seems more likely, unless Verizon plans to stagger the releases by more than two weeks.

That would push the Q10 out to late April, and by then other carriers will likely already be offering it, so it would be a gamble for Verizon.

Earlier reports said Verizon was planning for a March release for the Z10, but those quickly gave way to word of delays.