BlackBerry Z10: A bold upgrade

The Z10 , BlackBerry's flagship device on its new, BB10 operating system, will not be a phone for the masses. At 43,490, the price is at par with the iPhone 5 and HTC Butterfly, making it a good upgrade for BlackBerry users who now have a high-end Bold series phone in their hands. Even the Q10, the BB10 phone with the qwerty keypad, will be for high-end users because of its price and not for users of the more affordable Curve series.

Shiv Putcha, Principal Analyst, Consumer Services, at research firm Ovum Telecoms, says BlackBerry may find takers among existing users, though it will be tough to get all of them to upgrade. "Price is a really big factor and it will anyway be tough for them to get new users. It will be easier for BlackBerry to convert mature markets with the existing offerings. In India, we are likely to see only top-end users convert now. But it seems it will do better with the Q10 in markets like India."

Those looking for a more affordable BB10 device will have to wait for a few months. BlackBerry has, however, promised devices across all price ranges, but in due course. Contrary to what many experts were suggesting, BlackBerry won't stop producing BB7 devices. Sunil Dutt, BlackBerry's Managing Director in India, said the company will soon be coming out with more devices running on their older OS.

Amit Goel, CEO of research firm Knowledgefaber, says that while BlackBerry will have little chance of converting Android or iOS users, its chances are slightly better among first-time smartphone users due to the brand recognition. "There is a good chance of success among existing users, both retail and corporate," says Goel, adding that companies that handed out high-end curve phones three to four years back might be tempted to go in for an upgrade now.

But there is no doubt that to ensure a big success with Z10, BlackBerry will have to woo new users and that too with more affordable phones. "Our analysis suggests the company has always sold about half its devices to new customers and half to existing customers upgrading to a better phone. For much of the last two years, the portion bought by upgrading customers has significantly outweighed the portion bought by converts, and this makes it all the more important for RIM to retain existing subscribers," says Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum.

While reviewers have really loved the new operating system as well as the flagship phone, many have complained that there was no wow factor in the phone. However, Vivek Bhardwaj, head of BlackBerry's software portfolio, begs to differ. He says the wow factor of the new operating system is "around the user experience and how it is so strongly woven with communications and activity" through the BlackBerry Hub. "We are not only addressing past weaknesses, but also bring in an amazing browser, camera and apps along with productivity tools, which no one else can deliver like us," he said in an email interaction.

There are those who are thrilled by what they have seen so far. Kartik Iyer, a Mumbai-based engineer and tech blogger, has been waiting to see the BB10 for months. At 22, he is just the sort of user BlackBerry has been aiming to net for a while. But then, Kartik uses a Samsung phone and is not sure he can afford the Z10 though he wants to switch. "I would have liked to see BB showing some intent with aggressive pricing. An affordable BB10 device should be their immediate target area," says Iyer. "They should bring all the goodness of BB10 in a compact yet uncompromising form factor sooner than later," he says. While he loves the fact that BB10 is a more complete package for always connected individuals, he is also disappointed at the lack of an extraordinary feature. "But BB Hub and virtual keyboard are way ahead of market offerings."

Another put-off for users is the lack of popular apps in the new device. At the launch, BlackBerry amazed everyone by claiming that it had over 70,000 apps from Day 1. But some popular apps, such as Whatsapp and Instagram, or even the older version of Angry Birds, have not yet landed in BlackBerry World. "It is a vicious cycle - the more the users, the more the apps and the more the apps, the more the users. From the initial demand for BB10, I would say very soon there will be enough BB10 apps," says Vikas Saxena, CEO of Nimbuzz, which is among the first Indian apps available on BB10. He says time-to-market is very important in this business. "A day could mean the difference between success and failure on a certain platform. We expected BB10 users to be evolved with huge expectations from any app they would be using and that's why we took our Android app and ported it to BB10," he says, adding that porting from Android takes care of a huge entry barrier for app developers.

However, opening up to Android apps has also made the BlackBerry eco-system slightly vulnerable to security threats. While BlackBerry vouches for the fact that all ported apps are put through stringent quality control, companies such as Trend Micro have been quick to launch security solutions. "Since ported apps are not native to the platform, there is a risk that it has an open vulnerability that can be exploited in the new platform," says Sharda Tickoo, PMM of Trend Micro India. But she is quick to add that the security features on BB10 have been enhanced to counter modern-day threats. "They have added some really powerful features such as encryption, which is FIPS level 2 compliant (FIPS is a US government standard for computer systems used by non-military government agencies and contractors). This makes this product fit to be used by US defence, government and federal agencies."