BBM for iOS and Android launching this Friday?

BlackBerry has been in the press a lot today and for all the right reasons. For one, they've finally announced the much-leaked BlackBerry Z30; though no official price points or release dates have been given. But, that's not the most important news to talk about at the water cooler: as per CrackBerry, we finally have a purported launch date for the cross-platform version of BBM.

This Friday September 20th, 2013 is apparently d-day - how casually convenient. This means, for all of you who have pre-ordered the new iPhone 5s, you can launch iOS7 and reload all those lost friends from BBM past. Below is the unofficial rollout schedule sent over to CB:

- Friday, Sept 20th, 7am EST: Android version published on Google Play
- Friday, Sept 20th, 7am EST: BBM.com goes live
- Friday, Sept 20th, 7am EST: CRM messages sent out to pre-registrants
- Friday, Sept 20th, 7am EST: Follow-up CRM message sent after App Store deployment
- Saturday, Sept 21st: BBM on iOS becomes available 12:01am EST in local time zones

Of course, until it actually happens, this could just be a sick joke. In fairness, it does align with BlackBerry's original 'before end of summer' promise..... Fall begins Friday at midnight.

Stay tuned.

BlackBerry Z30 has been officially announced

News from the wire this morning is that the BlackBerry Z30 has been officially announced after weeks of leaks from various sources. Packing a 5-inch super AMOLED screen, the biggest BlackBerry has ever produced, it also features the largest capacity battery at 2880 maH capable of 25 hours of use. The Z30 also features a 1.7GHz processor and quad core graphics.

"It's our biggest, largest, most advanced smartphone to date on the BlackBerry 10 platform,"said Vivec Bhardwaj, head of software portfolios at BlackBerry. 

With the Z30, BlackBerry is aiming at the increasingly popular larger handset market. It joins Samsung's Galaxy Note II, Sony's Xperia Z Ultra and HTC's ONE max which are all competing in the supersized smartphone market.

"Some of the latest features that come with that are features like theBlackBerry Priority Hub, so you're able to actually organize your messages now by intelligently recognizing who the most important people are, the most important conversations," said Bhardwaj in a statement to the CBC.

While no pricing and release date has been given for Canada, The Z30 will be available in stores in the U.K. and the Middle East starting next week. The Z30 joins the Z10, Q10 and Q5 as  2013's BlackBerry smartphone portfolio. 

Source: CBC

Fujifilm introduces entry-level X-A1 interchangeable lens camera

Fujifilm Canada debuts a new compact system camera within its X-Series, the X-A1. This lightweight, interchangeable lens camera packs in a 16.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, EXR Processor II, sharp 3” tilting LCD, and wireless image transfer. What it takes out is the X-Trans sensor present in its more expensive sibling, the X-M1, to keep the price down. The X-A1 will ship this month with the Fujinon XC16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OIS lens for $599.95. Fujifilm also introduces a new lens with the new camera. The XC50-230mm F4.5-6.7 OIS is a slow, telephoto zoom lens that will ship this November for $399.95

BlackBerry promo offers free apps to BB10 users in Canada

BlackBerry is showing some hometown love with an exclusive promo for the local BlackBerry 10 users. BB10 users can download up to $25 worth of premium apps for free. This promo running until October 31 works for BlackBerry Z10, Q10, and Q5 devices.

The eligible apps include Blaq, SlickTasks, Photo Studio Pro, World of Goo, Gadget Box, Asphalt 7: Heat, and Modern Combat 4. You can redeem this offer by entering the promo code "fallapps" in BlackBerry World.