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

BlackBerry 10 New App Wednesday

With BlackBerry Jam Asia just around the corner (we'll be there live!), excitement surrounding all the announcements is in full effect. Of course, there is always more to talk about than just conferences; there are new apps launching every week! Check out below the list of notable editions to BlackBerry World this week:

News & Information:

·         Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP)

Games:

·         Doodle Jump (Lima Sky, LLC)

·         Angry Birds (Rovio Entertainment Ltd.)

·         Angry Birds Seasons (Rovio Entertainment Ltd.)

Lifestyle:

·         CineTrailer (DDM Srl)

Finance:

·         National Bank Launcher (Banque Nationale du Canada)

Sports & Recreation:

·         Corinthians SporTV (SporTV)

Now you might be thinking: did I read that right? Did I read that ever-popular Doodle Jump is now available on BlackBerry 10? You sure did! Get to downloading!

BlackBerry Q5 launches today in Canada

At long last, the mid-range, Curve successor BlackBerry Q5 is available for sale in Canada. The full-QWERTY device comes featuring a 3.1-inch IPS  display, a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 2GB of RAM as well as 8GB of onboard storage space that can affordably be expanded with up to a 32GB microSD card slot.

The pricing is roughly $350 outright or $49 on a 2-year term and to learn more about it, you can read our official review here