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Okay, so what now?

BlackBerry opted to go with the whimsical and fantastical with its Super Bowl commercial, showing what the new BlackBerry Z10 can't do instead of what it can do. To say it's a little strange would be an understatement.

Indeed, it's a bold choice, one that some would argue might be a little head-scratching. But it's one that BlackBerry Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben believes will turn some heads and get consumers primed for a launch that's still more than a month away.

"The Super Bowl is a big wake-up call … Read more

The release of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone will be remembered as either a breath of new life for the company or a last gasp as it fell into irrelevance. By all accounts, the Z10 is a tremendous step forward in design and hardware over previous BlackBerrys, but it's coming at a time when the smartphone market is crowded with established contenders with massive app stores already in place.

CNET contributor Ben Parr says that the Z10 and its keyboard-wielding buddy Q10 face a major deficit on the app front. He argues that iOS and Android have an insurmountable lead in the app race, meaning the Z10 will never attract the new customers BlackBerry needs to grow and survive.… Read more

You know it's going to be wonderful. Or terrible. Or just dull.

Yes, I'm talking about the Super Bowl. But I'm also talking about BlackBerry's new ad for its Z10 smartphone that will debut during Sunday's game.

BlackBerry doesn't have a florid history with respect to advertising. Can you even remember one BlackBerry ad that moved you to anything other than obliviousness?

This time, though, it's going to be different. Perhaps.

So, as CrackBerry.com reports, the brand formerly known as RIM today tweeted one still frame from its forthcoming ad.

It was … Read more

Two days ago, the company formerly known as RIM pulled out all the stops at a super-swanky event in New York to launch two new phones that will either kill or cure the company.

Despite the global launch happening in the U.S., America will be the last in the first batch of countries to see the Z10, BlackBerry's first phone to ship with its new OS, BlackBerry 10. Americans have to wait until March to buy the touch-screen phone, but it became available to buy in the U.K. yesterday. That's six days ahead even of BlackBerry'… Read more

Don't hold your breath for a sequel to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

Speaking to the press yesterday during the BlackBerry 10 launch event, CEO Thorsten Heins wasn't particularly upbeat about tablets.

"The tablet business is rather difficult," he conceded.

Indeed, the tablet market has seen a lot of entrants, but only a few winners. While Apple's iPad franchise continues to dominate, its market share is eroding to only a few players, including Google's Nexus 7, Amazon's Kindle Fire franchise, and a few of the Samsung Electronics tablets. But that doesn't leave a … Read more

BlackBerry (formerly RIM) may have just lifted the lid on its completely overhauled BlackBerry 10 OS for mobile devices, but CNET has been testing the heck out of the OS and Z10 smartphone for over a week now. There are elements that we love and elements that we, frankly, think the smartphone-maker could have done better.

So, three of us who have spent time with the Z10 and its OS put our heads together to offer up a few suggestions that we'd like to see in BlackBerry's inevitable first OS update. And yes, we have more suggestions for … Read more

BlackBerry is betting its future on the Z10 and its new OS, but they won't be enough to prevent the company's inevitable demise.

By every standard, the BlackBerry Z10 is the best smartphone that BlackBerry (formerly RIM) has ever produced. It's a massive upgrade in terms of design, user experience and technology. I welcome the departure of the home button in favor of gestures. So let me first give credit where credit is due: BlackBerry has built a decent phone. The Q10 isn't bad either, if you're a die-hard fan of QWERTY keyboards.

Building decent … Read more

BlackBerry's splashy launch of two well-received smartphones wasn't enough to halt a weeklong slide in its stock.

Shares are down 6.7 percent to $12.86 in morning trading. In total, BlackBerry has lost more than a quarter of its market value over the last four days.

While there seems to be universal acknowledgement that the newly introduced BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 smartphones represent a massive improvement over old BlackBerrys, there remains some disappointment with yesterday's announcement. More importantly, there also is a persistent concern that BlackBerry may have arrived too late with its last-ditch effort to … Read more