Fruitful competition

Mobile phones named after healthy snacks are getting smarter by the week and BlackBerry’s latest offering, the Z10, is aiming to replace Apple’s iPhone as top pick in the technology fruit basket, writes Charlie Holding.

The Z10 is BlackBerry’s first fully touch-screen smartphone and the first to run on OS10. Thanks to this next generation platform, the BlackBerry has been re-designed, re-engineered and, to an extent, re-invented, its makers say.

As part of their partnership, Bahrain telecommunications company Viva and Blackberry showcased the new device to media representatives in the kingdom.

BlackBerry country manager Ahmed Al Olaywan said: “While this new device has plenty of fun things to do, it is not just a gadget, it is a tool that can make your life easier.

“It can be used for business during the day and for personal and social uses in the evening, it offers the best of both worlds.”

Since it’s touch-screen, it works using gestures and practically everything is accessible with a swipe. Unlike the iPhone, to which the device bears more than a passing resemblance, there is no physical home or navigation button.

At first it can be a little tricky and without an instruction manual it’s challenging to know how to access what you’re looking for. However, if you play around enough you get the hang of it and, in the right hands, it is very impressive and fluid.

Making the transition from a physical qwerty keyboard to touch-screen is a big step for the brand and may cause concern among diehard fans. Luckily, the additional vertical space helps avoid some of the most common typos and the auto-correct function is very impressive, adding spaces and punctuation with a simple tap of the screen.

In place of the traditional home screen is the new BlackBerry Hub, which contains all your messages, IMs, contacts, calendar events and notifications.

While the device itself retails for around BD265, at the session, Viva introduced its new range of specially designed BlackBerry Z10 price plans that cater to both individuals and businesses.

Corporate users can subscribe to Viva’s Business Unlimited Smart plans and get their Blackberry Z10 device for no upfront payment with a 12, 18 or 24 month contract and pair them with the voice and data packages they find most convenient. Business users can get the BlackBerry Z10 device and enjoy unlimited and daily Viva to Viva calls throughout the day, for up to 300 minutes, as well as data bundles starting at 2GB up to unlimited.

For individual users, there are flexible plans, including Smart 30, that offers the device for free with 400 free bundled minutes, a BD5 free credit bundle as well as unlimited data and a special number. Customers can also subscribe to the Smart 25 plan, which includes 300 minutes, BD3 free credit bundle and 5GB free data allowance every month and pay only BD39 for the device.

The new BlackBerry Z10 is available at Viva retail outlets across Bahrain.
 
For more information, visit www.viva.com.bh or any of the Viva stores.