Mobile

The Blackberry 10 Dev Alpha

Louie Diangson May 2, 2012 · 2 min read

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Speculations pertaining to the Blackberry 10 device have been circulating for quite some time and a lot are expecting that this iteration will help bring RIM back into the smartphone game. With this in mind, one of RIM’s priorities is to cater to developers through its â€œBlackberry 10 Dev Alpha developer testing device.â€

Given to developers at the Blackberry Jam conference in Orlando, the Dev Alpha’s purpose is to help developers create and test their apps for the upcoming Blackberry 10 devices.

RIM also wants to make it clear that the Dev Alpha device is NOT an official Blackberry 10 smartphone. As for the OS itself, it’s actually a modified Blackberry PlayBook OS â€œwhich shows the path to the Blackberry 10 OS.â€ That’s probably one of the reasons why they designed the Dev Alpha to look like a shrunken version of the PlayBook.

What’s worth keeping tabs on is the hardware specs of the developer device which I think could be the baseline for the upcoming BB 10 smartphones. Check out what was found so far:

4.2-inch display @ 1280×768 pixels
16GB internal storage
1GB RAM
NFC
microUSB and micro HDMI ports
All touch (no physical keyboard)

Also check out the Blackberry 10 Sneak Peak video from the Blackberry World 2012 Keynote below:

Judging from the Dev Alpha device and the sneak peak video, do you think RIM should focus on an all-touch smartphone and let go of the physical keys? Share your thoughts below.

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Editor’s Note: We were invited to attend and cover the BlackBerry World Conference in Orlando, Florida but due lack of time, we could not get a US Visa for this event. – Yuga

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Louie Diangson

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Contributing writer at YugaTech, covering the latest in technology news and reviews.

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31 Comments

wheels rollin’ · 13 years ago

I think that what you wrote made a great deal of sense.
But, think on this, suppose you were to write a awesome headline?
I ain’t suggesting your content isn’t solid., however suppose you added a headline that makes
people want more? I mean The Blackberry 10 Dev Alpha –
YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews is kinda vanilla.
You should look at Yahoo’s front page and see how they create post titles to get viewers to click. You might try adding a video or a picture or two to grab people interested about what you’ve got to say.
Just my opinion, it might make your blog a little livelier.

Momo · 14 years ago

Blackberry is a hit in the Philippines because of the telcos bb services -unli facebook, unli twitter, unli chat. Without them, I doubt if it’s still popular here. Just an observation

venice · 14 years ago

I think they should focus on the availability and quality of apps to keep up. I love bb 9900. they keyboard etc. almost apps though are trash.

Carl Bytes · 14 years ago

As a playbook owner. I’m still looking for more useful apps in the app world. In order to compete to iOS and Android, they should have a unique feature.

On topic, they should provide also QWERTY phones for BB10 OS. It is still best for long SMS and e-mails.

Kaloy · 14 years ago

sir,

since you’re using PlayBook do you also have a BB smartphone and currently registerd to BIS (BBMax) specifically with Globe? if yes, have you performed the bridge? am using 9780 kasi and registered to BBMax and waiting for my PB. gusto ko sana i-bridge yung devices so i can browse. is it possible? thanks..

Obed · 14 years ago

@Kaloy

Yes it’s possible, you can use bridge to browse the internet using the native browser app. Though hindi mo magagamit yung ibang apps na kailangan nang internet connection.

My suggestion, sell your 9780 buy an OS7 device (9790, 9810, 9860 or 9900. 9360 and 9380 are kinda slow in mobile hotspot plus it drains the battery) update it to OS7.1 and since you’re currently registered to BBMax which comes with unlimited mobile browsing (Globe’s APN) you can use your OS7.1 device to act as a mobile hotspot so you can use other apps that requires internet, plus mas mabilis ang internet pag Globe APN ang ginamit compared to the BIS.

Bryan · 14 years ago

from the video I think im good with the OS UI. but expect another patent complaint about the design from apple. lol. You’re right BB is renowned for the keypad and BBM. Now I’m really confused for my new phone. Hmmm. HTC one x? Iphone 4S or the new one that will come out this year? or the Sony line up. hmmmmm.. must also think about the after sales support though.

John · 14 years ago

RIM really stepped up on their game… But late. Albeit I might be going back to them.

Clint · 14 years ago

I still love my Blackberry and I agree to some, I love RIM’s physical keypad. Ang ganda ng design concept nito a. Sana maging okay.

John · 14 years ago

You’re joking, right ? This isn’t a design concept. The “phone” looks like a slab because it is still an ALPHA testing device exclusive to Developers. It’s just a taste.

luiboowee · 14 years ago

I one of the reasons why I’m still keeping my blackberry phone is its physical keypad/board. I also own an iPhone and I seldom tweet, email, text, or comment on social sites using it. If RIM can develop a touch screen that will have a feel of a physical keypad to prevent fast typists/texters commit typo errors, it would surely be a huge hit. The track pad comes handy too whenever I compose a long sentences or paragraphs.

juapao · 14 years ago

Hopefully the physical keys will stay because they were the first mobile phone manufacturer who has a patent for it. hopefully their bbm application would have the capability of communicating to other platforms. and just to add up, the updates for the OS that they release they should have a support for older model.

John · 14 years ago

No.

1. BBM is one of Blackberry’s purest trademarks and chassis on making the people clinging to their handsets. So no… If BBM will be “open sourced” to everyone, this won’t be special as it will not be Blackberry exclusive anymore. Perhaps, I can now buy an iPhone for BBM ?

2. This Blackberry OS 10 or BBX is based on an absolute QNX framework. The OS updates will be extremely smooth and on time just like or even better than Windows Phone 7 considering the fact that the equilibrium is far maintained because of RIM making both the hardware and software LIKE Apple maintaining their updates.

Paulito · 14 years ago

they should catch up with the others. it does not matter if they stick to physical keyboards or totally go touch screen

whats important is to give users a really good OS. and please the battery! LOL.

If RIM does not shape up then their loyal fans might leave them. They are popular due to BBM, but hey there is Whatsapp (which supports all platforms already, Android, iOS, Nokia and even BB lol)

but this is my opinion

Jason · 14 years ago

yung ui i personally think maganda. haha. kaso yung multitasking mukhang pinagsamang windows 8 at N9 swipe. well atleast ganda ng implementation. sana may affordable version ng mga devices nila na ilalabas with BB10. :)