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Vodacom offers new big screen BlackBerry

The Z30 - BlackBerry's fourth device built around its revamped BlackBerry 10 platform - is now available in SA.

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 19 Nov 2013
BlackBerry's latest smartphone - the all-touch bigger screen Z30 - is now available through Vodacom.
BlackBerry's latest smartphone - the all-touch bigger screen Z30 - is now available through Vodacom.

BlackBerry's latest smartphone built around its re-engineered BlackBerry 10 platform, the phablet-like Z30, has arrived in SA.

Available as of today, through Vodacom, for a recommended retail price of R8 799, or R399 per month on its 24-month Smart S plan, the Z30 is BlackBerry's fourth device in the range, after the all-touch Z10, hybrid touch and qwerty Q10 and mid-range hybrid Q5.

The Z30 improves on its predecessor - the 4.2-inch Z10 - and, with a display size of five inches, could technically be described as a phablet, although it is not being marketed as such by BlackBerry.

Sporting a dual-core 1.7GHz processor, the Z30 will compete against leading high-end devices like Apple's new iPhone 5S and Samsung's Galaxy S4, along with a range of other devices powered by Google's Android platform.

Phone features

Martin Fick, senior product manager of Africa at BlackBerry SA, says there have been a number of step-ups made to the Z30 - and the 10.2 OS it will run on. He says 10.2 OS will be a welcome change for many BlackBerry users, as it adds and changes a number of "little things" requested by users - as well as introduces significant new capabilities.

One of the Z30's main features, says Fick, is the size of its screen. At five inches, it is 0.01-inches bigger than Samsung's Galaxy S4 and an inch bigger than the latest iPhone.

Like the Z10, it has an 8MP rear camera and 16GB of internal storage, with the option of a removable memory card. Weighing 179g, Fick says the battery - a 2880 mAH unit - is longer lasting than its predecessor by a long shot.

Fick notes the hardware used for the new 10 model is also superior to that used for the Z10. "It has a premium finish, with a glass-weaved back cover."

He says BlackBerry focused heavily on sound quality in the design of the device, which sports four microphones, stereo speakers and BlackBerry Natural Sound technology. The technology behind the Z30 antenna, says Fick, has also greatly improved transmitter and reception quality. "It is the best antenna on a BlackBerry to date."

Price point

Commenting recently on the competition BlackBerry faces, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck said many users at the high-end market were moving over from BlackBerry to Samsung's S4 and the Sony Xperia Z.

The problem, he said, was that BlackBerry's devices were not seen to be at the same feature level as its competitors, but they fall into the same price range. "BlackBerry needs to compete on price and give people a reason to buy its devices and they are simply not doing that."

But, with a number of improvements and added features to the Z30, BlackBerry hopes consumers will see greater value in the latest device.

Introducing the five-inch display all-touch Z30 - as well as the updated 10.2 operating system it runs on - at a seeding event about three weeks ago, BlackBerry said it would continue to innovate and release new products.

The company recently saw a change in leadership - both at the top, with the announcement of CEO Thorsen Heins stepping down earlier this month, and locally with the appointment of Yudi Moodley in place of former MD for sub-Saharan Africa Alexandra Zagury last week.

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