Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Savers Voices program and have been provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.
Over the last three years, I have reviewed a ton of tech products from major mobile manufactures - and owned a few too. My family's mobile setup includes Microsoft Windows 8 laptops, an Apple iPad and a Mac Air, plus Android tablets and smartphones - all bought with my own money, thank you.
And now thanks to my membership in the Verizon Wireless Savers Voices Program, a Blackberry Z10 smartphone has been added to my mobile mix.
Now I will be honest in saying that when I found out I would be reviewing a Blackberry smartphone for six months, I viewed living with the device more as a science experiment than with other reviews. Even though Blackberry has produced some nice hardware in the Z10 that is on par with other mobile devices, the lack of apps in the Blackberry Marketplace is a shortcoming that is not easy to ignore.
At this time, a lot of the apps that I use on a daily basics for frugal living are not available for Blackberry devices. And let me say that I am probably not the normal mobile user since over the course of a typical month I probably use 20 or more apps consistantly. Yep, it takes a village (of mobile apps) to live my life and find all those frugal deals that I post.
But even with a lack of apps, I still welcome learning more about the Blackberry Z10. And let me tell you why...
When I reviewed my first Android device almost three years ago, I wrote that I loved the device, but hated that there were no apps available for Android devices like those in the Apple App Store. Yes, Blackberry, in turns of their marketplace, is where Android was three years ago. And if people had written off the first Android devices for lack of apps, then we would not have all the great mobile advancements that we have today. We also would not have all these great mobile devices at prices that average consumers can afford.
Competition is the key to low mobile prices...
If Apple were the only mobile device maker, I doubt we will see new versions of their devices at the same prices as the ones that are being replaced. If Samsung and HTC were not duking it out for world dominance, I doubt prices of their flagship devices would be comparable.
The Blackberry Z10 has some technology advancements that are pretty sweet. My fellow Verizon Savers Voices bloggers and I have been keeping in close touch, not with Facebook or some other social media tool, but by using the Blackberry Messenger (BBM) feature on our Blackberry Z10's.
When we all met in Chicago for device training, we transferred contact information to each other using NFC by touching Z10's. Then we formed a BBM Group so that we can all chat by just using our Z10's. This feature has made it very convenient for us to interact, like a private social club. Even though we all have a Verizon Voices online community where we can interact, no one is using it because BBM is so convenient.
It's a very sweet technology that is currently only available for Blackberry users. But Blackberry will be opening up BBM for Apple and Android users as a FREE app in the Apple Store and on Google Play.
Blackberry has come up with a great technology advancement that Android and Apple users will be also be able to use soon - and we will all be able to use it for FREE.
Healthy competition in the mobile space in the only way consumers will win the price war.
So I welcome the fact that with this review I may have to wait a while for an app to available in the Blackberry Marketplace or that I will have to do some digging to find apps to sideload on my Blackberry Z10 (just sideloaded Flipbook, Hootsuite, and Instgram) to make the device better for my personal use. Because I know from watching the mobile space over the last three years that a mobile underdog could be the top dog within just a short span of time.
And because competition means we can get our technology at a price we can afford.
Enjoy!
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