The BlackBerry Z10 gets its official launch in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, 11 April 2013 – BlackBerry® (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB) today launched the new BlackBerry® Z10 smartphone in Hong Kong. The BlackBerry Z10 (all touch) is the first BlackBerry smartphone to launch with the re-designed, re-engineered, and re-invented BlackBerry 10 platform, which offers customers a faster, smarter and smoother experience than any other BlackBerry smartphone they have used before. The BlackBerry Z10 is now available from 1O1O, 3 Hong Kong, China Mobile Hong Kong, one2free, PCCW mobile, SmarTone and authorized retailers.

In Hong Kong for the launch, Frank Boulben, Chief Marketing Officer, BlackBerry said, “Hong Kong is an important market for BlackBerry and we have enjoyed a fantastic and growing relationship with our partners, distributors, developers and the media since bringing BlackBerry here in 2002. With BlackBerry 10, we have re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry to create a new and unique mobile computing experience, and we are uniquely positioned to change the way in which our customers use mobile technology. The BlackBerry Z10 with BlackBerry 10 is designed to help customers achieve success, however they define it. Every feature, every gesture, and every detail is designed to keep you moving, whether at work or at play.”

Available in two colours, Black and White, and with Chinese UI and handwriting support, the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone is elegant and distinctive, and the fastest, most advanced BlackBerry smartphone yet. It features a 1.5 GHz dual core processor with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32GB cards. The smartphone also includes the latest enhancements in high density pixel and screen technology to display clear, sharp, and incredibly vivid images. It features a micro HDMI out port for presentations on an HD TV or monitor, and advanced sensors such NFC (near field communications) to support mobile payments and the exchange of information with a tap of the smartphone.

Highlights of BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry 10 is a robust and reliable platform that is smooth and responsive. It has a modern design and a gesture-based interface that is highly discoverable. It is designed to support, learn, and adapt to the way you work and share with features like:

• The ever present BlackBerry® Hub, which  brings all your conversations together in one easy to manage place that you can access at any time from any app with a simple “peek”, so you’re always only one swipe away from what matters to you.
• BlackBerry® Flow, where the BlackBerry 10 experience excels by enabling features and apps to flow seamlessly together, helping you complete the task at hand effortlessly and efficiently. For example, you can tap on an attendee listed for a meeting to see their latest tweet or LinkedIn profile. Or tap the thumbnail of a picture you just took to launch the Picture editor and quickly apply a transformation or filter, then instantly share it with your contacts.
• A keyboard that understands and adapts to you, that learns what words you use and how you use them, then offers them up to you so you can type faster and more accurately.
• BBM (BlackBerry® Messenger), which lets you harness the power of collaboration and exchange ideas in an instant. BBM in BlackBerry 10 includes voice calling and video chat, and lets you share your screen with another BlackBerry 10 contact.
• BlackBerry® Balance™ technology, which elegantly separates and secures work applications and data from personal content and lets you instantly switch between your personal and professional profile for easy access to work apps and data.
• Time Shift, an astonishing camera feature that lets you capture a group shot where everyone is smiling with their eyes wide open. Story Maker, which lets you bring a collection of photos and videos together, along with music and effects, to produce an HD movie that you can instantly share.   
• The new BlackBerry 10 browser, which sets the industry benchmark for HTML5 support on smartphones, is incredibly fast. Scrolling or zooming is fluid and responsive. The browser includes many advanced features, supports multiple tabs, lets you browse sites privately, includes a reader mode, and integrates with the platform for easily sharing content.
• BlackBerry® Remember, which helps you tackle tasks quickly with a new way to collect, organize and action all the information sitting in different places across your smartphone. If your BlackBerry 10 smartphone is set up with a work account, your Microsoft® Outlook® Tasks will automatically be wirelessly synced with BlackBerry Remember. If you have configured an Evernote account with your smartphone, BlackBerry Remember will sync Evernote workbooks as well.
• BlackBerry® Safeguard technology that helps protect what is important to you, and the business you work for.
• Built-in support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync® so your BlackBerry Z10 smartphone can be simply connected and managed as other ActiveSync devices in a company, or enabled with BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10 to gain secure access to work email, “behind the firewall” applications and data, and benefit from other security and enterprise mobility management features.
• The BlackBerry® World™ storefront, which now includes more than 100,000 BlackBerry 10 apps. In addition, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare apps for BlackBerry 10 are preinstalled, and BlackBerry 10 customers will have access to leading applications from across the globe. BlackBerry has also been working with local partners and developers to bring various applications to the new platform, including 24Reader, Apple Daily, Coach’s Clipboard, Hong Kong Movie, Mahjong World, OpenRice, and WeChat.

For more information on the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, please visit hk.blackberry.com/BlackBerryZ10.