Looking perhaps to ride the buzz being generated by Samsung’s expected unveiling of a new smartphone, BlackBerry and Verizon Wireless announced that the carrier would begin taking pre-orders on the latest BlackBerry Z10 device March 14, with shipments expected to begin on March 28.
The device, which launched in the United Kingdom, Canada and Latin America earlier this year and in limited domestic channels, will be available in black and white, with the white model exclusive to Verizon Wireless. The carrier said the device will run across its LTE network allowing it to take advantage of BlackBerry’s BBM video chatting and screen sharing capabilities.
Pricing for the device is set at $200 with a two-year contract.
The Z10, along with the forth-coming Q10, which sports a traditional BlackBerry physical keyboard, are seen as significant steps in the company’s attempt to re-gain market share in the smartphone space it has lost to rivals Apple and Samsung.
For domestic wireless carriers, the commercial launch of the new BlackBerry could provide yet another chance to offer consumers a compelling third option in the mobile operating system space. Currently, Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iOS dominate the smartphone sales charts, with a handful of alternatives trying to grab hold of the No. 3 position.
Canalys reported last year that BlackBerry was the No. 5 vendor of smartphones during the third quarter with 4.2% market share and shipping 7.3 million units worldwide. The results were down from No. 4 position BlackBerry held during the third quarter of 2011, when it shipped 11.8 million units. During the most recent quarter, Samsung, which relies on Google’s Android OS for a vast majority of its smartphone sales, was far and away the No. 1 smartphone vendor shipping 55.5 million devices for 32% of the market. Apple occupied the No. 2 position with a 15.5% share, followed by Sony at 5.1% and HTC at 4.8%.
LG eyes Optimus G
Samsung rival LG also looked to glean some of that buzz itself by announcing its Optimus G Pro smartphone would support the company’s Smart Video feature that will allow eye recognition to control video playback.
“Through the implementation of advanced eye recognition technology, Smart Video recognizes the position of the viewer’s eyes and automatically plays or stops the video without any manual input from the user,” LG explained. “When the viewer’s eyes are no longer focused on the smartphone display, the front camera recognizes this and immediately pauses the video automatically. Once the user’s gaze returns to the smartphone, the video resumes playback from the point last viewed.”
LG also rattled off a number of other enhancements to the device, including the ability to take simultaneous pictures with both front and rear cameras.
The device is set to launch in Korea in the coming weeks, with an U.S. launch expected sometime during the second quarter.
Samsung is expected to unveil its latest smartphone creation during an event in New York City Thursday afternoon. Rumors have that device sporting some form of eye recognition technology.
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