BlackBerry, the ailing Canadian manufacturer, kicked off its struggle to turn the company around back in January when it first announced the BlackBerry 10 operating system. Two new smartphones were announced at the event, the BlackBerry Z10 and the Q10. Our review of the BlackBerry Z10 praised the new smartphone highly for its good design, striking build quality and its new platform which puts it among the best performing smartphones of the market. However, both of these devices were primarily targeted towards high-end markets, as they cost well over $500 both on and off contract. The company had said that they would be releasing multiple devices this year, and that mid-range markets wouldn’t be left out of BB10 goodness. Enter BlackBerry Q5, a smartphone that was just announced by the company. It touts a touchscreen as well as the iconic QWERTY keyboard that BlackBerry devices are known all over the world for.

Announced today at the BlackBerry Live 2013 conference, the company says that BlackBerry Q5 is made for emerging markets. It is set to be made available in selected markets of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia (including the Asia Pacific region), and Latin America this July. They’ve not said anything about the price, but we can expect that information to come in over the next couple of weeks.

As far as the technical specifications of BlackBerry Q5 are concerned, they too have been left out of the official press release. All that is told is that this portrait device has a 3.1 inch touchscreen coupled with the iconic BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard. Based on what I have heard from various sources, the BlackBerry Q5 may tout a 1.2GHz dualcore processor with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a 5 megapixel camera on the back and a 1,600 mAh+ battery. This is merely speculation based on information received from multiple sources, we can’t be sure until the official specs come in from BlackBerry itself.

The BlackBerry Q5 will ship with BB 10.1 OS pre-installed and will offer enhanced software features such as Instant Action, HDR mode in camera, PIN to PIN messaging in BlackBerry Hub and a decent amount of apps made specifically for BlackBerry 10 in the App World. BlackBerry Messenger with voice, video chat as well as screen share will be on board as well. BlackBerry Q5 will be available in White, Black, Red and Pink colors.

Well, Samsung is finally bringing its latest offering; the Galaxy S4, state-side. The phone with its fantastic set of features including a 5-inch Super AMOLED 1080p full-HD screen, a 13 Megapixel camera and a fantastic new slew of features including air-gestures. < --more-->

Here is how you can order the phone on the carriers officially selected by Samsung.

T-Mobile

You can order the Galaxy S4 on T-Mobile on April 24th, 2013 via tmobile.com. While the phone will be available at T-Mobile’s stores on May 1st, 2013. The phone will be priced according to T-Mobile’s new ‘uncarrier’ pricing slab. Which essentially means that you will pay US$ 149.99 for the handset upfront, and US$ 20 a month for the next 2 years (24 months).

AT&T

The handset is available on AT&T via att.com. The phone comes in two flavours at AT&T; 16 GB and 32 GB models, costing US$ 199.99 and US$ 249.99 respectively if you sign up for a two-year contract with the cellular service provider. In case you are going for an unbranded version of the phone, it will cost you US$ 639.99.

Verizon

Verizon has not yet confirmed either pricing or availability details for Samsung’s latest flagship product.

Sprint

Sprint will launch the Galaxy S4 on April 27th, 2013. The 16 GB version of the handset will cost you US$ 249.99 alongside a 2 year contract with Sprint. Whilst new Sprint customers will get the handset for US$ 149.99 (2 year contract).

All of the said versions of the device will be available on Walmart, with AT&T offering a special price at Walmart for US$ 168.

Other retailers will also be offering the device, namely; Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Best Buy, Costco and Target.

Back at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia invited a select group of people to an invite only briefing. In that briefing the Finnish manufacturer showed this select group of people that Nokia Catwalk. Catwalk is the internal codename for Lumia 920′s successor. Those who saw it up close reported that the Nokia Catwalk is made out of aluminium, which means that it is going to be thinner and lighter than the Lumia 920. No images have previously been leaked, but today a couple of allegedly leaked images were posted on Sina Weibo, which is China’s Twitter.

As per previous reports, the internal specifications of the Nokia Catwalk Lumia smartphone are similar to those of the 920. The device is said to tout a 4.5″ OCTA display. It will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM. Internal storage will be at 16GB and there will be a 2,000 mAh battery. On the back an 8.7 OIS camera with LED flash can be found. The three dots for wireless charging can also be found on the back. It will be running Windows Phone 8, that’s pretty obvious as the entire Lumia line is based on Windows Phone. The new aluminium body makes this smartphone some 50 grams lighter and 2.3 millimeters thinner than the Lumia 920. That is a substantial difference, one that justifies switching from the 920 to the company’s upcoming flagship.

According to several reports the Nokia Catwalk smartphone will be released on the 15th of May, which is less than a month way. It is expected to be available in various markets by the end of June. No details on pricing or exact availability as of now. Nokia itself has not commented on these leaked images, though various sources are now confirming that this is indeed the Nokia Catwalk smartphone, one that is set to take over the Lumia 920.

Huawei announced the Ascend W1 back in January, it was the Chinese manufacturer’s first phone powered by Windows Phone 8 OS. Its specifications are in line with mid-range WP8 devices. Some time back it was rumored that Huawei was working on another device that would run on the same platform, yet it was going to be a high-end device, matching specifications of some of the top Windows Phone 8 smartphones. Now the Huawei Ascend W2 specs have allegedly leaked, leading us to believe that the company indeed has a second WP8 smartphone.

The leaked Huawei Ascend W2 specs point at a 1.5Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video recording, a 4.3-inch 720p HD IPS touchscreen display, Bluetooth, GPS, HSPA+, Wi-Fi and a 2000 mAh battery pack. These leaked Ascend W2 specs fail to mention the internal storage of the device and if there’s an option for external storage via microSD cards. The source of this rumor claims that the release date of Ascend W2 was November 15, 2012. This is ambiguous, as the date has already passed and still the company has not officially announced the device. Apart from these Ascend W2 specs, the rumor also mentions a price point of $289, which is reasonable considering the hardware specifications of this smartphone.

Huawei confirmed last month that they would be releasing a new smartphone in Summer, though they didn’t mention whether that is going to be based on Android or Windows Phone 8. As of now, the Ascend W1 is its only offering on Microsoft’s mobile platform, which is largely dominated by the Nokia Lumia series.

via Intomobile

Earlier today the HTC First, a.k.a Facebook Phone, was officially announced at a press conference held at the social network’s Menlo Park headquarters. HTC CEO came on stage for a few moments and remarked that HTC First is going to be the ultimate social smartphone. It was interesting to note that he did not talk about the specifications of HTC First during his time on stage, the focus was entirely on Facebook Home, as it should have been. There’s nothing too special about the First, it is a standard mid-range Android smartphone.

Since yesterday a lot of misinformation is being spread around about AT&T HTC One. People have been lead to believe different forms of pricing and various availability schedules. Today AT&T has officially announced HTC One and has revealed all pricing and availability related details. No word as to when other major US based carriers are going to go ahead with their own announcements.

Even after the release of Samsung’s highly lauded Galaxy S 4, rumors surrounding the Samsung Galaxy line up never stop. This time it is the official Samsung Galaxy S4′s Game Pad page on the dedicated micro-site that is talking about supporting bigger screen sizes.

The Galaxy Note II carries an almost giant-for-a-smartphone screen size at 5.5 inches, it looks like the phablet lineup is looking for even bigger dimensions. The Samsung Galaxy Note collection of smartphones blurs the line between smartphones and tablets with their vibrant and larger screens, and come equipped with a stylus. The latest Galaxy Note II device sports an enormous 5.5 inches large display. But if the rumors are true, even this size would be overshadowed by that of Samsung Galaxy Note 3′s.

As far as the Game Pad is concerned, it is a Bluetooth game controller for Samsung phones which was revealed at the Galaxy S4 launch. The company had also launched a dedicated micro-site for Galaxy S4 to go along with it where Game Pad has been given its own page. The official blurb says that the Game Pad will work for screen sizes of “4- to 6.3-inches” which of course suggests that Samsung’s next generation of Note will be bringing a bigger screen.

This might be a trick from Samsung to future-proof its gaming devices and accessories but this much size might not hit the cords well. Previously rumors coming from Korea had too suggested that Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be sporting a 6.3-inch display so this news does not come as a shocker.

Among the criticism of size of Note II earlier, the smartphone did acquire a large fanbase in UK, US and Asian markets but more increased size might affect this fandom since even the largest hands cannot play around a 6.3″ phone – imagine the horrors of taking calls on that phone when you can’t find any earphones. But let’s not be too pessimistic and play wait-N-see until Samsung reveals some details about the device.

Intel unveiled their latest Clover Trail+ SOC (System On Chip) at the Mobile World Congress 2013 equipped with a Dual Core CPU and faster graphics. Clover Trail+ is still based on the 32nm architecture and retains most features from the original Clover Trail SOC but includes faster graphical performance and an extra core which come handy in computational tasks for smartphones and Tablets.

Finally Google is all set to be in the war of smartphones of the year giving both Samsung and Apple some good sleepless nights. Rumours were all announcing a Motorola X Phone by the search engine giant. But Google just confirmed these rumours of Google coming up with an iPhone killer Motorola phone by confirming the existence of Motorola X phone.

Minds behind this phone kept playing hide N seek without giving a single word about this phone out until recently company posted a job listing that clearly states the need of a qualified and ambitious leader who could carry Motorola X-Phone forward. Reports are claiming that Google will launch Motorola X-Phone at Google I/O 2013 – developers’ meet-up, set to happen in June.

Just a couple of days back Research in Motion, now known as BlackBerry, officially announced the new BlackBerry Z10. The announcement was made in six major cities around the world, which included New York, Paris, London, Toronto, Johannesburg, Toronto and Dubai. I was lucky enough to be present at one of those events, and was also able to get my hands on a brand new BlackBerry Z10. Check out the exclusive new BlackBerry Z10 unboxing pictures down below.

BlackBerry Z10 Unboxing Pictures:

In these BlackBerry Z10 unboxing pictures you will notice that the box and device packaging is a bit unorthodox, that’s because this is not the retail version which will be sold out to end users through various network partners, as well as off contract.

As is evident from these BlackBerry Z10 unboxing pictures, the company has really gone all in with this device. They have redone their entire design strategy and have fashioned a remarkable product. BB10 OS is definitely a refreshing alternative to the monotony that we have been seeing in iOS and Android, on the other hand the hardware specifications of the Z10 could have been better.

In a couple of days we will be posting a detailed review of the new BlackBerry Z10 as well as its comparisons with various other smartphones that are dominating the global market as of now. If you have any question related to BlackBerry or this new device in particular, simply leave a comment down below.