BlackBerry Z10 in India for Rs 43,490: What else you need to know

BlackBerry has just launched its new device, the BlackBerry Z10 in India. Now, the price for this device is Rs 43,490 which many are seeing as too steep. In fact the number was even trending on Twitter on Monday, with many people feeling that this is too high a price-tag for a smartphone. However according to Sunil Dutt, the Managing Director of BlackBerry 10, the pricing is justified. He said at the launch when asked about the high-price, that, ‘In the mind of the consumers, pricing is not a barrier." In his view, for BlackBerry lovers, the high-price won’t stop them from trying out the Z10 as it was something they have been waiting for. While the price is debatable and many might feel that BlackBerry is just targeting high-end consumers with such pricing, BlackBerry also showcased a bunch of features for the new smartphone. The BB 10 is clearly not just a device which is trying to compete with raw specs but largely on the basis of some features that it  hopes will set the BB 10 apart from the competition. (Read Android and iOS) The launch was largely dedicated to these features which were intent on emphasising that BlackBerry is now more intuitive and perfect for all those who are hyper-connected. So what is so new in the BlackBerry 10 OS? We take a look at the key features: [caption id=“attachment_638928” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ranbir Kapoor (L) poses with the BlackBerry Z10 as Managing Director for BlackBerry India, Sunil Dutt looks on at the country launch of the BlackBerry Z10 in Mumbai. AFP[/caption] The Social Hub: This feature allows users to sync all their social networks - Facebook, Email, Gmail, Twitter, LinkedIn, BBM etc - and access notifications, messages etc from the Hub itself. This is quite a smart addition to the BB10 especially because many of us tend to open lots of apps simultaneously and switching between them can be a pain. For BB’s hardcore corporate users this is probably the best addition in terms of features. The BlackBerry Balance: This is again a feature aimed at all those hardcore corporate users. This allows users to divide their device into work and play. Your works apps and email are separate and your office IT admin has access to this, while the personal apps are separate and the IT admin does not have access to these. The advantage of this is that you are not worried about your IT admin getting remote access to everything on your smartphone. This is also BlackBerry’s way of challenging the two device path that a lot of people take, one with their personal email and Facebook and Twitter, etc and another with the official email and work related apps. With Balance BlackBerry is trying hard to merge work and play into one device for a lot of corporate users. Swipe and Keyboard: BlackBerry 10 is completely based on Swipe gestures. To move in and out of an app you need to Swipe, in the dead centre of the phone as we tried out. As BlackBerry’s MD pointed, the whole logic behind this was to ensure that users don’t have to keep pressing a back button or a Home slot to move out. While Swipe does take some getting used to, especially since you have to do this in the centre and not anywhere else, that doesn’t mean it’s not convenient or that you can’t get used to this. BlackBerry is clearly taking aim at all those Android phones with their back and home buttons. The Keyboard is based on predictive text. As Vivek Bhardwaj, BlackBerry’s software head, showed in the demo, the keyboard even corrects errors when say, you forget to use the space key. Again all the typing is based on Swipe gestures and that will take getting used to, especially for those who are used to a regular iPhone or Android touch-screen keyboard. Apps: This is the defining feature for any smartphone and while we heard mention of Skype and Angry Birds (yawn, yawn), the fact is that a lot of app developers aren’t creating native apps for the BlackBerry 10. For instance, there were reports earlier , that Instagram was not going to create a native app for the OS. BlackBerry did show off two apps made by Indian developers at the launch. The HDFC banking app and the PVR’s NFC wallet app. The Q10 was also spotted at the launched, and this device which comes with a QWERTY keyboard will be out in mid-summer in India. According to the rumour buzz, the price is likely to be between Rs 15,000 to 20,000.