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2013 is an incredibly important year for the company formerly known as RIM. The newly-christened BlackBerry is fighting for its life, having seen its previously impressive market share eaten away by Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Its latest handset is one of its most revolutionary: not only ditches the keyboard interface which has made the brand so famous over the years and but also fully embraces the world of touchscreens after briefly flirting with the concept on the BlackBerry Storm. The Z10 also showcases BlackBerry 10, a complete revision of the company's previous operating system which is based around touch and gesture commands.In a market already flooded with touchscreen devices, abandoning the one thing which makes BlackBerry unique - its keyboard - is a massive gamble, but it's clear that change had to happen. Mobile users are now accustomed to large displays, touch interfaces and massive, well-stocked app stores. BlackBerry had to evolve and adapt rather than attempt to consolidate its rapidly-shrinking share of the pie. However, is the Z10 - along with the BB10 OS - simply too little, too late?
The design of the Z10 is about as far removed from previous BlackBerry devices as it's possible to get. The designers have clearly taken plenty of inspiration from Apple's recent iPhone offerings, with plenty of rounded edges and straight, clean lines. The phone's 768x1280 pixel 4.2-inch screen isn't likely to trouble the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Google Nexus 4, but it's slightly larger than the one seen on the iPhone 5 and is easy enough to interact with without getting finger strain. Above and below the screen are two large plastic chunks which make the phone longer than it really needs to be, but the Z10 is hardly a monster handset.
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