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Within a few hours after BlackBerry Messenger was made available to the Android and iOS platforms, the Canadian smartphone maker, on Thursday launched another premium device the BlackBerry Z30 for Rs 39,990. The device will be available in retail outlets next week, expecting a good demand during the festive season.
The 5-inch screen device runs a 1.7GHz processor, quad-core Adreno GPU, has 2GB RAM, a 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera. The device is priced competitively as the maximum retail price of a matching product from its competitors like Apple, Samsung or HTC is higher. BlackBerry, however, does not have any plan to enter the lower end of the market. “We were going through a transition phase. It took time. We decided to stay in the premium segment. We do not have any plan to bring devices for $100,” said BlackBerry India Managing Director Sunil Lalwani.
In an attempt to regain a foothold in the Indian smartphone market, the company hopes to catch the fancy of the urban youth with BlackBerry Z30 that runs on a tweaked BB10 OS, version 10.2. “BlackBerry Z30 is the ultimate smartphone for the urban youth and consumers who are looking for a bigger screen size, long-lasting battery and a best in class productivity experience,” said Lalwani.
The updated version of the operating system includes features like BlackBerry Priority Hub, which analyses usage patterns to find out important contacts and BlackBerry Messanger (BBM), which displays required notifications, even if any other App is in use. This update will also be available to Z10 and Q5 users this weekend and the update for Q10 will be rolled out soon.
Like other devices, the company will offer equated monthly instalments schemes for Z30.
The company is also planning to launch its cloud functionality services in India within the next few months. “This would essentially cater to the small and medium enterprises. We are yet to decide the launch date,” he said.
