New York Mag's BlackBerry 10 demo unit dies after only four days

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
In a tongue-in-cheek review published on Friday, New York Magazine tells the story of a demo BlackBerry Z10 which, after multiple software issues including numerous crashes, died after only four days of testing.

Z10
The now-dead BlackBerry Z10. | Source: New York Magazine


The piece, dubbed a "eulogy" by New York Magazine's Kevin Roose, said the BlackBerry Z10 test unit was offered up by the company's public relations team shortly after the device was announced on Jan. 30, and subsequently became unusable on Feb. 3.

While Roose commented on a few of the so-called "revolutionary" features of the Z10, like 70,000 available launch apps and a unique system that toggles the BB10 OS between work and home use, the article is peppered with a host of negatives. For example, besides the lack of apps like Netflix, Skype and Instagram that are common to rival smartphones, the BlackBerry unit suffered from multiple crashes.

Overall, it appears as though Roose was underwhelmed by the product:
BlackBerry Z10, you were a piece of crap, but you were my piece of crap. And I'll miss you. Whenever I pick up my iPhone from now on, I'll be looking at a solid, functional, well-designed piece of hardware with working apps and the ability to outlive a green banana. But I'll be thinking of you.
The BlackBerry Z10 and the physical keyboard-carrying Q10 are seen by many as being BlackBerry's last attempt at regaining a foothold in the smartphone market it once dominated.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 92
    dreyfus2dreyfus2 Posts: 1,072member
    "Tongue in cheek"? That's an accomplished summary execution... I'll take the banana.
  • Reply 2 of 92
    Blackberry will probably get away with it. If there ever any hint of iPhones failing after 10 days, it would be immediately dubbed "10-day-gate," and blown out of proportion by blogs and competitors.
  • Reply 3 of 92
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    "But I'll be thinking of you."

    Heck, I'd be thinking of my iPhone every time I looked at the design of that BlackBerry. For some odd reason...

    Samsung should sue them over the shape. There are a million ways to shape a black, rectangular, touch-based phone. They don't ALL look like Apple's. That's Samsung's thing, and they should defend it.
  • Reply 4 of 92
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member


    deleted

  • Reply 5 of 92


    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post

    Blackberry will probably get away with it. If there ever any hint of iPhones failing after 10 days, it would be immediately dubbed "10-day-gate," and blown out of proportion by blogs and competitors.


     


    4 days. 


     


    That's interesting; I read it that way at first, too. We must both have insanely-mild, subconscious dyslexia or something. image





    Originally Posted by MacRulez View Post

    Time for a little editorial adjustment with the layout of the front page - currently the headline for this article is directly above:


     


    "Apple's iOS 6.1 reportedly causing 3G and battery issues for some iPhone users"


     


    If AppleInsider is going to devote space to hit pieces on products that have nothing to do with Apple, it would be less cringingly ironic if they weren't directly juxtaposed against headlines that paint a similarly dim view of Apple products.



     


    Or maybe you could go to a site you don't hate with every fiber of your being?

  • Reply 6 of 92


    Apple has nothing to worry about from RIM.


     


     


    MS, Google, RIM, HP, Motorola, Sony, Samsung are making substandard software/hardware.

  • Reply 7 of 92
    Manufacturing flaws in early production happen to everyone sometimes. The company previously known as RIM has the resources to iron out the process for the next batch. The instability was likely caused by the defect so a proper review was not possible. It's still embarrassing as hell.
  • Reply 8 of 92


    One would think RIM would be providing ringers to the press - just to make sure this type of thing doesn't happen.  It will be interesting to see what percentage of failure per handset they end up having.

  • Reply 9 of 92
    I like my iPhone but it's not like Apple hasn't had defective units before. If this type of failure with the Z10 becomes commonplace, then there might be an actual issue. Otherwise, it's just an unfortunate occurrence that is not representative of the brand/device.

    If New York magazine would like to make this into a bigger deal than it actually is, then it's just another example of sensationalism via poor writing and low credibility.
  • Reply 10 of 92
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    It was actually an iPhone with a blackberry skin and hacked to run the new non apple os.  It was a result of tards trying to play genius.  Kinda like Iran and its stealth fighter.

  • Reply 11 of 92


    In other news, the company formerly known as RIM has hired the artist formerly known as Prince to be its Chief Industrial Designer...

  • Reply 12 of 92
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member


    Definitely an unfair article, as I doubt this is a common occurence and definitely an outlier case, but that doesnt make the article any less hilarious. The last paragraph is what makes it. 


     


    "BlackBerry Z10, you were a piece of crap, but you were my piece of crap. And I'll miss you. Whenever I pick up my iPhone from now on, I'll be looking at a solid, functional, well-designed piece of hardware with working apps and the ability to outlive a green banana. But I'll be thinking of you."

  • Reply 13 of 92
    Sure... Apple phones never die.

    Apple website trashing the competition..... GOOD JOB!
  • Reply 14 of 92
    robmrobm Posts: 1,068member


    "BlackBerry Z10, you were a piece of crap, but you were my piece of crap. And I'll miss you. Whenever I pick up my iPhone from now on, I'll be looking at a solid, functional, well-designed piece of hardware with working apps and the ability to outlive a green banana. But I'll be thinking of you


     


    Cant really call it unbiased journalism - but lmao

  • Reply 15 of 92
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dreyfus2 View Post



    I'll take the banana.


     


    CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 85

  • Reply 16 of 92
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by enrigonz View Post



    Sure... Apple phones never die.



    Apple website trashing the competition..... GOOD JOB!


     


    And you're doing what, exactly? Didn't you register on this site specifically to troll? I found the article funny, thats about it. It didn't make me come to any conclusions about the Z10, I'll do that when I actually try it out myself. Chill the **** out, get some fresh air. It's not that serious, nor can the Z10 be considered "competition" yet in any sense of the word. The iPhone is bashed daily on hundreds of sites, as is Apple, in a much more serious way than what this article did. Have you missed all the "IS APPLE DOOMED" headlines on every major site in the past couple months?

  • Reply 17 of 92
    robmrobm Posts: 1,068member


    Breaking News


     


    Blackberry shares double on the back of NY Magazine story of a working prototype.

  • Reply 18 of 92
    I am not sure the z10 died 4 days is valid or fake. My husband is having been using z10 prerelease version since last year, that z10 still alive.
  • Reply 19 of 92
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member


    What's up with the black bars at the top and bottom of the device?  That's in addition to the bezel.  Seems like a lot of wasted/non functional space.

  • Reply 20 of 92
    bbcanada wrote: »
    I am not sure the z10 died 4 days is valid or fake. My husband is having been using z10 prerelease version since last year, that z10 still alive.

    Yes, and there are people who never have issues with iOS 6 Maps, but you never hear about it. Just the sensational stuff gets repeated on blogs.
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