I’m excited about the new BlackBerry 10 devices and I hope you are too. Definitely one of my favorite features and one we’ve highlighted often is the “peek” functionality to view emails, your calendar, or other apps.

To give you a better idea of how the “peek” functionality of BlackBerry 10 devices can help make it easier for you to get things done, I wanted to share a typical situation we often face: coordinating hangout time with a group of friends.

Usually you begin by opening your email, or BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) creating a new appointment, returning to the email “home” screen to check your email, clicking through to return to the appointment, finishing creating the appointment, and then sending it to your friends. If you also have to look up their contact information, that’s even another step.

I’ve found this is all way easier on a BlackBerry 10 device with peek functionality; you have the ability to “peek” back into your calendar while creating the appointment, as well as the ability to “peek” back to your contacts without leaving the appointment screen.

This is just one example, but I love being able to peek between games, the web browser, email and Maps. It’s all about making life a little easier and letting you keep moving.

How do you or will you use peek on your BlackBerry Z10 or BlackBerry Q10? Let us know.

If you watched Thorsten Heins and Vivek Bhardwaj demonstrate BlackBerry 10 at BlackBerry Jam Americas, you may have seen a glimpse of two cool features Thorsten called “BlackBerry Hub” and “BlackBerry Flow.” While these two technologies aren’t all that BlackBerry 10 has in store, they are two of the features you’re probably going to use a lot once you score your new mobile device. You’ve seen the demos, now here are 5 things it means for everyday users like us:

1. BlackBerry Hub is baked in. There’s no app to download and no QR code to scan to install BlackBerry Hub. As soon as you wake up your device, Hub is running and is always just a swipe away from anywhere in BlackBerry 10.
2. BlackBerry Hub is united. Replacing the traditional inbox, BlackBerry Hub combines your email, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) messages, tweets, Facebook messages, appointments and more in a complete, always-on information source.
3. BlackBerry Flow is seamless. As some apps overlap features, it can be a challenge to keep track of which app is handling which function. With BlackBerry Flow, it doesn’t matter since you can run several apps and simply slide from one to the next without losing your place.
4. BlackBerry Flow saves time. How many times have you been typing an email and needed to add the email address of a co-worker from your contacts? I find myself in this situation a lot – BlackBerry 10 reduces the hassle and interruption of closing one thing to get information from another . Can you imagine having the ability to slide an email to the side then search your contacts for an email address? I’ve been using it for a while and these subtle nuances add up to an amazing mobile experience.
5. Hub and Flow are a part of a “new user paradigm.” Okay, I borrowed this line from Thorsten’s keynote. But when you think about it, BlackBerry 10 is a bigger shift in how you interact with your smartphone than a simple change of scenery. It’s a change of experience.

What did you think of the demos around BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Flow? What more do you want to know about these great new features? What are you looking forward to seeing? Sound off in the comments!

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To show my dedication to you, #TeamBlackBerry, I set out to make a new video for the Inside BlackBerry Blog that shows off BlackBerry Flow with a series of common tasks being performed one-handed. I faced a small problem, though – with all the BlackBerry 10 experts on the road talking to partners and press, it’s been hard to find time in their busy schedules. So I tracked down my friend and BlackBerry 10 expert Jeff and, ahem, stole a bit of his time to show me a bit more about Flow.

Here’s how it went down:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Disclaimer – No Jeffs were harmed in the making of this video. We spent a few hours filming as a bit of fun for our amazing fans eagerly awaiting launch.

Let us know what you think about BlackBerry 10 in the comments below – and stay tuned to the Inside BlackBerry Blog for updates.

We know there’s growing belief and excitement in BlackBerry ® 10. More than anything, we know it because you’ve told us. But in the spirit of us banding together and sharing our excitement, I’d like to ask what features of BlackBerry 10 excite you most. Have you heard enough about the new BlackBerry devices to find one defining reason to believe, or are you still waiting for the surprises we still have in store? The countdown is on: 10 weeks until the BlackBerry 10 launch event. This calls for a vote!

We know our fans love to be heard, so give yourself the chance to be heard again in our latest “Be Bold and Vote” poll:

As an added bonus for voting, we’ve created some custom BlackBerry 10 countdown BBM™ Avatars for you to mark off the days. Let us know which one you’re rocking in the comments below.

10 to 10	10 Weeks – Spin	10 Weeks – Radial	Flip Clock

To change your BBM Display Picture:

1. Right-click on the avatar of your choice and select “Save picture as” to save it to your computer.
2. Email the file to the email address associated with your BlackBerry smartphone.
3. Open the image on your BlackBerry smartphone.
4. Press the menu button to “Download Attachment”.
5. In BBM, set the new file as your profile picture.

Send in your vote and chime in with your own thoughts in the comments section. It’s time to get excited!

One of my favorite things about working as a community and blog manager for BlackBerry ® is getting to talk to you and provide updates on our products. Each day on our social channels fans, followers and readers ask, when will BlackBerry ® 10 launch? It is clear you’re excited to get your hands on it, and we definitely can’t wait to get it to you.

Today, I’m happy to report that Thorsten Heins, in a press release, announced that the BlackBerry 10 Launch event is to be held on January 30, 2013. The event will happen simultaneously in multiple countries around the world, where details of the smartphones and their availability will be announced. Here’s the message that Thorsten passed along in the release.

“In building BlackBerry 10, we set out to create a truly unique mobile computing experience that constantly adapts to your needs. Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities. All of this will be integrated into a user experience – the BlackBerry Flow – that is unlike any smartphone on the market today,” said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research In Motion. “Thanks to our strong partnerships with global carriers and a growing ecosystem of developers, we believe our customers will have the best experience possible with BlackBerry 10. We are looking forward to getting BlackBerry 10 in the hands of our customers around the world.”

As we’ve covered at events like BlackBerry World ™ and BlackBerry Jam Americas, BlackBerry 10 promises to offer exciting features like BlackBerry Flow, BlackBerry ® Hub, BlackBerry ® Balance ™, and the iconic and innovative BlackBerry Keyboard. Thanks to the diligent work from the dedicated BlackBerry developer community, it also will feature a large catalog of the leading applications from across the globe.

So what do you say, Team BlackBerry? Are you excited for BlackBerry 10? Keep it locked to the Inside BlackBerry blogs for the latest BlackBerry 10 updates and let us know what you’re most excited about in the comments below.

What BlackBerry 10 features are you most excited to explore? Let us know in the comments below!