The news here at the BlackBerry 10 global launch event keeps coming. Just moments ago, Thorsten Heins introduced the new BlackBerry Z10, and now we’re having a look at the BlackBerry Q10. The iconic-looking device is built with high performance materials and premium finishes. Typing is fast, accurate and familiar on the larger ergonomic BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard.

Even though I love the keyboard, perhaps my favorite feature is the stunning touchscreen display – the largest ever on a BlackBerry QWERTY device. If you’re a fan of a physical QWERTY device experience, you’re going to love the BlackBerry Q10. All your information is displayed beautifully on the screen, and you can take action and respond to it as you choose thanks to the powerful and elegant BlackBerry 10 software.

To get a closer look at the BlackBerry Q10, we met with Vijai from the product management team to walk us through the device. Watch this video below to get up close and personal with this new BlackBerry device.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

The battery is designed to get you through your day smooth and efficiently. The browser is fast, the media experience is rich, and it’s all because of the built-in power of the BlackBerry 10 OS. Additionally, meticulous detail has been put into the design. The BlackBerry Q10 features a unique glass-weave material that is meant to be not only thinner and lighter, but stronger than plastic.

No matter what device you prefer – all-touch or QWERTY – these new BlackBerry 10 devices provide the best typing experience in the industry. Are you a QWERTY fanatic? Let us know your thoughts on the BlackBerry Q10 below.

You know that old expression: “If these walls could talk, they’d have a story to tell.” I’ve often wondered what kind of stories my BlackBerry smartphone would tell if it could speak. Since our smartphones travel with us everywhere, they get a behind-the-scenes look at our lives.

Take my morning routine, for instance:

• 6:00 a.m. – Wake up to the sound of the alarm clock on my BlackBerry smartphone, set to ‘Evolving Seaside’ on Volume level 8. Hit snooze twice.
• 6:21 a.m. – Catch up on the news in bed through Social Feeds.
• 6:45 a.m. – Go for my morning jog using one of my favorite BlackBerry apps for runners.
• 7:30 a.m. – Drive to the office with my BlackBerry smartphone connected via Bluetooth headset in case I get a call.
• 8:04am – Arrive at work (luckily, Waterloo is very small!). Check in with the Foursquare app.

During the day, my BlackBerry smartphone also knows what music I listen to, my favorite photos, my bookmarked websites, and that I never forget my friends’ birthdays (thanks to calendar integration on the latest Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones app).

So there you have it, me in a nutshell. What would your BlackBerry device say about you? Are you a morning person, a night owl, a gamer, or maybe a photographer? Let us know in the comments!

Via Flickr Creative Commons – by Tara Angkor Hotel

Last year, I wrote about BlackBerry Apps for Runners, which my wife and I have used while getting into running. Now I am by no means a hardcore diet or exercise fanatic, but I definitely care about staying in shape. So, I’ve equipped my BlackBerry smartphone with apps that help me monitor my fitness progress, and hopefully stick to my 2013 resolution.

Healthy living enthusiasts, here are some great apps available in the BlackBerry App World storefront to keep you going (or get you started).

• Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal, LLC: Monitor your food intake and exercise, plus set goals and view progress charts with this mobile app for your BlackBerry smartphone. A media darling, this mobile app has been featured in the news for its database of nearly 2 million foods and more than 350 exercises. And since I spend a good part of my day at my desk, a great bonus is that I can access my profile from the web too.

• Diet and Calorie Tracker by SparkPeople, Inc.: A major determinate of successful weight management is the setting and meeting of goals. This app excels in the ‘goals’ category, and really plays to the lazy guy in me by providing daily meal plans that keep me tracking towards my objectives. Since I like variety and get bored of the dieter’s ubiquitous chicken breast and grilled veggies, I use this Free Healthy Recipes app, also by SparkPeople, Inc. (FREE), for more than 200,000 dish ideas.

• Health Meter – Health Tracker Fitness Calculator by Pace MobiTech: This app allows users to quickly calculate their daily caloric needs by measuring BMI (Body Mass Index), BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), Body Fat and Hip-to-Waste Ratio. Other than my yearly check-up at the doctor or sporadic use of the scale at my gym, I have very little insight into these measurements. Having an app that does the math for me is a great help!

There are countless other BlackBerry device fitness apps in BlackBerry App World. Let us know some of your favorites in the comments below.

I’m a sports fanatic, and over the past few years I’ve noticed there’s a new game in sports. Sports teams, organizations, athletes, and even fantasy leagues are all online, using social media, chat forums, websites and more to captivate fans before, during and after games. If thumb typing were a sport, I’m pretty sure I could be the champion.

With football season in full swing both in North America and abroad, I’m amazed to see how fans interact with their favorite teams and players on social media. Want to check the score of the latest match? There are many sports apps that can help you out, but some might find it more useful to check Twitter® or Facebook®, for color commentary from passionate likeminded fans. You can also become a real armchair coach by tweeting with individual players to comment on that beauty touchdown, or to chirp that dreadful botched pass. Football is far from the only sport to go social – we’re seeing it everywhere:

• Throughout last baseball season, BlackBerry ® sponsored the Blue Jays BlackBerry Tweeting Tuesday program, where fans submit photos and explain why they should be called “Fan of the Game.” Not only does the winner receive digital glory, but they are highlighted on Canadian national TV after the game.
• Many consider World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE®), to be the Holy Grail for fan engagement. With more than 115 million followers across its social media channels – 10 million fans on Facebook alone – it has as firm a hold on its digital fanbase as its players do on their opponents.
• FOX Sports™ hired eight full-time employees dedicated to social media during NFL games this season. Whether good or bad, if an athlete tweets it, Fox knows about it. It certainly proved effective during the widely discussed substitute referee incidents early in the season.
• Trade Deadline Day in the National Hockey League has been changed forever because of social media updates about trades. (Remember the NHL?)
• We even got to see which Major League Baseball team won the World Series according to Twitter.

Using social media applications on your BlackBerry device allows you to not only follow, but also to engage with your favorite teams and athletes. Which teams and players are you following? Do you have any tricks on engaging with them on your BlackBerry device? Let us know in the comment section below.

Today, a superspy has to be covert, stealthy and they should carry a BlackBerry ® smartphone. I’ve channeled my inner Q, and in true secret agent fashion have identified some superspy must-have apps that are shaken, not stirred from the BlackBerry App World ™ storefront.

SecureMic by SecureMic Inc.: By activating the SecureMic, the microphone of your device is temporarily disabled, so that in the event of a “pocket dial”, your conversations are undetected. With SecureMic activated, your BlackBerry smartphone cannot be used as a listening device against you. A must-have app for any secret agent!

FingerPrint Lock By Pace MobiTech: A cool app for all the users who want complete high-tech security for their BlackBerry smartphone. It’s a unique lock that scans your finger and permits you to use your device. Forget all the boring smartphone locks and select the one that best suits an agent. *Note: Scanner lock doesn’t scan the fingerprint; rather, it detects the number of scans.

Phone Security Lite By Pace MobiTech: This app protects your confidential information and helps locate a lost or stolen BlackBerry smartphone. It also can be used for tracking your device, safeguarding your child, and possibly monitoring a suspected double agent. It is designed to give you total control over your BlackBerry device, no matter where it is.

Spy Camera by Oswald Designs: Take pictures silently with no flash with the Spy Camera app. Set the picture as Caller ID or wallpaper, share picture over BlackBerry ® Messenger ™ (BBM ™) Contact, BBM Group, email and Facebook®. You can also apply effects to pictures such as black and white, normal and sepia. Perfect for covert sting operations!

iSpy For BlackBerry by Ardour: Silently monitor your own BlackBerry device in real time. iSpy stealthy records the activities of your BlackBerry smartphone. Record SMS, call* and BBM chat activities and store the data afterward. When you want to view results, simply visit the app and enter the password to see the activity. *Note: Feature captures call logs, not audio.

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer and stay on top of all the intel from your BlackBerry smartphone. Let us know what gadget apps you find most helpful or just plain cool in the comments below!

NFC technology is included in a range of BlackBerry ® 7 smartphones. It can be used to easily set up data transfers, add contacts to BlackBerry ® Messenger (BBM™), or synch up with a BlackBerry ® Music Gateway. But it can make your life easier in many different ways, as demonstrated today by CIBC and Rogers with help from Canadian Olympic medalist and triathlete, Simon Whitfield. Simon made the first mobile credit card transaction at Tim Horton’s, where he purchased a coffee with his BlackBerry ® smartphone.

Here’s a quick video demonstrating how it works:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

This convenient feature is being rolled out in Canada first by our partners CIBC and Rogers. Starting November 16th, the CIBC Mobile Payment™ app will be ready for download and you can start using it to pay for coffee, groceries and other everyday purchases. Simply hold your BlackBerry smartphone up to any contactless payment terminals in merchants across Canada, and your purchase will be made instantly.

The app will be available on two smartphones on the Rogers wireless network – the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 smartphone. It will also require a Rogers’ suretap™ SIM card, as these devices have the ability to support secure contactless payments.

If you’re in Canada, check out Rogers Redboard to learn how to get started. This is just the beginning for NFC mobile payments and a glimpse into what you can look forward to in the future. Would you ditch your wallet and use your smartphone to pay for purchases? Let us know in the comments below.

What an exciting time of year for sports fans! Football is in full swing, and the Fall Classic starts today in the world of baseball after another exciting postseason. During this time of year, with so many different sports to keep track of, I use my BlackBerry ® smartphone and BlackBerry ® PlayBook ™ tablet to stay updated. If you’re a sports fan, you’re probably doing the same. According to a survey by Motricity, 55 percent of sports fans surveyed admitted to checking game info on their devices at dinner, 50 percent while using the restroom, and 42 percent while at work. I’ve done all three!

For sports enthusiasts who are constantly on the go, here are some impressive apps for your BlackBerry smartphone or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that will help you keep track of your favorite sports:

• MLB.com at Bat 12 by MLB Advanced Media, LP: This is the official app of MLB, which makes it the closest thing to having a sportscaster in your back pocket. One of the app’s standout features is live radio broadcasting of both home and away games, which brings the game to you wherever you happen to be.

• ScoreMobile for BlackBerry by Score Media Ventures: This app has all the bells and whistles that hardcore sports fans require to keep track of their favorite teams while on the go, like up-to-the-minute stats and live updates. My favorite feature is the exclusive blog posting during live events, which I can reference when messaging about the game with friends through in-app BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) integration. This app includes coverage of MLB, National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), college football and basketball, and more!

• ScoreMobile Tablet by Score Media Ventures: I like this app because it’s optimized exclusively for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, which means it delivers all the same features and sports coverage as the smartphone app with video commentary, in both portrait and landscape views.

How do you follow your favorite sports team on your BlackBerry smartphone or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet? Let us know in the comments!

In this final post in the series, I’m going to walk through a few more advanced tips for managing your mail and reducing headaches that come with a constant inflow of messages.

Exploring Email Account Options

Today let’s dig deeper by discussing a few more advanced tips, beginning with exploring the email account options on your device. You likely walked through the mail setup process when you first got ahold of your device, but let’s take a look at some of the more in-depth features that can make your communication even more of a breeze. On your BlackBerry® 7 or BlackBerry 6 smartphone, hit the “Setup” icon, or just type it into universal search to find it. You’ll see a screen like this:

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog »

For today’s Five Tip Friday, I thought I would provide some tips for keeping my personal information secure on my BlackBerry® smartphone. I’ll be covering everything from using a secure password to encryption of your documents stored on an inserted media card.

1. Use the Password Keeper app

BlackBerry Password Keeper allows you to securely store passwords or banking PINs on your BlackBerry smartphone. If you have never used the Password Keeper app, check out our blog post on how to set up and use BlackBerry Password Keeper to learn more.

On top of securely storing your information, you can use the Password Keeper app to generate a secure random password for you. To try out this feature, complete the following steps.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog »

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Are you a parent that uses their BlackBerry device in an innovative way? Got any secrets or tips for others? Let us know and share your advice in the comments below.