Following the recent press release about the BlackBerry Z3’s availability for the Philippine market, BlackBerry organized a hands-on introduction to the device for the media last July 22, 2014. The event gave media representatives an opportunity to experience the what the Z3 has to offer, whilst getting more information about recent developments at BlackBerry.
Cameron Vernest, BlackBerry Managing Director for Singapore and the Philippines, and Daniel Do, Senior Carrier Sales Manager, were both present at the event, and personally shared their “BlackBerry Z3 excitement” with the eager attendees who graced the event held at M Cafe, Greenbelt 4 Mall at Makati City.
The Z3 shares a lot of similarities with the Z10 but with some few distinct differences. Although the Z3’s features somewhat differ from previous BB10 devices, such as the lack of 4G/LTE capability, the phone remains to be a very reliable smartphone. 4G/LTE connectivity is a popular feature among customers these days, but the reality is that Philippine carriers still have some work to do in terms of expanding and strengthening their 4G/LTE network. However, because Philippine carriers already have well-established 2G and 3G networks, the Z3’s somewhat of a shortcoming regarding 4G connectivity may hardly be noticeable at all.
The BlackBerry Z3, as Daniel shared with us, already comes loaded with the BB 10.2.1 OS. This version brings some added features compared with previous OS versions, one of which is improved support for installation of Android Apps.
Daniel Do (Senior Carrier Sales Manager) sharing exciting things about the Z3
Pre-loaded OS Version
Instagram Android App on the Z3
The somewhat more intimate media event organized (i.e. less larger venue and audience compared to previous launches) afforded media guests more personal time to play around with the BlackBerry Z3. Media guests each fiddled and took photos of this great new BB10 device while enjoying their sumptuous dinner.
Right after dinner, a much appreciated quick one-on-one chat with Cameron Vernest was arranged for BlackBerry Empire by BlackBerry’s PR firm. In that brief conversation, Cameron shared and reiterated some of the milestones for BlackBerry, including the company’s improved finances. He also shared BlackBerry’s thrusts and focus on Productivity, Security, Flexibility, as well as further innovations in mobile communications and device management. All these were definitely quite exciting and very reassuring to hear. As the conversation shifted toward challenges faced by the company, Cameron acknowledged how valuable we (fans and enthusiasts) are to BlackBerry as they overcome these challenges. He then ended by reassuring us of the high quality performance that can be expected from the Z3, as well as from future products they will develop and launch.
The launch of the powerful, competitively priced BlackBerry Z3 marked another milestone for BlackBerry in the Philippines. The Z3’s price of PhP10,990 is only about one-third to one-fourth of the price of other popular smartphones, but given the features and the built, it seems this latest BB10 device packs a strong competitive punch against those other mainstream gadgets.
BlackBerry Empire congratulates BlackBerry Philippines for the successful media launch!