New Blackberry 10.3 OS, Phones Release Date and Specs 2014

Learn Blackberry 10.3 OS update release dates and new Blackberry 10.3 phones coming out in 2014.

Research in Motion (RIM), the manufacturer of once famous Blackberry smartphones is still struggling with loses compared to the competitors like Apple and Samsung which are making huge sales out of their iPhone and Galaxy smartphone series.

John Chen, RIM CEO, who himself is visionary Software Engineer, is not giving up and trying hard to turn the odds, despite of the downfall of the company. John has tried many innovations and projects in the last months. iTechWhiz has always keeping an eye on those for the benefits of our readers which include a lot of BB fans, who would love to see the BlackBerry back into the game.

The good news is that, BlackBerry is doing better than before, although still struggling with financial loses. John Chen hinted that new BlacBerry 10.3 OS is coming out in fall 2014:

We expect BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.3.1 to be commercially available toward the end of the year.

new Blackberry 10.3 OS Release Date 2014

Blackberry 10.3 OS release date is expected in mid September 2014. Users of existing BlackBerry 10 devices, including Blackberry Z10, Blackberry Q10, Blackberry Z30 and Blackberry Q5; will have to wait for the BB 10.3.1 update to drop before they can get access to it.

1. BlackBerry 10.3 is expected to bring a major design overhaul and add several feature with revamped UI. The gradients behind the icons have been replaced by a very soft outline shadow which gives the icons some depth. The UI in general, trends toward a flatter, more minimal look; less chrome, less use of gradients.
   
   
2. The keyboard is flatter, and there are more interactive voice controls. New BB10.3 camera options that have been rumored since 10.2, and others finally are making their way into the OS it seems.
   
   
3. Some of the interesting BlackBerry 10.3 features include the ability to set wallpapers for lock screen and home-screen. The new BB 10.3 brings the ability to restart the device and have keep applications running even while the device reboots.
   
   
4. Other BB10.3 features includes Dark Hub options, BlackBerry World Update and Blackberry Assistant to compete with Siri on iOS, Google Now on Android and Cortana on Windows Phone.
   
   
5. The new BlacBerry 10.3 will come preloaded with the Amazon Appstore. Which means BlackBerry 10.3 smartphones user will be able to imported around 200,000 Android based apps, from the Amazon appstore.
   
   
6. The new BlacBerry 10.3 SDK was released in May as per BlackBerry 10.3 developer roadmap, which also reveled that Adobe AIR will no longer be supported as a runtime in BB OS 10.3.

Blackberry 10.3 Phones Release Date

Among the new Blackberry 10.3 phones, the most exciting one is the BlackBerry Passport phablet. The BlackBerry Passport uses 4.5inch display with a 1440x1440 pixel resolution at 480 ppi. BlackBerry Passport features Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8974 quad-core chip accompanied by Adreno 330 GPU and 3GB of RAM.

The BB10 Passport with non-removable 3450mAh battery pack and microSD support is still lighter than the BlackBerry Z30. It has 13MP rear-facing camera with LED flash, while 2MP shooter on the front.

RIM has not announced new Blackberry 10.3 Phones release date exactly. Though the company has said that the new BB 10.3 phones would be available in stores during Q4, following a London launch in September 2014.