Whenever a new smartphone is released we are usually treated to a bevy of new features, but as you would imagine they have an adverse effect on the phones battery, much like the iPhone 5, which we know has a terrible battery life with the latest version of its iOS software. However, another bad performer is the BlackBerry Z10.

As always there are several ways in which you can help improve its staying power, but failing that there is an easier way, as the BlackBerry Z10 battery life issues are resolved with a little help from the PowerSkin case, which as you know also worked well on the iPhone 4 back in 2011, even though it was a bit on the bulky side back then.

According to Phones Review this is the first Z10 battery case, although we’ve already established there are a host of other PowerSkin cases for different smartphones. It’s clear to see the design has come a long way over the years, as you will see with the iPhone 4 case above.

The PowerSkin for the BlackBerry Z10 helps provide a boost of power thanks to its 1,500 mAh battery, which is said to give a battery life increase of at least 70 percent under normal conditions. Sales of the Z10 have been a little disappointing in the US so far, but with a bit of luck having more accessories like this will help open up more options to those of you who have been considering getting the very first BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

The price for the Z10 PowerSkin is just $79.99 and can be purchased here.

The success of the BlackBerry Z10 in the UK and Canada was a great result for the company, but things have not been as positive in the US since being released a little under a week ago. It seems as though the Canadian phone maker is having trouble competing with their foes Apple and Samsung yet again.

After BlackBerry had shouted over the treetops how popular the Z10 has been in the markets it had been released in, news of the inadequate BlackBerry Z10 sales in the US reinforces skepticism shared by many analysts.

There is no denying the US market is key to the success of BlackBerry and their first BB10 handset, so hearing about poor sales, which affected stock prices, is not the news BlackBerry wanted to hear. It’s a shame because this is an important handset for the company, but a report looking into the lack of support (such as Instagram) from the Z10 is certainly one reason why sales have been a little lackluster.

However, there are other problems attributing to poor sales in the US, such as less than impressive battery life, but overall the Z10 is still a pretty decent handset. Before analysts condemn the BlackBerry Z10 before it has had a chance to prove itself, we have to remember the handset has only been available on AT&T and T-Mobile at this moment, with Verizon offering the first BlackBerry 10 device to their customers from tomorrow, which should help bolster sales.

Let’s hope BlackBerry’s fortunes change when the Q10 is released, as we all know BlackBerry always has a hard time shifting handsets with no physical keyboard like the Z10.

BlackBerry shares have been up and down this week since news that sales of the Z10 in Canada were ready to increase thanks to a buyer who has yet to be announced ordering one million units. These sales were seen as a vote of confidence for the first handset to run BB10.

Share prices did rise by 8 percent when the news first broke but then fell by 1 percent once the dust had settled. While the details were not forthcoming in regards to the buyer, we are told that it is an “established partner” and is the largest single order for BlackBerry ever, or RIM as they were known.

Shipments of the one million handsets will begin right away and we hope that this proves to those doubters that the Z10 is actually a pretty decent phone, even if there are one or two issues that need to be ironed out. We are sure that there will be improvements along the road by way of BlackBerry 10 receiving an update in the not too distant future.

Overall sales of the Z10 have been a little hit and miss, but we should get a much clearer picture once BlackBerry announces their Q4 earnings on March 28, 2013. However, we will need to consider the fact that the UK and Canada have been carrying the weight of the success of the Z10 for now, but seeing as though AT&T and Verizon have now begun pre-orders for the device and shipments will begin soon, we should get a clearer picture just how well received this phone will be in the lucrative US market.

AT&T will begin to ship the BlackBerry Z10 on March 22 and Verizon will start on March 28, the same day as those Q4 results.

We recently reported that AT&T would release the BlackBerry Z10 on March 15, 2013. However, this is not the case because the actual release date will be March 22. Thankfully AT&T customers will be able to pre-order the new BB10 smartphone from tomorrow with a price of $199.99, which as usual is for a two-year contract.

Those of you in the US who have been waiting to get their hands on the BlackBerry Z10 had to sit by while people in the UK and Canada got to enjoy the Z10 first, and while it was assumed that T-Mobile would be the first US carrier to get the handset, AT&T came along and beat them to it.

Having said that, if you are a T-Mobile business user then you are in luck because you can already get the Z10, although we have yet to learn when the consumer release date will be. We also know that Verizon plan to stock the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone, while Sprint currently has no plans to offer the handset to their customers.

AT&T’s high-end smatphone lineup is looking pretty decent now because they not only have the iPhone 5 and the upcoming Z10, but are very likely to get the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Let us hope that AT&T staff does their best to promote the Z10 because it would be a shame for sales to be low because of the lack of effort on their part. It is no secret that BB10 and their relevant devices needs to be a success for BlackBerry, although UK sales have shown positive signs.

Source thanks to AT&T.

With the release of the HTC One expected to hit UK networks on March 15, this would mean that the BlackBerry Z10 would have had a month and a half head start. Now while some of you would say how can you compare these two devices because they are on different platforms, there could be some of you out there considering a switch because of the latter being the first BB10 device.

The HTC One and the BlackBerry Z10 look like brothers, with the former being the better looking while the latter is the smaller sibling. The Z10 also looks a lot cheaper, but because there is a lot of innovation in regards to the new BlackBerry 10 OS (which is why UK businesses are trying the BB10 out) we would suggest you not to write this off just yet.

There are many reasons to buy either handset, the HTC One has far more apps available because it is an Android handset (although not the latest version) 32GB of RAM and just over 16 days of standby time are compelling reasons to go with the One. However, the BlackBerry Z10 boasts 2GB of RAM, and a very sharp and high-resolution screen.

There have been several comprehensive reviews and ratings of the HTC One and the BlackBerry Z10, with the former coming out the winner on all of them. CNET gives the former 4.5 out of 5 and the latter 3.5 out of 5. PC World has also put these two handsets through their paces and while they have given the Z10 the same score as the previous review, they have scored the HTC One a little lower.

However, Laptop Mag seems to agree with CNET that BlackBerry still has work to do in order to compete with their rivals. We would suggest you read each of those reviews to see how these handsets compare, as well as viewing the video we have embedded for you below.

If you live in the UK then some of you would have been enjoying the BlackBerry Z10 already, which we know has seen record sales for the company. However, for the US it is still a waiting game, but not for long because it seems as though the AT&T version will be released on March 15.

This latest report has made the US release for the Z10 a little more confusing because we had assumed that T-Mobile were going to be the first on March 27, so which of the two news reports should we believe? However, we have to admit that the BB10 handset would do very well to launch in the middle of March rather than towards the end because it is the build up to the Easter holidays.

Is it important who rolls out the BlackBerry Z10 first? Personally we believe that it does not matter if it is AT&T or T-Mobile who releases the Z10 first, although we do know that the latter will have a white option. However, it’s no secret that Verizon would have been far better to release their version of the Z10 before T-Mobile because of the much larger customer base.

Sprint has said that they do not intend to offer the Z10 to their customers, which is a blow because BlackBerry needs as big an install base as possible, although some consumers and business users will say that this is not a big deal, but would you agree?

We have to wonder how much these US carriers will charge for the BlackBerry Z10, because we have already seen the UK cut the price of this BB10 handset? However, let us hope that BlackBerry has been able to rectify some of the issues with their latest smartphone because we have already seen an issue with the SIM raise its ugly head.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5S may be on the way later this year, but how many of you have already decided to skip both of these handsets in favor of picking up the well received BlackBerry Z10, when it finally makes an appearance in the US? The handset has already been confirmed for a release on AT&T and T-Mobile, but now we have some early pictures showing you exactly how the Verizon model will look like upon release.

Unsurprisingly, we can tell you that there is going to be a fair amount of branding involved with Verizon’s version as well. We saw how far the carrier is willing to go with a Verizon branded home button on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Fortunately, we will not get a repeat of that with the Verizon BlackBerry Z10, but it is not far off.

Not content with just one piece of branding, you can see from the image above that Verizon will also include their logo on the top left hand side of the device, which almost appears to be squashed into place right next to the front phone speaker. There is also going to be further branding on the back of the device, with a Verizon logo and a 4G LTE logo slapped at the bottom of the device.

We probably speak on behalf of the majority of Verizon customers when we say that one piece of branding would have been sufficient here. Why does Verizon feel the need to have two pieces of branding and a 4G LTE logo on top, since it’s a well known fact that most newly released smartphones now come with 4G connectivity as standard.

BlackBerry 10 devices are due to hit the US at somepoint throughout March. Let us know if you are still interested in picking up the Verizon Z10, or if this branding has put you off completely.

If I were to go back a couple of years I can remember having a recurring issue with the iPhone 4, because on a regular basis it showed “no SIM installed” and every time I took it back to Apple it did not happen, so had to live with the problem.

Well it seems as though this issue is back, but this time on some BlackBerry Z10 handsets. No matter how many times these affected people clean their SIM tray they still get the message “SIM not detected” on any provider.

In one Forum thread some of those who are experiencing these issues have tried a different SIM just to satisfy their curiosity, but they still get that message. Some users first assumed that it was software related, but it’s more hardware now, so if you are having this problem with your BlackBerry Z10 then you should take it back to where you purchased it from.

Thankfully some owners have already been back to their seller where the handsets was replaced, so it seems as though they know that it is an issue with hardware. We wonder how many more units will be affected by this defect, and if it could delay the launch of the Z10 in the US until BlackBerry can identify what is causing the issue?

We are hearing of several other issues, although these do not seem to be as bad as the one mentioned above. Some Blackberry Z10 users have been complaining of crackling when using Bluetooth, dropped calls, blank screen when opening apps, and even the phone freezing.

Have you had any issues with the Z10, and if so were you able to overcome these or did you have to take your handset back?

With the BlackBerry Z10 already on the market (not in the US), the HTC One coming next month and the Sony Xperia Z expected to be released pretty soon, it has never been a better time to buy a new handset. Okay, so we know that these are not the big players, but not everyone wants a new Galaxy S handset or iPhone.

By March all three of these handsets will be available to purchase not only in Europe but also in the US and other parts of the world, so which is best because we know that it is much more than the specs?

We have two videos for you; the first (above) is a BlackBerry Z10 vs. Sony Xperia Z review, while the second is a Sony Xperia Z VS HTC One. In the first video you are made aware from the start that the Z10 is using new software while the Xperia Z is using a tried and tested Android mobile OS, so should not throw up any nasty surprises.

If you were to go on looks and design then the Sony handset would win out, which you will see for yourself in the video. We’re told that batteries in both handsets are pretty even, which is a worry because we already know that there are a few issues with the BlackBerry Z10 battery. If you want a platform to be used as a workhorse the Z10 wins out, but if you are looking for something more for everyday use, then the Xperia Z with its stable OS and multitude of apps is the way to go.

The Sony Xperia Z and HTC is a fairer match because they both use the same platform and while the second video (below) does not go in-depth as the previous video review, it does look at how the specifications of the two compare. Both smartphones have Full HD displays, but the former has the edge when it comes to size, although there is only 0.3 inches in it.

Before you look over those video reviews we have to say just how much more striking the Sony Xperia Z looks against the HTC One or the BlackBerry Z10, we also like to point out just how alike the latter two look very similar to the iPhone 5.

On a side note, we know that the new Sony handset is water-resistant, but testing it in a toilet was a bit gross. Also if you were put off by what we said in regards to the Xperia Z looking better than the HTC One, might we suggest waiting out for the red version, as this does look rather stunning. If you would like to know how the Xperia Z compares to the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 then we already have that covered.

With the US still awaiting the release of the BlackBerry Z10, many potential buyers will be looking carefully at the reviews to see if the Canadian phone maker has been able to come up with the goods. For the most part things seem to be pretty positive by those who have purchased a Z10 in the UK.

It looks as though BlackBerry is on to a winner, so before consumers and business users get one of these new handsets in North America, then a quick review over some BlackBerry Z10 cases might be in order. While most of is will be interested to see how much protection they offer, along with how well they look, cost is always going to be a major factor.

First we have the BlackBerry Z10 Flip Shell Case, which is similar to Apple’s Smart Cover. However, it’s much more than that because it adds protection to the rear of the device as well, unlike Apple’s accessory. You can see a demonstration of this in the video above. This shell case does add a bit of class to the Z10 thanks to the embossed BlackBerry logo. The price for the BlackBerry Z10 Flip Shell Case is just $32.95.

Next we have the Z10 Transform Hard Shell, which not only adds a great deal of protection to your new BlackBerry smartphone, but also gives it an awesome look as well, although the Z10 already looks special anyway. What we love about this case is that in one moment it’s just a robust case, then next it transforms into a kickstand, which is visualized for your viewing pleasure below. The price for the BlackBerry Z10 Transform case is $32.95.

Whenever a new smartphone is released we await to see if OttorBox will release a Defender case for it, and you’ll be pleased to know that they have. However, you have to remember that the cost for the OtterBox Defender case for the BlackBerry Z10 will cost a little more than the previous 2 cases, the main reason because its specification are far greater.

We know that the Defender will provide a greater amount of protection, which is important when dealing with a smartphone that has those kinds of specs. The price you will pay for the BlackBerry Z10 OtterBox Defender case is $49.95.

These are just three of a great abundance of Z10 cases already on the market, but if you are looking for cases with more elegance then Case Mate has that covered. The US release date for the Z10 has yet to be finalized, but it’s expected to be mid to late March.