We at puer Mobile couldn't be more excited for the official launch of BB10 or for the two new BlackBerry handsets that'll be the OS' flagship smartphones.

But for many longtime BlackBerry users, change is scary. It isn't that a new device will mean learning a new OS, or even that users will have to get all new BlackBerry accessories (shopping for cool new cases is actually fun.)

It's that, for so many, the draw of BlackBerry is its signature Qwerty keypad, something RIM has done away with in their upcoming all-touch device – or have they?

Actually, judging from a new hands-on video detailing the new BB10 touch keyboard, and according to Gizmodo, the "BlackBerry 10 touch screen keys could rival even its traditional keyboards."

For starters, RIM's made the transition from physical keyboards to all touch keys pretty seamless. As Blackberry's Head of Software Portfolio Vivek Bhardwaj explains in the demo video, the keypad of the new L-Series device has stayed true to the look of traditional BlackBerry keyboards, right down to the signature "frets." So it looks and feels like the blackBerry devices you're used to.

Where it does differ from the original is that the new touch keyboard is more intuitive and intelligent than its predecessor. It automatically separates words when you forget to hit the space bar, it understands context, learns your personal vocabulary, and knows when to switch between languages.

The video below should put your mind at ease about making the upgrade to BlackBerry's first ever all-touch smartphone. So let the accessorizing begin!

A Vietnamese site has leaked the clearest images and most detailed video of BlackBerry's latest smartphone

A couple of days ago, we posted a teaser image released by RIM of the upcoming BlackBerry 10 all-touch device on Pure Mobile's Canadian blog. At the time, it seemed exciting, the first real glimpse of the L-Series, not just some bogus leak. And it confirmed that images of the device leaked previously weren't really the real deal.

But what a difference two days make. Thanks to super detailed pictures and a lengthy video leaked by Vietnamese site Tinhte.ve, the RIM-sanctioned teaser pic of the L-Series now looks "lame" by comparison, to quote TechCrunch.

While the teaser pic had left us wanting more, the Tihnte.ve leak gave us pretty much a full showing of BlackBerry newest, and perhaps sexiest, smartphone. Of course, that's assuming the handset shown off in their 5-minute video and high-res pics is the final design, but we have very good reason to believe that's the case.

The device shown in the leak sports the same textured back as the the L-Series does in RIM's official teaser pic

First off, it's got the same mesh-textured backing we saw in the L-Series the teaser pic, and which was lacking from BlackBerry devices in previous leaks. Meanwhile, says TechCrunch, if it isn't the final design, it's at least "very recent," since the handset is equipped with "the recently-renamed BlackBerry World App."

So what's the scoop? We couldn't help but notice – and these feelings were confirmed by Gizmodo – that the device looks a heck of a lot like the iPhone 5 in some shots, though it's perhaps a little bit slimmer, proportionally. Though its rounded rectangular shape is also not unlike the BlackBerry London pics we started seeing over a year ago.

But it's also not far off from the BlackBerry Dev Alpha B smartphone handed out to developers last year, in that the placement of its front-facing camera, front speaker, microphone, and BlackBerry logo are more or less the same. With the removable back panel off, it reveals an 1,800 mAh battery, and microUSB, micro-HDMI, and microSD slots.

Opinions on BlackBerry's latest and greatest, though perhaps premature, are certainly abundant, ranging from ravingly enthusiastic to underwhelmed. "This is going to blow the iPhone out of the water," "Go home Blackberry, you're drunk and dead in the water, it's an Android and iOS world now," are just a sampling of the responses found in the comments for the Tinhte video.

Likewise, tech sites seem to differ. "It looks kind of wonderful," spouted Gizmodo, while TechCrunch was resigned to saying "Overall, the device doesn’t look too bad."

For our part, we're waiting to get more details on the real guts of the device, and to see how it works with the new BB10 OS when BlackBerry officially unveils it on January 30. But in the meantime, we're giving it the benefit of the doubt and hoping it'll be the best smartphone BlackBerry's made in years, or at least good enough to pull RIM out of its recent troubles.

First off, apologies for the blurriness of the above photo. But hey, with leaks about upcoming and yet-to-be-revealed technology, we'll take what we can get.

What you're looking at here may just be the Qwerty keypad for the BlackBerry 10 N-Series Qwerty/touch device. The image leaked from Chinese tech site iiBerry, and was picked up by CrackBerry and Mobile Syrup both. And despite its really poor quality, it's actually the best shot we've seen yet of (a part of) BlackBerry's newest Qwerty device.

So what can we take away from the shot? Well, the keypad does certainly have that signature BlackBerry look, though, as CrackBerry points out, the curved chrome frets of the BlackBerry Bold line have been replaced with straight ones.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900's curved chrome frets appear straight on the keypad in the leaked photo

RIM has already announced that they'll be officially unveiling their new devices – which include the N-Series Qwerty/touch device as well as an L-Series all-touch phone – January 30. So we'll only be able to confirm then what the new BB10 Qwerty phone will look like.

In the meantime, we wait and pray that some third-party BlackBerry accessories manufacturer lets another pic of the new BB10 devices leak out.

On our Canadian blog, we've been speculating for months now about the launch date of BlackBerry's new BB10 operating system, and most of all, about the two new BlackBerry devices that go along with it.

But the countdown has now officially begun! BlackBerry maker RIM recently that they'll be holding their BB10 launch event January 30, 2013. What's more, they'll be doing it simultaneously in different countries.

But perhaps more so than the OS itself, what many of us have really been waiting for is the  hardware. The two new devices have been much-leaked over the past months, and have since been confirmed as a BlackBerry Curve-like Qwerty/touch phone and an all-touch device that will be the first of its kind for RIM.

RIM will be unveiling its new BB10 smartphones January 30, a Qwerty/touch phone and an all-touch device

So here's the really exciting part: not only will the January 30 event mark BB10's official launch, it'll also act as the unveiling for the two new BlackBerry handsets where the press release promises "details of the smartphones and their availability will be announced."

But Mobile Syrup thinks they've already got a handle on that. Citing a Reuters report that "has Kristian Tear, RIM’s Chief Operating Officer, going on record," Mobile Syrup says new BB 10 devices are expected to hit stores “not too long after” the January 30 event.

"Personally," writes Mobile Syrup, "‘not too long’ sounds like we could see them hit our carriers by February, but that’s purely speculation."

In any case, such a date, if accurate, would not only be squarely within the first quarter timeframe that RIM previously gave for the launch of BB10 and release of the new BlackBerry smartphones but would actually be ahead of the March date some analysts had projected.

Today, RIM announced a January 30 launch event for BB10

Hot off the presses, that's how we like our news at Pure Mobile. And it doesn't get much fresher than this: About an hour ago, BlackBerry maker RIM officially announced the launch event for their long-awaited new OS, BB10.

A couple of months ago, after postponing the release of BB10, RIM had simply alluded to a rescheduled launch date in early 2013. But we now know the event will go off January 30, simultaneously across several locations worldwide.

To go with the launch of BB10, RIM has also promised something many of us have been anticipating even more than the OS itself – two new BlackBerry smartphones that run on BB10.

Still from a video leaking BlackBerry's two new BB10 handsets

The devices have already significantly leaked in video and pictures, indicating that while one of the BlackBerry smartphones will have the company's signature Qwerty keypad, the other will be BlackBerry's first all-touch smartphone. Rumor aside, however, we'll actually get to see the real deal come January 30, when RIM promises "details of the smartphones and their availability will be announced."

As TechCrunch notes, because we've all had a chance to get familiar with the new smartphones' software (albeit through leaks), we can expect not only the availability for the devices but pricing as well.

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, men and technology go together hand and hand or perhaps like a hand in heel much like women and shopping go together.  Men most commonly use their  Smartphones or other technological devices for audio and video playback, as personal organization applications, Internet access, and global positioning systems also known by its more popular reference GPS. According to a recent Smartphone Survey, more than 50.9% of women have adopted smartphones, with just a slightly lower 50.1% of men who've adopted smartphones. Here's a list of some of the most popular Smartphones that every woman should consider purchasing that man in her life whether its a husband, boyfriend, fiancee, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, nephew or even just a friend:

1)      For that tech savvy man in your life you should consider the HTC EVO 4G LTE Smartphone because of its immense popularity and it technologically advanced features such as an Android 4.0 Operating System, 4.7-inch HD display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and 4G LTE connectivity. The HTC EVO 4G LTE is a literal out of this world technological marvel that also features Beats Audio, a quality sound system that is a perfect combination of hardware and software to mix the perfect and finally at $199.99 it also has a technological marvelous price to match.

2)      For that music loving man in your life you should consider the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Smartphone (yes that's the real name) is readily equipped with everything that music loving man of yours could want. Some of those intriguing musical features include the ability to run on the Gingerbread Android Operating System and 1GHz Qualcomm Scorpion processor. It also features a a 3.2-inch TFT capacitive touch display, 480x320p screen resolution, 5MP rear camera, 0.3MP secondary camera, 512MB RAM, and a 2GB memory card. The battery life of this Sony Walkman inspired Smartphone is a capability of f 14 hours on 2G network and 6 hours on 3G and the Live Connection is supported on a 3G Network by a Wi-Fi with DLNA support, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity enabled.

3)      For the Corporate/Businessman in your life the BlackBerry Torch 9810 is the perfect briefcase accessory that every man should have in hand or in his pocket. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 comes fully equipped with h the legendary BlackBerry Messenger, QWERTY keypad, multi touch input, optical trackpad, TFT capacitive screen, megapixel camera, 4 GB internal memory, WiFi and of course also includes its 3G capabilities. The BlackBerry Torch also features ample 8G that is example to 32GB of memory, the convenient connectivity capabilities allow you to connect with with HSPA+ high speeds and WI-Fi. The BlackBerry 7.0 Operating System is nothing short of amazing with its liquid animation graphics that include instant response times and stunning graphics, it also supports HTML5 video and a voice activated universal search engine.

4)      For the man in your life who's “young at heart” the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S has the looks, the design and the raging trends in sync with your man's youthful zest for life. The  Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S features a 4.2 inch capacitive touch screen with LED backlight along with a an 8 megapixel camera capable of recording and capturing every youthful moment of the day and even well into the night. The  Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S  also features 720p HD Videos, runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread Operating System, a turbo lightening fast turbo fast 1.4 GHz processor and more than 25,000 Google Play applications most of which are free to use and download. With this youthful Smartphone also comes a youthful price tag for roughly $350.00.

5)      For the social man in your life who loves his friending everyone he meets on Facebook and tweeting on Twitter about the fun in his life the Chat 3G is the perfect Smartphone Companion for this man. The Inq Chat 3G is just as it a sounds a very unique and intersting Smartphone that features blazing 3G speeds and even syncs your iTunes and Windows Media music, video and photos straight from your computer. With the Inq Chat 3G Smartphone you'll be sure to never miss a text message, you'll be able to connect on the go and of course Facebook is at the touch of your fingertips.

6)      For the video gamer in your life who loves the thrill of the motorcycle chase, the capture of the alien foe or simple just a quiet countryside drive the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is meant for that very gamer in your life. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play features 4-inch LED backlit screen, multi touch input, Wi-Fi, 3G, 5 megapixel camera capable of recording 720p videos, runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS.  The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is also the first and only known PlayStation Certified Android Smartphone but the downside it does come with a $369.99 price tag.

7)      For the versatile man in your life the iPhone 4S is the most versatile Smartphone for the your perfectly versatile man. The iPhone 4S features a 3.5 inches LED backlit capacitive touchscreen, IPS TFT , a 5 megapixel camera with an LED flash and a front camera for capturing versatile images. The iPhone 4S also includes a Siri, you can ask her to make calls, send text, get directions or even tell a joke. The iPhone 4S features the A5 one of the fastest dual core processors that any Smartphone currently  in process, 8MP iSight camera and optics and a versatile price tag of $199.99.

8)      For the multitasking man in your life the Nokia E7 is a Smartphone that stands alone that is perfect for work and play.  The Nokia E7 features ts full SLIDER QWERTY keyboard perfect for sending a quick email, typing short papers, instant messaging, social networking browsing the internet, the high definition 8 megapixel camera is perfect for taking crisp, clean photos and videos with its 720p HD quality and the Nokia E7 boasts an impressive nine hours of battery life. The Nokia E7 also includes a a 680 MHz ARM 11 processor, 256 MB of RAM, 16GB of personal storage space, an AMOLED touchscreen, and a 1200 mAh battery.

9)      For the family man in your life the ZTE Fury is a perfect match for that endearing and enduring family man who loves your and your children. The ZTE Fury features a  3.5 inches capacitive touch screen with 480 x 320 pixels resolution that utilized SnapDragon Qualcomm MSM8865 single-core 1.5 GHz, operates with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread  OS, and it also includes a 4 GB plus slot MicroSD internal memory that can be upgrade to 32 GBs with 512 MBs RAM. This Smartphone also enables you to subscribe to Sprint Mobile Control for USD 4.99/per channel/per month to to lock their children’ mobile phone or schedule and to monitor their children's downloaded applications.

10)  Finally for the sports fanatic man in your life the Galaxy Nexus is the perfect Smartphones that enables your sports fan to view his football, baseball and even football on a high quality Android 4.1 Galaxy Nexus touchscreen. The Galaxy Nexus also features a 4.65-inch 720 Super AMOLED HD display, 16GB or 32GB of on-board storage, 1GB of RAM, and NFC technology. It's 3G Network is easily accessible from anywhere in the world whether your on the go or in the comfort of your own home. The Galaxy Nexus is the first device running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and is the first pentaband device that utilizes the HSPA+ GSM networks.

Battery life can make or break the popularity of a cell phone. Manufacturers make a lot of promises, but in real life testing their claims rarely hold true. CNET recently updated the results of their talk-time testing. Here are their results listed in talk-time hours.

We hope your device is near the top of (or at least on) this list:

1. Motorola Droid Razr Maxx – 19.78
2. LG Optimus Vu (unlocked) – 16.08
3. Apple iPhone 4 (with 3G off) – 14.55
4. RIM BlackBerry Curve 9360 (on T-Mobile) – 12
5. Kyocera DuraPlus (Sprint) - 11.47
6. Samsung Captivate Glide (AT&T) – 10.3
7. ZTE Fury (Sprint) – 10.02
8. Samsung Galaxy S II (U.S. Cellular) - 9.47
9. LG Optimus 3D Max (unlocked) – 9.35
10. Huawei Mercury (Cricket Wireless) – 9.32
11. Apple iPhone 4S (Sprint) – 9.2
12. Kyocera Milano (Sprint) – 9.2
13. Samsung Focus S (AT&T) – 9.01
14. Kyocera DuraCore (Sprint) – 8.95
15. Samsung Rugby Smart (AT&T) – 8.9
16. LG Lucid (Verizon) – 8.47
17. T-Mobile Prism – 8.32
18. RIM BlackBerry Torch 9810 (AT&T) – 8.1
19. Pantech Swift (AT&T) – 7.27
20. Huawei Ascend II (U.S. Cellular) – 7.25

Here are the bottom 20 and how miserably they performed:

1. Motorola i412 (Boost Mobile) – 3
2. ZTE Chorus (Cricket Wireless) – 3.35
3. LG Encore (AT&T) – 3.6
4. LG Saber (U.S. Cellular) – 3.9
5. Huawei M835 Ideos (MetroPCS) – 4
6. Nokia Lumia 800 (unlocked) – 4.12
7. RIM BlackBerry Curve 3G 9330 (Verizon) – 4.18
8. HTC 7 Pro (U.S. Cellular) – 4.5
9. HTC Arrive (Sprint) – 4.5
10. Huawei Ascend 1 (Cricket Wireless) – 4.72
11. Huawei Ideos X5 (unlocked) – 4.75
12. Samsung Zeal (Verizon) – 4.8
13. HTC Trophy (Verizon) – 5
14. HTC Thunderbolt (Verizon) – 5
15. HTC Desire (U.S. Cellular) – 5
16. Pantech Jest 2 (Verizon) – 5.3
17. HTC MyTouch 4G Slide (T-Mobile) – 5.4
18. HTC Inspire 4G (AT&T) – 5.5
19. Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G (T-Mobile) – 5.63
20. ZTE Score (Cricket) – 5.67

It’s interesting that there's such a wide range of results on the talk-time for the 20 best batteries, and less than three hours difference from top to bottom of the 20 worst. Note that Verizon doesn’t appear on the best list but does have five placements on the worst. It looks like the equipment itself isn't the only determining factor for battery performance.

The growing popularity of mobile media through PC Tablets, Android Smartphones and even Apple's iPhones is allowing new methodology and movements is changing on how consumers are engaging and interacting with the media. Gone are the days of the Sunday morning newspaper being read at the breakfast table with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the business section in the other, gone are the days of the family gathering around the television to watch the five o'clock news while mom prepares dinner in the nearby kitchen. Today the media is mobile and so are the individuals accessing that media on a weekly, daily or even hourly basis. Media consumers can simply stay connected by clicking on MSNBC.com or CNN.com while we sit in a drive thru waiting for our morning Starbucks coffee; we're literally connected with the media at our very fingertips. With the our fingertip connection many publishers, media companies and application developers are eager to know whether they should optimize their content for particular devices, advertisers want to understand how these devices might eventually fit into their overall marketing plans and even online newspaper carriers such as the USA Today or even the Wall Street Journal want to evolve their business models in a multi-connection world. No one in the mobile media universe wants to be left behind in this ever changing digital expansion.

Overnight we have literally become a world “addicted to their Smartphones, iPhones and PC Tablets.” Whereas most common usage of those particular devices tends to include socializing, downloading music, gaming, and surfing the event, researchers have slowly and steadily began to see changes even in the ways consumers shop for their groceries. According to IGD Research Corporation, 1 in 10 online shoppers are using Smartphones to shop usually comparing prices, bargains and brands and more than 15% of customer checkouts during the first half of the year came via their Smartphone applications. More than 66% of surveyors indicated claimed that more than 75% of Smartphone users such as HTC One S, BlackBerry Bold 9900, etc used their Smartphones for personal reasons and 69% of users used it for business purposes. In the United States consumers prefer to mobile browsers for banking, travel, shopping, local info, news, video, sports and blogs and prefer applications for games, social media, maps and music.

Smartphone usage is now a part of our daily lives whether at home or on the go and businesses without a Smartphone presence may find themselves competitively disadvantaged. Some mobile media and businesses changes to watch and take note of include 74.1% of mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, while 50.2% used downloaded applications. Smartphone and other mobile users cannot necessarily be defined by age, gender, income or race; instead they can be defined by their members' shared behaviors. It's up to businesses and mobile media to understand the common behavior traits that unite the class makes members easy to recognize and underscores the influence and utilize how their consumers are communicating, consuming media and deciphering consumer shopping and spending habits. Because the mobile media trend including Smartphones, iPhones and Tablets isn't going anywhere anytime soon but those that don't adapt will collapse as the mobile world around them continually presses forward.

In March 2011, a prisoner at the Beaumont prison from which an inmate escaped with the help of a cellphone last year has one of Texas’ worst track records for prison personnel bringing cellphones into the facility. David Puckett, aged 27 years old was serving his fifth year of a 30-year sentence for aggravated assault of a public servant out of Lavaca County in Texas.

Beaumont Prison Authorities haven’t said how they think Puckett obtained the smartphone he used to plan his breakout and meet up with a female admirer in Omaha, Nebraska where he was recaptured a little over week later.

“There obviously is a big difference between an officer who is found with their personal phone in their front pocket because they forget to take it out, and an officer who has six phones and chargers taped to their stomach,” suggested an unnamed prison source.

Data has shown that over the course of a 10 year period more than 1,100 instances in which Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees were accused of breaking prison system rules by bringing cellphones such as iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One S etc or phone parts into prisons whether intentionally or accidentally. Some of those incidents include from the database: A chaplain at the Cotulla inmate transfer facility in South Texas tried to sneak in his cellphone inside his motorcycle helmet. A phone was found lying in a flower bed inside the secured area at outside Waco; another guard’s phone was found left in a bathroom at outside Huntsville. Even prison guards aren't' impervious because a lieutenant’s phone was found inside a boot when he left his uniform boots to be shined by an inmate at a prison north of Lubbock.

Well since this most recent escape escapade it's become a felony offense here to supply an inmate with a cellphone or a cellphone component. Texas prison employees are also forbidden by rule from bringing personal cellphones into a prison at any time. Texas State has also added additional security measures by “in the process of installing hundreds of video surveillance cameras which will assist in our efforts and serve as a further deterrent to individuals who are considering smuggling contraband into the facility.”

Smartphones have finally taken over the United States with more than one third of American adults -- 35% -- own smartphones. According to The Pew Internet Project's survey found that 83% of U.S. adults have a cell phone of some kind, and that 42% of them own a smartphone, translating to more then 35% of Americans who own a Smartphone. Individuals who own a Smartphone fall into one of two categories include:

• One-third of cell owners (33%) say that their phone is a smartphone.
• Two-in-five cell owners (39%) say that their phone operates on a smartphone platform (these include iPhones and Blackberry, as well as phones running the Android, Windows or Palm operating systems).

American's now officially count for more than 100 million users Smartphone users in the United States. Android and Apple iOS continued to grow between November 2011 and January 2012, gaining 2.3% and 1.4% respectively. Google’s mobile platform topped the charts with a total market share of 48.6%, while Apple managed to capture a 29.5% share.

Smartphones are the main source of main source of Internet access for one-quarter of the smartphone population including 87% of smartphone owners access the Internet or email on their hand-held, including two-thirds (68%) who do so on a typical day. Most smartphone users such as Samsung Galaxy S3, BlackBerry Bold, etc typically use their smartphone rather than a traditional computer to access the Internet. Smartphone owners under the age of 30, non-white smartphone users and smartphone owners with relatively low income and education levels are particularly likely to say that they mostly go online using their phones. The Android OS Platform is the most common smartphone platform, followed by iPhone and Blackberry devices. Most Smartphones are operating on an Android Platform are especially common among young adults and African-Americans, while iPhone 4S and Blackberry devices are most prevalent among college graduates and the financially well-off.

Overall, in the Smartphone Market Samsung continues to tighten its grip on the featured phone and smartphone market. Nokia was still the global leader followed by Samsung and then Apple, which showed the highest percentage growth.