BlackBerry users rejoice...Skype is finally available!

BlackBerry announced that Skype will be available for both the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 sometime next month. The exact timing is unclear; BlackBerry said only that Skype will pop up in BlackBerry World at about the same time the Q10 goes on sale. The Q10 is expected to go on sale in the U.S. by the end of May (with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless).

Skype's main calling point (pun intended) is that it lets users make free Skype-to-Skype calls through the Internet. Though it's not all that important a tool within the U.S. now that long-distance fees (and to a lesser extent, mobile voice minutes) are a thing of the past, Skype is essential for controlling costs when traveling abroad. Using local Internet connections, travelers can dial up Skype users at the home office for free and avoid paying for costly roaming minutes. Skype also lets users conduct live two-way video calls and instant-messaging chats.

These features are already available on the Z10 and Q10 without Skype; BlackBerry's own BlackBerry Messenger does all three. Some of these features are duplicated by yet other apps, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Viber. Skype, however, has far more mindshare when it comes to providing VoIP-based communications: It boasts some 280 million monthly users, many of whom are mobile. Source: Information Week

Blackberry's new Z10 Phone scores at the Super Bowl.

Opening with a man walking down the street with his BlackBerry handset, the ad shows the BlackBerry Z10 user bursting into flame, walking around on elephant feet, and disappearing into a puff of rainbow smoke. Toward the end of the commercial, the man uses the handset to turn an oncoming, out-of-control truck in a harmless pile of rubber ducks. So, what's the tagline of this commercial? Apparently it was easier to show what this incredible phone is incapable of doing in a 30 second ad than show what it is capable of doing - talk about effective marketing! It looks like Blackberry is finally catching up to 2013.

Watch the 30 second Super Bowl commercial below: