14 DAY TRIAL // Starting today, owners of BlackBerry Q10 and BlackBerry Z10 handsets on the network of wireless carrier AT&T can download and install a new platform upgrade, in the form of BlackBerry OS 10.2.1.
The operating system was made available for other devices out there several months ago, but AT&T had it ready for its customers only today, and it has already started to deploy it over the air, it seems.
According to a post on the carrier’s blog, the new update comes with a series of enhancements and new features that should prove great for both individual and enterprise customers.
The new platform release will enable easier switching to a new Blackberry 10, while also offering the possibility to customize pinch gesture to filter BlackBerry Hub.
“This new feature allows users to instantly filter the message list in the Hub. Users can also customize the Hub to show only unread messages, flagged messages, draft messages, meeting invites, sent messages, or level one alerts,” AT&T explains.
As soon as these preferences have been set, users will be able to activate the option with a simple pinch gesture on the Hub’s message list.
The aforementioned platform upgrade also comes with support for BBM inside any application, while also providing users with the possibility to preview messages and respond to them immediately, regardless of the application they are using.
Other enhancements in the new OS version also include:
- BlackBerry Natural Sound enhancements: New sound improvements make BBM Voice and BBM Video chats sound like users are in the same room.
- Actionable lock screen notifications: “Tap to open” messages will now appear on the lock screen, allowing users to respond to an important message quicker.
- Picture password for fast unlocking: Unlock the phone with a combination of a picture and a number (0-9), which is placed at a particular point on the image.
At the same time, BlackBerry 10.2.1 comes with a new and improved device monitor, which enables users to view specific details on battery usage, as well as on the manner in which installed apps impact the battery life.
Users are advised to download the new OS version via a Wi-Fi network, and to make sure that the battery inside their devices has been charged at least at 50% before kicking off the installation process.
“The software update process can take approximately 15-30 minutes and will not count against the customer’s data bucket,” AT&T also announced.
To check on the availability of the new software, users should head over to Settings>Software Updates>Check for Updates and follow the on-screen instructions if the update is available.