A Closer Look at RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Smartphone

This week Research In Motion (RIM) is holding its annual BlackBerry World Conference in Orlando, Fla., and as part of a related event for mobile developers, the company is distributing the first smartphone that runs the brand new BlackBerry 10 mobile OS. Though the “BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha developer testing device” will never be released to the public—it’s meant for developers to test applications before the official BlackBerry 10 release—the handheld is noteworthy because it’s the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone. Here’s a closer look at RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha smartphone.

Check out a list of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device technical specifications and other details.

The BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device comes with a getting started guide that highlights the most notable hardware features.

Check out a list of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device technical specifications and other details.

The back side of the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha smartphone also looks like the rear of a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, but its camera and flash are located on a corner of the device’s rear panel.

Check out a list of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device technical specifications and other details.

One side of RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha smartphone features a slot for a micro SIM, a mini USB port and a mini HDMI-out port.

Check out a list of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device technical specifications and other details.

The other side of RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha smartphone features volume-up, volume-down and mute keys, not unlike the volume controls found on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

Check out a list of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device technical specifications and other details.

On top of the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha handheld is a sleep/wake key and a standard 3.5mm headset jack.

Check out a list of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device technical specifications and other details.

The base of RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device is taken up almost entirely by a large speaker, which is used for listening to audio without headphones and for placing speakerphone calls.

Check out a list of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device technical specifications and other details.

It’s no surprise that RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha’s start-up animation is very similar to the BlackBerry PlayBook’s start-up imagery.

(Note: The barcode-like symbol on this developer device is for RIM security and tracking purposes. The devices developers received feature a BlackBerry logo instead of the symbol.)

Check out a list of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device technical specifications and other details.