The BlackBerry Z10 was only recently released, and we at iTech Post found it to be a real contender in the market when we had a chance to play with one about a month ago. Despite the fact that BlackBerry hasn't exactly been able to keep up with Samsung and Apple in a market that it had much to do with creating, we were nonetheless delighted to receive an email from the company that the BlackBerry 10.1 update for the BlackBerry Z10 is now rolling out.

Better than that, BlackBerry 10.1 is free and simple to download to your BlackBerry Z10 over a Wi-fi network. It will also come preloaded on all new BlackBerry Q10 phones.   

"BlackBerry 10 is designed to learn and adapt to the way you work," BlackBerry's email to us begins. "It helps you be faster, more efficient and more effective. It keeps moving with you to help you be more successful. And now there's an update."

Here are a few of the features you can expect from BlackBerry 10.1 if you download it to your BlackBerry Z10, according to the rest of the email from the company:

Improved conversation management

With the BlackBerry 10.1 update to your BlackBerry Z10, you will be able to view emails that are attached to other emails, get suggestions for contacts while addressing another message and send PIN to PIN messages directly between BlackBerry smartphones. All thanks to the update of the company's BlackBerry Hub that helps you "stay organized, in control and on top of all of your conversations."

Personalizing of notifications

You can now set up personalized notifications for your accounts and contacts via BlackBerry 10.1. You can customize ringtones, vibrations and the LED light for whenever you're contacted by your friends or family and you can establish different notifications for your various accounts (eg, Facebook, Twitter, email).

Tap and call

With BlackBerry 10.1, you'll now be able to click on a phone number that might be in an email or BBM message, which will lead you to being able to call this number or copy and paste it into the dialer screen in the phone app.

Improved control of cursor

You can now more accurately navigate the cursor and select text with BlackBerry 10.1 by  tapping once to bring up enhanced cursor control via a blue circle that can be dragged around to whatever insertion point that you want.

Better picture capturing

HDR (high dynamic range) shooting mode has now been added to BlackBerry 10.1, allowing you to take "beautiful pictures in tricky lighting conditions." Multiple pictures will be taken at various exposure levels, through HDR, which layers the photos automatically in order to create a single photo that combines the best of light and dark areas. Improved red and golden eye reduction has also been added to the photo editor.

"You'll find a number of new enhancements across the BlackBerry 10 OS like landscape support for the calendar, easier international dialing [sic] and so much more," BlackBerry concludes in its email announcing the update rollout.   

Availability of BlackBerry 10.1 can be checked for through your carrier. For more information on downloading BlackBerry 10.1 or anything else on the update, go here.

For more information on BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry suggests you go here.

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