Blackberry begins rollout of 10.2 OS after BBM app hits 10m downloads

A prioritised inbox and improved video call sound quality are amongst the new features

Blackberry has begun the rollout of its latest operating system update, Blackberry 10.2, following the success of its Blackberry Messenger app for iPhone and Android, which hit 10 million downloads within 24 hours of release.

The Blackberry 10.2 OS update, which is available on the Blackberry Z10, Q10 and Q5 smartphones, is set to be rolled out this week. It comes with a number of new features, which were outlined in a post on the Blackberry blog.

For one, there’s the Priority Hub, which learns which conversations are most important to users and then puts those messages at the top of their inboxes. The sound quality of BBM Video, Blackberry’s face-to-face video calling service, has also seen improvements, with the blog post claiming that now “you can hear subtle nuances that are lost in most cellular calls.”

Easier sharing, copying and pasting along with instant previews of BBMs, texts and emails are amongst the rest of the new features included in the update.

Although a number of regions, including Europe, will be able to download the update this week, others will have to wait for some time longer – most notably, the update won’t be available in the US until winter.

The 10.2 OS rollout comes after the Blackberry Messenger app for iPhone and Android was released to great commercial success. According to Blackberry, the app was downloaded 10 million times within the first 24 hours of its release. However, some users were only able to use the app after an email was sent to them from Blackberry allowing them to do so.

But regardless of the phased rollout of the BBM app, it hit the number one spot in the App Store free app rankings in more than 75 countries, and also garnered 60,000 five-star reviews on Google Play.