BlackBerry has launched the BlackBerry Z10. The new phone runs the latest BlackBerry 10 operating system and features a 4.2-inch touchscreen. 

Unusually for the company, the handset doesn't have a hardware Qwerty keyboard, but then this is no ordinary BlackBerry. The Z10 represents a significant departure from RIM's conventional design philosophy and is the culmination of its attempts to play catch-up with Apple and its iPhones and numerous manufacturers' Android devices.

The Z10 uses a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, backed up with 2GB of RAM. Inside there is 16GB of memory as well as an expandable microSD slot that goes all the way up to 32GB. 

Battery life is rated at 10 hours of 3G talk time, with 305 hours of standby. Audio playback is 60 hours and video 11.

On the camera front, the Z10 has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, with a 2-megapixel snapper on the front. The rear camera can shoot 1080p video, while the front manages 720p.

Bluetooth 4.0 is included, as is Wi-Fi a/b/g/n. The phone has also been confirmed as running on EE's 4G network and BlackBerry 10 comes with a 4G hotspot function.

Finally, we have all the usual smartphone staples like GPS, an accelerometer, gyroscope and ambient light sensor.

Clearly all the boxes are ticked for a tasty smartphone, but to get our initial thoughts on how it performs check out our in-depth hands-on review. The Z10 will come in black and white variants, with the white version initially being a Phones 4u exclusive in the UK.