BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 is now rolling out to compatible devices

Today BlackBerry has announced that the rollout of its latest OS release has commenced. BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 is in the process of making it to seven of the company's devices, namely the Q5, Q10, Z10, Z30, Z3, Porsche Design P'9983, as well as the Passport. The BlackBerry Classic isn't on that list because it already ships with BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 preinstalled.

So now this iteration of the OS is finally on its way to the rest of the Canadian company's recent portfolio of mobile devices.

The update brings with it quite a few new things, as well as the usual bug fixes and enhancements. The Amazon Appstore now comes preinstalled, alongside the BlackBerry World. Amazon's storefront has so far been confined to the Passport, but from now on it will be found on all BlackBerry 10 devices.

Moving on, the update has BlackBerry Blend inside. This is a feature that brings messaging and content that's on your BlackBerry to your computer or tablet, and effortlessly so.

BlackBerry Assistant is this company's entrant into the increasingly crowded virtual assistant space. It can take voice and text commands. The BlackBerry Hub has gained Instant Actions, a feature which lets you quickly organize your inbox without having to go into each message.

Keyboard shortcuts are back for the Q5, Q10, Porsche Design P'9983, and the Passport. Your Power Saving Profile can now be customized, allowing a battery life boost of up to 15%. The Camera has new functions, among them some automatic recommendations. You now get 17 preset equalizer options for media, and you can favorite songs, photos, or videos, so you can easily access them.

The Calendar's new Meeting Mode will automatically set your phone to quiet mode for the duration of a meeting, and will then turn notifications back on when the meeting is over. There's also a new weekly agenda view. Finally, BBM Meetings is built into the latest BlackBerry OS release, which should be good news for businesses.

When BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 is ready to be downloaded and installed on your phone, you'll get a notification in the BlackBerry Hub. Of course carriers could slow down the rollout, so if you bought your device from one of them then you may be in for a longer wait.

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