CBC News launches BlackBerry 10 app

BlackBerry 10 users won't have to wait to get CBC's breaking news stories, weather, videos and photos delivered in an optimized form to their new mobile device.

The new CBCNews app was made available as a free download at the BlackBerry World app store Wednesday, the same day the new BlackBerry 10 generation of phones was unveiled by the company formerly known as Research in Motion, now renamed BlackBerry.

"The CBC News BB10 app was built from the ground up, optimized to use the latest features of the new operating system and devices," said Marissa Nelson, acting director of digital media for CBC News.

Users of the new BlackBerry handsets, which go on sale Feb. 5, will be able to watch the mobile version of The National on the high-resolution screen, swipe between pages to read the latest news stories, and tap and read related links for more detail, depth and analysis.

Features of CBC News's first full-featured BlackBerry app include:

• Breaking news alerts via a scrolling ticker.
• Videos and photo galleries that can be viewed in ultra-fine detail by zooming in.
• The ability to share stories and links on any social media platform, including BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), via the BlackBerry Hub.
• Customizable options that let you set your local news city and location for your weather forecast, choose the order of news categories and headlines on your home screen, and modify text fonts for easy reading.

Future updates will include additional features, such as the ability to download news stories to read later.

Nelson said mobile device users are an important audience for CBC News. "We want to deliver news Canadians want and need wherever and whenever they want it."

Three other free CBC BlackBerry 10 apps also became available Wednesday:

• CBC Hockey Night in Canada.
• CBC Music.
• CBC Radio.

CBC News also offers device-specific apps for iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets.