New BlackBerry coming to the US on March 22

11:53 AM, Mar 11, 2013   |    comments
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 30: BlackBerry Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins displays one of the new Blackberry 10 smartphones without a physical keyboard at the BlackBerry 10 launch event by Research in Motion at Pier 36 in Manhattan on January 30, 2013 in New York City. The new smartphones and mobile operating system are being launched simultaneously in six cities. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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TORONTO (AP) - BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion will launch its new touchscreen smartphone in the U.S. with AT&T on March 22. The release will come several weeks after RIM launched the much-delayed devices elsewhere.

AT&T said Monday said the Z10 will be available for $199.99 with a two-year contract. Sales of the device began in the U.K. and Canada shortly after RIM unveiled the phone in late January.

RIM has said U.S. carriers needed more time to test the devices.

The redesigned BlackBerry is RIM's attempt at a comeback after the pioneering brand lost its cachet not long after Apple's 2007 release of the iPhone, which reset expectations for what a smartphone should do.

Shares jumped $1.32, or 10.1 percent, to $14.38 in midday trading on the Nasdaq.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)