Blackberry Q10 Release Date: Verizon On June 6, Pre-Orders Begin

It's official. Verizon Wireless is accepting pre-orders for the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone, stating that the handset is slated to ship out by June 6.

Interested parties can visit the Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Q10 pre-order page to snag the latest BlackBerry handset to feature a QWERTY keyboard.

It was previously rumored that Verizon would be launching its BlackBerry Q10 variant on June 6, and a "ship by" date usually indicates the day the carrier wishes to have the smartphone available for purchase in brick-and-mortar retail stores (supply issues considered, of course). Some previous Verizon pre-orders have arrived before the official in-store launch date, meaning there's a slight chance you could receive your Q10 before anyone else does if you pre-order.

Verizon is selling the BlackBerry Q10 in black or white for $199.99 with a two-year contract. Choosing a month-to-month service plan will result in the smartphone costing $599.99. Verizon is offering free shipping on the device. 

BlackBerry's current flagship foray into the touchscreen market, the Z10, released a while ago, and while the device has been snatched up across the globe, demand is still high for the classic QWERTY BlackBerry experience. Interest is high in this device, so potential in-store buyers may want to get to their Verizon stores early on June 6.

While it is equipped with a button keyboard, the 4G LTE Q10 will still sport a 3.1-inch 720X720 touch display pushing out 330 pixels per inch. The handset comes with 16GB internal storage, 2GB RAM, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. The Q10 will run the new BlackBerry 10 operating system out of the box.