BlackBerry Announces U.S. Release Date For Z10

For those of you holding out for the latest BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY), your wait is almost over. Bloomberg reported that the Z10, its highly anticipated new model, will be dropping into AT&T (NYSE:T) stores on March 22, a short couple of weeks from now according to an unnamed source; BlackBerry has not formally announced its release plans to the public.

“BlackBerry has not announced official launch dates for the BlackBerry Z10 in the U.S. and we are not able to confirm any rumored launch dates on behalf of our carrier partners,” the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in an e-mailed statement. AT&T declined to comment.

The Z10 has a lot riding on its success — potentially, the fate of the BlackBerry brand. BlackBerry’s market value has been on a steady slide, and the company is relying on the Z10 and its new BB10 operating system, to bring the company back to some of its former glory. By the time it’s released in the U.S., the Z10 will have already been launched in 21 other countries, but because of longer testing times, American wireless providers cannot offer it sooner…