As the U.S. launch of BlackBerry's flagship Z10 draws ever closer, the company is heightening its aim to reach a 100,000 app milestone by the time the Z10 hits U.S. markets.

TechCrunch reports that this is a significant push, from the Z10's 70,000 apps during the Z10 unveiling date, but the battle is just beginning as major apps continue to avoid developing native apps for the BB10 platform.

While it has been doing well, after swaying WhatsApp to the BlackBerry side, as well as offering side-loaded apps from Android, the likes of Instagram, YouTube, eBay, Paypal, and Gmail have yet to make anything official when it comes to native BB10 apps.

"I think we are seeing the dynamic changing over time sa they want to watch and se how BlackBerry 10 is making it in the market," said Thorsten Heins, CEO of BlackBerry, said to TechCrunch. "They want ROI on their development dollars as well. It is our job to convince them that BB10 is a successful platform."

BB10: An advanced OS more than the iPhone 5's iOS

It seems that confidence in the product is very apparent, at least to the BlackBerry CEO, as he mentions in an interview with The Australian Financial Review that the Apple, while very innovative in terms of inventing touch devices, has come to a standstill with its innovations, giving users a more outdated iPhone 5.

"The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don't innovate at that speed, you can be replaced pretty quickly," said Heins to PC Mag. "The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about, is now five years old."

Granted, the BB10 OS has been making waves and smiles to users, allowing for multitasking, security, and privacy to users' data.

However, as mentioned, the deal breaker may really get down to the BlackBerry World and what it has to offer compared to other smartphones.

Telstra finally releases prices for Z10

In more local news, The BlackBerry Z10 has officially landed in Australia, with Telstra announcing the price details for the handset.

LifeHacker reports that the Z10 will be made available for business plans and consumer plans.

The Z10 is generally offered at $49.95 Mobile Connect with no upfront costs for over 24 months for business users. Consumers can opt for a $7 monthly for the handset for the $60 Consumer Plan, also offered at 24 months.

It's a pretty limited choice compared to Optus's plans, but users can opt to buy the handset as a stand-alone, giving users the chance to just get the handset, but without the added benefits of unlimited Internet.