The new BlackBerry Z10 finally made its debut yesterday at Sydney.

The company is seeking to reverse a deadly decline in fortunes. It has seen a healthy 19.5 per cent market share in late 2008 decline to just 4.7 per cent last year.

Yesterday, it unveiled two BlackBerry 10 versions: the Z10, a touch screen model and the Q10, a QWERTY keyboard model more in style with the original BlackBerrys. Both will be released in Australia in March via Telstra and Optus.

Some of the main features of the smartphones are the BlackBerry Hub, a screen displaying chosen sources for messages, email, and social network feeds. The hub is always a flick away so that users can instantly read and reply to incoming messages, and return to the task at hand.

Another defining point is gestures, or swipes. This allows you to activate the phone from sleep, for accessing applications, the calendar and settings.

BlackBerry is known for its security that made it popular in the workplace. To enhance workplace security, there is separate work and personal use storage. The feature becomes available when a user connects to the internet at workplaces that use the company's new enterprise server.

BlackBerry Z10 will battle head-on with its rivals in the market, especially with Apple's flagship phone - iPhone 5.

Apple also released its supreme smartphone last September. The tech giant's iPhone 5 wowed critics at its media launch last September 12. iPhone 5 features a 4-inch screen, slightly bigger than earlier versions of Apple's device with 1136x640 pixel resolution, 4G/LTE connectivity, and iOS 6 mobile operating system.

Below is the comparison of some of the specs and features of the two devices.

Screen Display - iPhone 5 boasts its 4 inch screen display with 1280×720 resolution. The BlackBerry Z10 sports a 4.2 inch screen display with 1280x768 pixel resolution

Processor - iPhone 5 has a dual core A6 chip, which will go against Z10's 1.5GHz dual core processor.

Storage - Apple's smartphone is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants. BlackBerry Z10 has 16GB internal storage with microSD slot for additional storage up to 64GB.

Operating System - BlackBerry's new smartphone will run with BB10 OS. Meanwhile, iPhone 5 is running with iOS 6 mobile software.

4G/LTE - Both smartphones support 4G/LTE Connectivity

Near Field Communication - BlackBerry Z10 gained a point with its NFC support as iPhone 5 does not have this feature.

Camera - Both smartphones will have 8MP rear shooter.

Battery - The BlackBerry Z10 has 1800 mAh battery while iPhone 5 promises up to 9 hours of battery life.

iPhone 5 is already available through various networks. There is no word yet from HTC as to when it will release the rumoured mobile phone. However, BlackBerry Z10 will be released in March via Australian carriers Telstra and Optus.