BlackBerry has posted an update for BlackBerry 10 developers, confirming that the company will continue to support the platform. On the BlackBerry 10 front, not much will change, as the company gears up to release the Priv by BlackBerry, its first Android smartphone. Development continues on BlackBerry 10, as the company has committed to an early 2016 release for BlackBerry 10.3.3.

Additionally, all of the current development environments, such as Native, Cascades, web, etc will continue to be supported. BlackBerry World will remain available for developers to distribute their apps, as well as the Amazon Appstore, and BlackBerry has recently refreshed its Developer Zone and will continue to run its support forums, developer blog, BBM Channel and all other social channels as well. So, even with the first Android-based phone heading to market soon, BlackBerry is not abandoning its previous OS of choice, which is great to see.

Source: BlackBerry

Looking for a new BlackBerry 10 OS? If so, you can now go ahead and give OS 10.3.2.2813 a try if you're down with manually installing it using the update files. At this point, as the files are brand new, it's pretty hard to say what has changed but this is the first BlackBerry 10 OS update we've seen in a while. Some app versions have been updated and the OS has a build date of 2015-10-05, but that's pretty much all that is known thus far.

Given the nature of the files, it still has to be treated like a leak in the fact that you assume all responsibility should you decide to load it up. The core OS, debrick and radio files are available for those who wish to build their own autoloaders and if you're not keen on doing that, well, there's a few autoloaders already available as well.

Download 10.3.2.2813 for all BlackBerry 10 smartphones

Although the OS has been appearing on BlackBerry servers since late December, we're now one step closer to seeing an official release of BlackBerry OS 10.3.3, which is expected to land before the end of March. As spotted on the PTCRB site, BlackBerry OS 10.3.3.441, Radio 10.3.3.442, Software Release Version: 10.3.3.293 has now been certified for the BlackBerry Q5 and it's only a matter of time before it filters out to other devices in the BlackBerry 10 lineup.

As it stands, BlackBerry OS 10.3.3 isn't expected to bring any huge changes on the consumer side but it has already been confirmed by BlackBerry CEO John Chen that will contain the NIAP certification, meaning it will have passed the strictest government-grade security tests, enabling BlackBerry to further support government and regulated customers who use BlackBerry 10 devices and demand the highest levels of security.

Remember the good old days when BlackBerry used to release beta OS builds to developers? Well, they're back. BlackBerry has rather quietly updated the BlackBerry Dev Alpha downloads page with beta builds of BlackBerry 10.3.3.746 so developers may test their apps against that build to ensure all remains working fine.

Just as before, the OS builds are not full builds of the OS, they are watermarked with your PIN and are certainly not recommended to be downloaded unless you are a developer. One problem has already popped up in the forums, wherein the SD Card Drivers for the OS would not install for someone who unknowingly installed one of the beta builds.

That warning aside and knowing some will entirely ignore it, you can hit the link below to grab the OS for your specific device. Z10, Z30, Q5, Q10, Leap, Passport, Classic and finally, Dev Alpha C are all supported.

Download BlackBerry OS 10.3.3 beta OS for developers

Update - BlackBerry has now outlined the details via the Inside BlackBerry Developer Blog. Here's what they had to say about the releases.

If you're simply itching to load up a new OS on your BlackBerry 10 smartphone, you can now snag OS 10.3.2.2888 as long as you're willing to install the files manually yourself. The OS files have now appeared on BlackBerry's production servers and are available for all to download.

At this point, it looks as though there's not exactly a lot that's new but hey, it's a higher version number than what you're likely running now, so there's that. If you do go loading it up, be sure to read through the thread and know what you're getting into.

The OS uses an older version of the Android Runtime that has in the past caused problems, so you'll want to ensure you replace that. Plus, it also uses the 2877 radio files so be sure to download those. The long and the short of it, unless you know what you're doing, you'll likely just want to pass on loading this for now. But it's certainly there if you simply must give it a go.

Download OS 10.3.2.2888

Thanks, mainely_linux !

A few days ago we ran a poll asking how excited you are for the BlackBerry Assistant that we'll get when BlackBerry 10.3 gets released into the wild and also comes pre-installed on the BlackBerry Passport.

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure which way this one would swing. I know that iOS and Android users have been rocking Siri and Google Now for some time - and Windows Phone has just got there own assistant with Cortana, but traditionally us BlackBerry users are workhorses with our thumbs.

As you can see below it seems that decent voice controls are very much wanted by team BlackBerry. Sure, we have limited options with BlackBerry 10 anyway, but if you've used it I'm sure you would have found it quite hit and miss. The BlackBerry Assistant aims to fix that, but also give us full 'assistant' capabilities so we'll be able to not only ask it to perform tasks for us, but also answer questions.

Bring it on BlackBerry. We are ready.