Months late, BlackBerry 10.2.1 hits AT&T's Z10 and Q10

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BlackBerry 10.2.1 might have rolled out to users worldwide back in January but only now is it finally making its way to Q10 and Z10 users on AT&T.

The blue carrier announced customers can check for the update in their settings and download it over the air starting today.

The biggest change with this version of BlackBerry's mobile OS is it adds native support for Android Jelly Bean apps. The previous 10.2.0 version only supported apps up to Android Ice Cream Sandwich, which means the update should bring a fresh slew of apps to BlackBerry's app marketplace.

Along with making it possible for more Android developers to port their apps over to BlackBery, new converts starting their BlackBerry device with 10.2.1 can also use the device switch app to easily migrate data from their old smartphone.

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BB10.2.1 also brings a number of interface additions, including pinch gestures to filter the BlackBerry Hub. This cleans up the messaging history to only show unread notes, flagged conversations, and other filters like level-one alerts.

Users can now view and respond to messages without having to close or leave an app. This ability to answer messages quickly also extends to the lock screen, where users can "tap to open" notifications and respond to an important messages faster.

Another neat upgrade improves the overall voice quality of handsets making BBM Voice and BBM Video chats.

Lastly, the battery usage monitor has been improved to give Q10 and Z10 users more details on how apps are impacting their smartphone's lifespan and performance.

Of course BlackBerry isn't going to call it quits after this incremental update. The next 10.3 version leaked earlier last month showing off a snazzy new user interface and the possibility of future 1080p handsets.

• The mobile OS race is heating up again, see our review of Windows Phone 8.1