BlackBerry launches first BB10 device in India at $800

US-BLACKBERRY-INDIA-Z10:BlackBerry launches first BB10 device in India at $800

MUMBAI (Reuters) - BlackBerry launched its first smartphone from its BlackBerry 10 line in India on Monday, pricing the phone at 43,490 rupees ($800).

The touch-screen BlackBerry Z10 phone, which goes on sale in India from Tuesday, will compete with Apple Inc's iPhones and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's high-end Galaxy series phones.

The Z10 has already gone on sale in the United Kingdom and Canada, and is expected to hit the United States in mid-March.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Devidutta Tripathy)

---