New year, new Blackberry phone. The smartphone company have decided to release a new but classic take on their iconic phones in 2017.
Once pioneers in the smartphone industry, Blackberry has taken a backseat in recent years as Apple has dominated. Sleek designs and easier interfaces from Apple meant that the general public had no need for such a complicated phone any more.
However, it seems that Blackberry are making a come back by collaborating with TLC Communications Technology on their DTEK series. While not much has been in the news recently about the the new phone (codename: Mercury), some features have been leaked, included the controversial decision to include the classic QWERTY keyboard.
In recent years tech giants like Huawei and Google have shunned the traditional keyboards in favour of touch screens, but Blackberry are going against the grain and featuring a half touch screen, half keyboard design which is rumoured to have fingerprint recognition built into the space bar.
One notable difference between old and new Blackberry models is that the optical track pad featured on the classic model had been discarded. Blackberry’s operating system has also been abandoned in favour of Google’s Android.
Based on other phones in Blackberry’s recent revival, including the DTEK50, DTEK60 and the Blackberry Priv, prices are set to be about AUS$700. This is markedly cheaper than an iPhone, which may help Blackberry to regain it’s competitive edge.
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