Newsletter
A year ago, 24/7 Wall St. published a list with 10 brands that would disappear in 2015. Blackberry was on that list and things weren’t good for the company, in fact. They have had several market failures lately, but now it seems the Canadian manufacturer is ready to turn the tide on its favor. This is all because of it’s highly expected smartphone, which will be the first time in history a Blackberry will be powered by Google’s Android system. We already know almost everything about the device, especially the most important fact that is “yes it is coming” from the company’s CEO, followed by an awkward and funny hands on demonstration. It’s most noticeable feature (other than it being a Blackberry with Android) is the fact that it sports a physical keyboard that lives inside the screen and can be accessed by sliding it down. As the release date approaches, alongside some real world photos leaked by a fortunate user, the device just got certified by Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG), an industry consortium that oversees the standards for the development of Bluetooth devices, bringing it a step closer to being released.
If you are unfamiliar with its hardware, expect a very powerful device. It will be powered by an hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor, the same one on LG’s powerhouse, the LG G4, a 64-bit hexa-core SoC, coupled with 3 GB of RAM. The screen will have curved edges just like the Galaxy S6 edge/edge+ from Samsung, with 5.5 inches and QHD resolution. Another aspect to get excited about is the 3.850 mAh battery, which should provide plenty of use time between charges, as you should expect from a Blackberry phone. The rear camera sensor will have 18 megapixels and it will be able to shoot videos in 4K, while the front-facing camera will come with 5 MP. As for the software, leaked images and the hands-on video with the CEO show an almost stock Android experience, and Blackberry is reported to have added under-the-hood security features. This should be interesting and we will have all our questions answered soon.
The news about a Blackberry Android phone is creating a lot of expectation by the former fans of the company, who had to leave their platform due to the lack of apps. Although the phone looks really nice, if it doesn’t succeed it may be the end of the line for Blackberry as a phone maker since CEO John Chen said that if in one year they don’t turn a profit, the company will be leaving the smartphone market. The handset is expected to be released in November, so it’s right around the corner. There isn’t any price information yet, but expect it to be expensive, since it’s a flagship phone with top specs, and stay tuned for more news.
