In 2021, the BlackBerry 5g phone will be launched in Europe and North America with a defined physical keyboard
Once again, the BlackBerry brand will be back in the smartphone market. OnwardMobility, a Texas startup with experience building security solutions for the government and corporate customers, is taking responsibility for its revival. A physical keyboard will be featured on the new BlackBerry 5G device and a list of security features aimed at businesses will also be included.
The new development is hereafter just over six months, after an announcement made by TCL Communication, a licensee of the previous brand, that sales of BlackBerry-branded handsets would start from August 31.
The first BlackBerry 5G Android smartphone is expected to be launched by OnwardMobility with a physical keyboard in the first half of 2021. North America and Europe are the places where the device is expected to debut. However, there is no confirmation of when it will reach other markets.
To produce the BlackBerry phone, the OnwardMobility group partnered with Foxconn’s subsidiary, FIH Mobile, according to the company’s statement. The new phone is a “feature-rich 5G” model to increase productivity. Business customers are targeted, who want security along with smart features on the device.
Peter Franklin, CEO of OnwardMobility, said in a statement that without sacrificing the user experience, the company’s professionals are eager to protect 5G phones with productivity. In addition, it has been added that BlackBerry smartphones protect communications, privacy, and data.
The specifications of the new BlackBerry smartphone have not yet been revealed. According to Franklin in an interview with TheRegister, he said that a redesigned “clean-sheet keyboard” (physical keyboard) is coming with the smartphone. Long-term support has also been promised for the phone.
There will be a competitive price for the BlackBerry 5G phone, something like the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 or the next Apple iPhone 12. The new BlackBerry phone is probably an intermediate offering.
BlackBerry Executive President and CEO John Chen said in a statement: The new BlackBerry 5G smartphone will offer customers an experience of corporate government security and mobile productivity.
The return of the BlackBerry brand in the smartphone market is not the first time. A tough fight was faced by the brand after the expansion of the Android smartphone, which led it to sign a licensing agreement with TCL Communication in December 2016. For the production and sale of Android smartphones in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh, the brand had partnered with Optiemus Infracom in February 2017 and the brand tied with BB Merah Putih for the Indonesian market.
However, an announcement was made by TCL Communication in February that BlackBerry-branded mobile devices would no longer be sold by them. Since October 2018, silence has been maintained by licensees from other brands after the launch of the BlackBerry KEY2 LE, emerging as the brand’s latest phone, known for premium mobile devices.
