(2 Mar 2017) This is the BlackBerry Key One smartphone, launched at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) technology show in Barcelona.
It is unmistakably a BlackBerry device, with the sleek black features and the physical QWERTY keyboard that brings back memories of the glory days when BlackBerry was the go-to device for the rich and famous.
But the new device has been produced under a licence by Chinese smartphone manufacturer TCL, the same company that also produces the Alcatel devices.
It will be available worldwide at the start of the second quarter of 2017 and will retail for 549 dollars in the North American market and at comparable prices in all other markets.
The 4.5-inch display is full HD, the back camera comes with 12 megapixels and the front facing camera 8 megapixel, it comes with an SD card slot, a 3505 Milliamp Hour battery and 3GB of RAM.
But the thing most people will notice is that keyboard.
Bruce Walpole, General Manager of Blackberry North America, says it was a market based decision to keep the physical keyboard even after all other smartphone manufactures have moved on to a touchscreen keyboard.
"We don't build physical keyboard devices because we have always built them. We build them because there is a segment out there of people that really desire physical keyboard devices. However, having said that we innovate on the physical keyboard. This particular keyboard is touch sensitive, allows you to do navigation on the keyboard, as if it is a large trackpad. But also allows you to assign keyboard shortcuts to different functions. As an example you could assign Instagram to the I key. Or compose an email to the C key," he says.
TCL says the Key One device is the first of a larger BlackBerry portfolio. The company expects to release at least one more BlackBerry device this year.
And the target audience is clear, people that used to have BlackBerrys in the past and miss the keyboard.
"The device is targeted at the professional consumer. The person who really need to get things done, whether getting things done is in their personal life, and their work world, their work life. So it is really targeted at the professional consumer," says Walpole.
Another feature is the security aspect.
TCL says the device has been designed to maintain the highest degree of security, and it will be updated with new security patches at least once a month.
"BlackBerry has always been known for security and continues to be. And we built in security right from the start. We put in security in the chip sets, so we put an encryption key in the chip set. That is validated against the OS itself. And it starts to build that root of trust right from the beginning of the device," says Walpole.
At 549 dollars, the device will be significantly cheaper than many other flagship devices.
But is there a market for a secure device with a physical keyboard these days - even with the nostalgia factor?
Nicole Scott, editor of the Mobilegeeks technology website, thinks so:
"So there are a lot of people out there that are very business focused and don't download any applications. And they just want to be productive on their devices. And for them, the physical keyboard for touch typing, or the flick that BlackBerry has embedded in their keyboard, is just a lot more productivity focused than say an Android device that can offer you a lot of stuff. BlackBerry users who want the keyboard might not be interested in the vast array of options that Android provides, although it is possible on this device," she says.
The MWC technology fair opens on February 27 and runs through March 2.
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