BlackBerry will return in 2021 with a 5G mobile and its famous physical keyboard. The well-known brand BlackBerry has announced that it will launch new smartphones on the market in the first half of 2021. Apparently, they will be focused on the security section and will carry Android.
Who doesn’t remember BlackBerry mobile phones? It is one of those brands that dominated the market for several years but in the end, after not being able to compete with giants such as Samsung or Apple, it has been diluted to the point of disappearance. It happened to Motorola as well, which appeared significantly less than a decade ago, and also to HTC. Thus, will it be a year of comebacks?
BlackBerry, characterized by its physical keyboard smartphones, had to step aside after the success of touch screens and their growth. Although it competed with them for around five years, it was eventually relegated to a small business market niche away from the general user. In fact, in recent times the Canadian company has been specializing in other technologies, even gaining a foothold in the autonomous car industry.
We could say that we all thought that BlackBerry had thrown in the towel in the smartphone market after the BlackBerry KEY2, its latest model launched two years ago. However, the brand wants to re-emerge with new models.
The next chapter
The next chapter is clearly being written because a press release announced a new smartphone for next year. This press release comes from OnwardMobility and with that, the cat is out of the bag and will make sure that a new BlackBerry is actually produced. OnwardMobility has now secured the license and has announced corresponding agreements with BlackBerry and the Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile.
We only know that it will be 5G-compatible, will use Android as the operating system, and will appear again with the hardware keyboard typical of BlackBerry devices. According to The Register, however, this keyboard will get a completely new design, which “reflects the brand values”. Okay, we are of course curious to see whether a no-name company can score points with a completely new hardware keyboard with BlackBerry clientele because these keyboards were the Canadians’ hobbyhorse.
Speaking of clientele: It is emphasized that this device should be particularly secure and with a hardware keyboard: That should appeal to classic BlackBerry fans, people who rely on a high level of security because they use sensitive data on a smartphone and who prefer a physical keyboard to software keys. At the same time, you also want to ensure that the smartphone is not only used for business but has such solid specs that it is also suitable as a daily driver and for fun casino games which are increasingly popular nowadays.
Sounds quite interesting to us, although Onward Mobility is still the big unknown here.. Nonetheless, we are really excited to see what will be pulled out of the hat next year. And we will of course keep you up to date, but finally, we can tell you that it should be in the first half of 2021 and that both North America and Europe can look forward to the release.
Security, physical keyboard, and 5G
There is a lot of secrecy regarding what the new BlackBerry smartphone will look like. However, John Chen, CEO of the company, announced in the last event of the brand that the new smartphones will once again focus on the cybersecurity section. As you know, security is very important in our devices and, above all, in the home network.
The company has already reached an agreement with OnwardMobility and FIH Mobile Limited to produce these new BlackBerry improvements. This new mobile phone will keep the classic physical QWERTY keyboard and will join the list of 5G mobiles already on the market. In this sense, they are already working to satisfy the needs of the new generation of smartphones.
BlackBerry does not want to be left out of the benefits that 5G brings and will have improvements that take advantage of greater speed and security, and minimal latency. Also, presumably, and has happened in its last model as well, the chosen operating system will be most definitely Android. According to the company, the new BlackBerry will be released in 2021 no matter the stakes of the competitive technological niche it is in. What do you think? Will BlackBerry reign in the next few years? We think it has a good chance.
