BlackBerry was once the king of a smartphone era until it was trumped by competition that resulted to it later officially stopping the production of its own phones. However, the company would not be disappearing without a trace, as it has been confirmed that it will be releasing one last treat for its fans. That is, a phone that has a distinguishing physical keyboard.
Blackberry CEO John Chen teased the phone last September but had not confirmed it until recently. However, he refused to reveal more details about the phone's features or when it would be released.
Chen spoke with Bloomberg wherein he stated that "we have one keyboard phone I promised people" and when describing when it can be expected, he said that "it is coming." Under Chen's leadership, BlackBerry has not actually fallen off the market, but has shifted from a premier smartphone producer to a software developer.
Last September, the company announced that it would completely halt producing and distributing BlackBerry phones. Instead, it will allow the brand to be used by third-party companies to use on phones that they have built on their own.
BlackBerry's most distinguishing standout feature is its physical keyboard with former users reportedly still missing it as they tap out their ways to get through everyday tasks on newer full touchscreen smartphones. Phone Arena reports that even though BlackBerry's last smartphone, the DTEK50, had lower sales than expected, it will still be releasing a new model soon.
However, this final dance will just be a treat for all its fans that will be missing it instead of being a flagship BlackBerry model to compete with others in the market like how it did before. As the Canadian company will be totally shifting to software production very soon, its license will be made available for all other smartphone developers who will pay them for its use.
Blackberry's DTEK60 is the result of a collaboration with Alcatel, but it will definitely not be the last BlackBerry smartphone on the market. This upcoming model had actually been promised even long before the DTEK60 was announced. Chen had also revealed that the company is currently in talks with two companies from China and India for the launch of the upcoming Blackberry smartphone.