Despite being slammed by TCL earlier this year, BlackBerry seems to be out of the dead, meaning we’ll be seeing new smartphones with 5G connectivity and physical keyboards.
The once king of QWERTY smartphones is set to return to European and North American markets at some point in 2021 through a licensing partnership with OnwardMobility and FIH Mobile Limited. BlackBerry has granted the teams the rights to develop, engineer and produce a new 5G-enabled BlackBerry brand mobile device. Note ‘device’ solo instead of a series of devices, because we are not sure if this collaboration extends beyond one piece of smartphone hardware.
Given that there is still a very very small market for Android devices with physical keyboards, this could be fantastic news for some of you who are clamoring for a device to replace an aging BlackBerry device. However, OnwardMobility did not provide any further information about the project or potential hardware.
“BlackBerry is pleased that OnwardMobility is delivering a BlackBerry 5G smartphone device with physical keyboard that makes our high standards of trust and security synonymous with our brand. We are excited that customers will experience the security and mobile productivity of businesses and governments that the new BlackBerry 5G smartphone will offer, “said John Chen, President and CEO, BlackBerry.
Given just how difficult a time BlackBerry has faced in recent years, it’s a strange move, but one that is welcomed by the hardcore fanbase. It’s also impressive just how difficult it has been to kill the brand “completely”. Just when you think BlackBerry smartphones are finally dead, it all comes down to the fact that by the mid-2000s, Undertaker seems just in time for Wrestlemania every year.
Like the Deadman, however, we are not sure that this “streak” of rebirth can continue forever.
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