Classic features a larger display.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: After failing to put up a strong fight in the premium smartphone segment, the Canadian manufacturer BlackBerry has launched a new device named Classic with its traditional QWERTY keyboard and trackpad.
The launch of Classic is part of the new strategy of BlackBerry to revive from the crisis that it has been facing for the last few years. BlackBerry was at the helm of affairs till the launch of iPhone and Android based devices. The company was known for their business class smartphones that featured keyboards and trackpad for easier navigation.
The previous attempts of the company to come out of the hard times by rolling out a new operating system and smartphone in the Z series saw very little success. Currently, they plan to target enterprise customers by increasing the sales of management-device software and security services.
Earlier, BlackBerry QWERTY models were famous among lawyers, bankers and other top professionals as they found the external keyboard and the trackpad as easier navigation tools for the BlackBerry operating environment.
According to BlackBerry, the Classic features a larger display, almost 60% bigger than the earlier QWERTY models of the company and also has a browser that they claim to be 3 times faster than any other mobile browsers.
With the launch of Classic and other allied services by the end of February next year, BlackBerry aims to make a profitable come back into the smartphone industry by the end of 2016. They expect the new software and security service business to start receiving results by that time. The company also announced its plan to release the third quarter result on Friday.
BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen said, “We listened closely to our customers’ feedback to ensure we are delivering the technologies to power them through their day—and that feedback led directly to the development of BlackBerry Classic.”
He also added that “It’s the secure device that feels familiar in their hands, with the added performance and agility they need to be competitive in today’s busy world.”
The new BlackBerry Classic (unlocked) is now available in the US for pre-order via Amazon and BlackBerry Shop for $449, which is $50 more than its earlier smartphone model BlackBerry Bold. However, the price is less than the latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus which cost $649 and $749, respectively.
BlackBerry Classic is powered by a 1.5 Ghz Dual-core MSM8960 Snapdragon processor and Adreno 225 GPU coupled with 2 GB RAM. It runs on the latest version of BlackBerry 10.3.1 OS.
The device has an 8 MP Primary camera and a 2 MP front-facing camera. Along with a Gorilla Glass protected capacitive touchscreen display the new BlackBerry Classic also has a QWERTY keyboard and trackpad.
The BlackBerry Classic also has an inbuilt storage capacity of 16 GB expandable up to 128 GB using micro SD card. The smartphone also has general connectivity features such as Bluetooth, Wi- Fi, NFC and GPS. Classic is backed up by a 2515 mAh non-removable battery that according to BlackBerry can last for 22 hours.