Intent on turning around the struggling Canadian smartphone brand, new(ish) Blackberry CEO Jason Chen has just announced Blackberry’s new phone. Apparently for the company, the best way forward is to go back to their roots – the new Blackberry classic appears to echo a simpler time, when the smartphone manufacturer was a bit more prolific.
The device contains all of the original features that Blackberry pretty much single handedly pioneered when the smartphone was young. The device contains the curved knobbly qwerty keyboard users will fondly remember, as well as some more modern features such as an upgraded screen and all the fixtures and fittings found on Blackberry 10.
Although the Blackberry Q10 came through last year for the company sporting a qwerty keyboard, the device never seemed to take off. A frustrating launch for the company would see yet further reductions in the company’s profits… and from what we have seen, the new Passport isn’t going to fare much better.
So, Jason Chen’s approach is to attempt to recapture those fond memories of the Blackberry, the old Blackberry, the phone that a surprising amount of people owned, a phone so advanced, that here in the UK it was the integral component of a well publicized riot in London. Indeed, the 2011 civil unrest is still known today as ‘the Blackberry riot’.
“It’s tempting in a rapidly changing, rapidly growing mobile market to change for the sake of change – to mimic what’s trendy and match the industry-standard, kitchen-sink approach of trying to be all things to all people,”
“But there’s also something to be said for the classic adage, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
– Jason Chen, Blackberry CEO
The device’s keyboard, software and screen are just about the only set in stone components we’ve heard about from Blackberry themselves, but from our point of view, we could end up seeing a Blackberry with a similar layout to older devices, which may well be thinner, lighter and built of more modern materials.
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We’ll keep you posted on the Blackberry Classic, as to us, the original run of Blackberry mobiles will always evoke fond memories of heavy-handed spelling errors, late night BBM sessions, and of course, hooded youths throwing bricks through the front of a Tottenham bookies. Those were the days…
Source: Blackberry Blog
Via: Techcrunch