BlackBerry’s fortunes are on the up again with share prices increasing by more than two thirds in the last quarter. And at this week’s Mobile World Congress, BlackBerry have announced that they will be launching two new BB10 smartphones. In addition they are also working on a new flagship phone yet to be unveiled, with the aim of attracting current Android and iOS users to switch to BlackBerry.
First up is the BB Q20 which is expected to be released in the second half of 2014. The Q20 will sport a more classic BlackBerry design and will feature a traditional BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard, navigation buttons and even a trackpad. The BlackBerry Q20 will come with a 3.5-inch screen and a decent-sized battery. It’s likely to prove popular with those who prefer the old-style BlackBerry’s but will have the added benefit of running on the new BB10 operating system.
The BlackBerry Z3 will be a contemporary touchscreen smartphone complete with a 5-inch screen and featuring an angular design. Aimed at emerging Asian markets and manufactured by Foxconn, the Z3 will be an entry-level model and come with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor as well as 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of built-in storage. The budget handset will be released in Indonesia in April and may not make it to these shores.
