As a long time BlackBerry user I have been anxiously waiting for the company to unveil new devices. The ones it launched last year failed to perform in the market, the company even trimmed its roadmap and shelved a couple of mid-range devices that were due late last year. We’re almost halfway through 2014 and today CEO John Chen finally revealed two high-end BlackBerry devices that are due this fall.
BlackBerry held its annual shareholders meeting today and there the CEO showed off the two new devices for the first time. Chen had confirmed back at MWC 2014 that the company was building a device called BlackBerry Classic. It borrows the iconic trackpad and function keys from the BB smartphones of years gone by and comes with a full QWERTY keyboard as well as a touchscreen. Specifications haven’t been confirmed as yet but at least we now know what it looks like.
The company today confirmed the name of its second high-end device. It will be called the BlackBerry Passport, presumably because of its design, which does resemble an actual passport. No specifications as yet but it appears that the display pushes it in the phablet category. A QWERTY keyboard is present sans the function key belt and trackpad, but the touchscreen should be there. The Passport is rumored to tout 3GB RAM and a 13 megapixel rear camera.
John Chen also confirmed today that the BlackBerry Classic is still on track for a November release, adding that the Passport will be formally unveiled at an event in London this September. [Images courtesy CrackBerry]
Filed in . Read more about BlackBerry, BlackBerry Classic and BlackBerry Passport.