Yahoo News A brand new BlackBerry is coming, and yes, it has a keyboard
BlackBerry's back — again.
In a CES news release, Chinese tech giant TCL's mobile branch, TCL Communications Technology (TCT) announced it's planning on reinvigorating the classic smartphone brand for 2017.
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TCL obtained a global smartphone software and brand licensing agreement in December, so this move shouldn't come as a complete shock. The company was also behind the poorly-received BlackBerry Android offerings from last year, which were the last handsets thought to be produced with the branding.
According to the statement, the newest BlackBerry device (which appears to be named the "Mercury"), will be focused on three core features: security, productivity and reliability. And like its ancestors, it has an actual, honest-to-goodness physical QWERTY keyboard!
The Android handset will be previewed at CES, where its system security will be on full display. Advance materials claim the new BlackBerry will "offer the most complete end-to-end smartphone security available on Android."
"We look forward to unveiling details around this distinctly different and impressively designed BlackBerry smartphone around the Mobile World Congress timeframe next month," said President and GM of TCL Communication (TCT) North America Steve Cistulli in the statement.
While this won't be the same as a full-on resurrection of the brand, complete with the discontinued BlackBerry OS and all of its business-centric charms, it's exciting to see one of the iconic brands in smartphone history getting a shot in the arm. Somebody make sure to tell Kim Kardashian.
