Last year TCL Communication bought the right to create BlackBerry-branded smartphones, while BlackBerry itself concentrated on the security side of the business. We’re about to see whether this was an inspired business move, or throwing good money after bad.
Still, if you’re going to fail then fail fast, as the saying goes, and TCL has wasted no time in getting its first BlackBerry-branded product in front of our eyes. President of TCL Communication Steve Cistulli has taken to Twitter to tease the first BlackBerry-branded device with a full reveal at CES coming shortly.
This really is blink-and-you-miss-it kind of stuff, so wet your eyeballs thoroughly before watching both four-second clips, okay?
…and the next one:
So, other than that the new BlackBerry handsets possess the power of levitation, what else can we see from these eight seconds of slick promo footage?
Well, the physical keyboard is there, obviously, and we’re looking at a curved all-metal design. Looks like USB Type-C, and there is a couple of speaker grills there (although that doesn’t always translate into dual speakers underneath – they’re sometimes just for show). There are rumours that a fingerprint sensor will be embedded into the spacebar too, and you’d imagine that the new handset – like its predecessor, the pretty good BlackBerry Priv – will run Android.
We’ll know soon enough, when TCL Communication shows its hand in Las Vegas. Will this be BlackBerry’s last hoorah, or an unexpected recovery?
Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include an affiliate link. This does not effect our editorial in any way.
