Blackberry mobile 5g

Analysis: OnwardMobility's BlackBerry plans died on the vine The disappointing BlackBerry news comes almost two years after the Texas-based company purchased the BlackBerry brand name and announced plans to build a secure, 5G BlackBerry device. More importantly, they promised to include a signature physical keyboard. There are, in our estimation, essentially zero 5G phones with physical QWERTY keyboards. OnwardMobility's demise may mark the true end of the BlackBerry brand across phones and services. Earlier this year, BlackBerry (the Canadian company), It's a sad end to a storied history as one of the most useful and forward-leaning mobile brands in history. Sure, Blackberry was caught flat-footed when the original iPhone came along in 2007. However, up until that moment, BlackBerry phones were the most important mobile brand in business and for consumers. Hard to believe that owning BlackBerry phone in 2005 was a considered status symbol. By the time BlackBerry arrived on Android in 2015, it and the physical keyboard that still adorned some devices was seen as something of a curiosity. Now, the brand name will fade into our collective memory of a time when we were so addicted to our BlackBerry phones that we called them "CrackBerries". •

OnwardMobility and its partner said that they were going to develop a new BlackBerry that would arrive during the first half of this year with support for 5G connectivity. And the new licensees knew what differentiates a BlackBerry from any other handset by announcing that the handset would be equipped with a physical QWERTY keyboard. But as PCMag points out, 2021 has but just a few weeks of life remaining and no one has heard a peep from OnwardMobility. The company said back in February that it had hired some staff including a European business head and a director of government sales. But in an email to PCMag, OnwardMobility recently wrote, "Right now, OnwardMobility is unable to share more details or conduct any interviews. Thanks for your patience as they continue developing the world’s most productive, user-friendly and secure mobile device." In 2007, BlackBerry sold 11.77 million smartphones compared to the 3.3 million iPhone units delivered by Apple. Nokia shipped a leading 60 million+ smartphones that year with BlackBerry in second place. By 2008, BlackBerry parent Research In Motion (RIM) figured that it had to take on Apple (which shipped 13.8 million iPhone units in 2008 compared to 23.6 million BlackBerry handsets) so it came up with the BlackBerry Storm. The idea was that the user would tap on the touchscreen and get the same tactile experience of pressing on a real keyboard key. The first variant of the device was a big fat failure as the device did not have W...

OnwardMobility is working with Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile Limited to get the phones out in the first half of 2021 to North American and European markets. Whether the phone will reach consumer markets, however, is unclear, as the press release announcing the BlackBerry 5G phone posits it as an enterprise solution for companies that need ‘a secure, feature-rich 5G-ready phone that enhances productivity.’ OnwardMobility doesn’t list any other products on its website, only referring to ‘future BlackBerry 5G smartphones.’ Its about page claims the company was created to deliver secure mobile device solutions to enterprise, government and business – so we’re not sure if fans of the brand will be able to pick up one of the next BlackBerry phones at their local retailer, though the announcement video (embedded above) does suggest it will be available for consumers. It's also unclear if, or when, it's coming to other regions. Update: OnwardMobility responded to TechRadar's inquiries and confirmed the device will be headed to consumer markets: "More than half of the global population own smartphones today, so the market is enormous," OnwardMobility CEO Peter Franklin said. "What’s been missing, however, is the ultra-secure and productivity-centric smartphone that can address the needs of enterprise users, government users and security-conscious consumers – and that’s the gap we expect to fill." • Keyboards? The industry has moved on to • If it's cheap enough, perhaps it'll make o...

The BlackBerry brand is now owned by little known security company OnwardMobility, and it's expected it will release a new BlackBerry handset by the end of this year. In fact, in 2020 the company said we could expect a new BlackBerry Android phone with 5G connectivity by the end of the first half of 2021. That hasn't happened, but this latest post suggests the phone is still in development and it may be nearing release. The BlackBerry Key2 LE from 2018 (Image credit: Future) At one stage, BlackBerry was one of the most popular phone brands on the planet. Now, we haven't seen a new smartphone with the BlackBerry branding since the Since then, TCL has stopped producing smartphones under the branding and in August 2020 OnwardMobility took on that mantel. We've yet to learn what it will do for BlackBerry phones. It's unclear how a new BlackBerry smartphone will be able to compete with the That's based on the way BlackBerry phones have changed in recent years, with a focus on more niche elements such as a physical keyboard, rather than offering the absolute best specs. OnwardMobility has confirmed it will be including a QWERTY physical keyboard on this smartphone though, and for some that may be enough for this phone to stand out from the rest of the crowd. •

In any case, we’re hopeful that it will launch sooner rather than later. Given that the goal was to ship in 2021 (and the first half at that), it’s entirely possible that the device is close to being finished, even with the delays faced by OnwardMobility. But we can’t be certain until we hear more, so stay tuned for updates. A BlackBerry Key2 LE (Image credit: Future) Analysis: what we know about the BlackBerry 5G so far Given how long it’s been since we last heard news about the BlackBerry 5G, a refresher might be in order. That said, there’s not really much to know. OnwardMobility has previously said that the BlackBerry 5G will have a top-of-the-line camera and run Android. We also know that it will have a physical keyboard, support 5G, and that it’s aimed primarily at enterprise, government, and security-conscious users who want a productivity-centric smartphone. Beyond that it’s anyone’s guess really. In fact, we don’t even know what the phone is called, with BlackBerry 5G just being a term we’re using for convenience until we learn the official name. And as noted above, there's a chance this isn't even a BlackBerry anymore. This lack of information might mean it’s still a long way from launch, but equally it’s not a super high-profile handset, so the makers may have been able to keep things quiet. Hopefully we won’t be waiting too long for it to launch, but if you can’t wait then there’s always the new • Check out all the