The BlackBerry KEY2 LE Android smartphone has launched for preorder in the United States. Buyers can purchase the unlocked handset from Amazon now, reserving a unit ahead of the October 12 official sale start date. Best Buy will also start accepting preorders for the smartphone soon, doing so both online and in some retail stores.
Some OEMs are rushing to put out new phones in the coming days and weeks but TCL is just being chill and rolling out what it announced just over a month ago. After all, its BlackBerry-branded QWERTY phones don't exactly have universal appeal. It does have its fair share of fans, some of whom might have wished to get their hands on a BlackBerry KEY2 if they could afford it. Fortunately, there is the KEY2 LE which is now available for those in the US to pre-order.
Facebook has slapped BlackBerry with a lawsuit accusing it of patent infringement. The legal spat follows BlackBerry's own lawsuit against Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp over allegations of "mobile messaging intellectual property" infringement, an issue that has boiled over into Facebook's own complaint. In it, the social media company claims BlackBerry has violated some of its voice messaging patents, among other things.
If you still demand a physical keyboard with your smartphone, but need Android on a budget, the new BlackBerry KEY2 LE announced at IFA 2018 today might fit the bill. Taking TCL's generally well-received BlackBerry KEY2 and trimming it down for a more affordable price point, the new smartphone starts at under $400.
BlackBerry has always been a name associated with business-smart mobile devices. That is also why you’re unlikely to find a BlackBerry phone in anything but somber hues, like black, silver, or gray. There were some red editions, true, and those were pretty radical as far as BlackBerry is concerned. The upcoming KEY2 LE, a.k.a. KEY2 Lite, will supposedly mix things up a bit and this latest batch of leaked photos show just how much, or how little, it will show off its colors.
It’s that time of year again. New Android version, new guessing and then waiting game for which phones will get the update and, just as importantly, when. Things have gotten better over the years, in no small part thanks to high-profile security scares and Apple gloating, but it’s far from being ideal. Ideally, that would be when lists like this will be superfluous. But until that glorious day, here are some of the smartphone makers who have gone public about their love for Pie and those that have been unsurprisingly yet annoyingly silent for the past weeks.
Samsung’s early launch of the Galaxy Note 9 means only one thing. We only have a little over two weeks to get a breather before we’re inundated by even more new products. IFA 2018 is just around the corner and with it comes new smartphones to choose from. If you’re the type who prefers to see and feel the keys on your phone, however, choice is pretty limited. Fortunately, TCL and BlackBerry are likely to drop another one before this month is over.
BlackBerry is readying a new, more affordable version of its KEY2 smartphone, for those who want a physical keyboard but are turned off by the premium price tag. Expected to launch as the BlackBerry KEY2 LE, the new device is yet to be officially revealed, but details are already leaking.
Two new BlackBerry smartphones were revealed this week in a manner that suggested they weren't meant for the USA. BlackBerry hasn't done a lot of business in the USA recently, and launching a pair of phones in India isn't outside their realm of possibility. In this case, it's more of a licensee situation, where Indian company Optiemus Infracom paid BlackBerry some cash to use their name while they launch a pair of phones branded and decked-out in BlackBerry app connections.
There's a new BlackBerry in town, and it's not just a KEY2. The device is code-named BBE100-2, and up until the launch of the BlackBerry KEY2, we'd just assumed it'd be launched with a lesser cousin. BlackBerry launched the KEY2 on its own, and the BBE100-2 hasn't appeared in the real world just yet. Except it did, again, in the FCC just this morning.
Despite what the smartphone market seems to say, BlackBerry remains steadfast in its iconic QWERTY feature. As proof of that, it recently launched the KEY2 to succeed last year’s KEYone. The BlackBerry KEY2 definitely addresses some of the pain points users raised about its successor but one thing the company has been relatively silent about is the aspect of durability. Fortunately, we have JerryRigEverything’s Zack Nelson to give us that answer and, even more fortunately, it seems that BlackBerry has learned its lesson well.
The BlackBerry KEY2 is an brand new phone trying to coexist with an old-school form-factor, and struggling all the way. When it comes to capturing nostalgia, TCL - which has been licensing the BlackBerry brand for smartphones since 2016 - has done an excellent job. Problem is, there hasn't been quite as much success in making a must-have smartphone.