Once the desire of every tech enthusiast, BlackBerry vanished from the scene gradually owing to its lack of design innovation and failing to understand the evolution of consumer-driven market trends. A major contributing factor to its downfall was not being flexible enough to evolve the QWERTY keyboard design in times when the likes of Apple advanced to the full touchscreen interface.
BlackBerry is coming back, with a new BlackBerry 5G smartphone promised that will once again drag the brand out of the history books. This time around its OnwardMobility that has licensed the BlackBerry name, after TCL's agreement with BlackBerry the company came to an end in February of this year.
For a number of years now, Blackberry and TCL Communication have been working together to release new phones with BlackBerry branding that run on Android. It looks like that partnership is coming to an end, as TCL has announced that it will stop offering BlackBerry-branded devices later this year.
With all the talk about LG, HTC, and Sony's phone businesses being in trouble, there is one brand that has seemingly been ignored. To be fair, BlackBerry has long surrendered its phone-making business to TCL but its name still used to ring in Android circles. The last news we heard from its wasn't good, with BlackBerry Messenger announced to be going away. It won't be alone, at least, as BlackBerry's other Android apps are reportedly riding off into the sunset as well.
BlackBerry has slapped Twitter with a patent infringement lawsuit, alleging that the social network copied its technology related to mobile messaging apps. The new lawsuit follows a similar legal complaint filed against Facebook last year, that likewise alleging the company had infringed its patent. In this case, BlackBerry claims Twitter has infringed upon half a dozen of its patents.
There may not be a brand new BlackBerry phone for Mobile World Congress this year, but there is a new color, with the BlackBerry KEY2 Red Edition adding a striking hue to the line-up of QWERTY phones. The new finish joins the fairly sober silver and black versions of the KEY2 that have been on sale for some time now.
BlackBerry is aiming to reinvent itself as a heavyweight in autonomous and connected vehicles, announcing a huge investment into its QNX platform. The expansion will see BlackBerry invest more than $310m into the new project, while the Government of Canada will inject $40m more courtesy of its Strategic Innovation Fund.
TCL has launched its BlackBerry KEY2 LE smartphone in two new color options in the US: Champagne and Atomic. Buyers in the US can get the Champagne color option from multiple destinations, but the Atomic color is being launched as a Best Buy exclusive. These two colors join the "Slate" option; the model's specs remain unchanged.
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.