Production of BlackBerry Classic comes to an end

In a blog post by Ralph Pini, COO and GM for Devices at BlackBerry, he announced that the company will no longer be manufacturing the iconic BlackBerry Classic which has been a reliable workhorse device for a lot during its time — some, until now.

blackberry-classic

The move was made so that they can offer their customers something fresh and better. They also believe that the Classic has already lived out its life and they are ready to move on.

“[T]he hardest part in letting go is accepting that change makes way for new and better experiences, said Pini”.

“To keep innovating and advancing our portfolio, we are updating our smartphone lineup with state of the art devices. As part of this, and after many successful years in the market, we will no longer manufacture BlackBerry Classic, he added”.

For those who are still planning to buy a BlackBerry Classic, you can still check online sellers for the last few stocks available or through local carriers if available.

Pini closed his post by saying that he is looking forward to giving consumers a new and better experience. We’re anxious to see what that will be, so here’s to us looking forward to those, too.

You may read his article below.

{Source}

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Blackberry working on 3 new devices in partnership with Alcatel

Blackberry has been silent after releasing the Priv, their latest device running Android (finally). But, internal reports have surfaced and looks like the company has found a partner, Alcatel, to build new devices.

blackberry-codename-neon

Blackberry codenamed “Neon”

The first device has a codenamed of Neon. A mid-range offering with a Full HD 5.2-inch full touch display. The Blackberry keyboard will not be present on the device. It will sport a Snapdragon 617 chipset w/ 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The camera will be a 13MP main shooter and an 8MP front camera. Its 2610mAh battery will support Quick Charge 2.0. It’s expected to go on sale in  July or August under the moniker of Blackberry Hamburg.

Next up is Argon which will have a 5.5-inch Quad HD display, Snapdragon 820, 4GB RAM, 32GB of storage, 3000mAh battery w/ Quick Charge 2.0, fingerprint scanner, and the latest USB Type-C port. The camera is at 21MP for the rear and 8MP up front. This flagship-specced Blackberry is expected to arrive by October.

blackberry-mercury

Blackberry codenamed “Mercury”

Lastly, there’s the Mercury but it’s slated for a Q1 2017 release. It will feature the iconic Blackberry physical keyboard, and not in slideout form like w/ the Priv. It will sport a 4.5-inch Full HD display with a 3:2 aspect ratio similar to the Blackberry Passport. Processing is handled by a Snapdragon 625 chipset with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The camera department will have an 18MP rear and 8MP front shooters. All are juiced up by a 3400mAh battery.

As you can notice, it will be a gradual release while bumping up the specs and form. We just hope Blackberry will make their new devices cheaper than the Priv’s launching price because that’s way too high.

Source / Via

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Blackberry working on 3 new devices in partnership with Alcatel

Blackberry has been silent after releasing the Priv, their latest device running Android (finally). But, internal reports have surfaced and looks like the company has found a partner, Alcatel, to build new devices.

blackberry-codename-neon

Blackberry codenamed “Neon”

The first device has a codenamed of Neon. A mid-range offering with a Full HD 5.2-inch full touch display. The Blackberry keyboard will not be present on the device. It will sport a Snapdragon 617 chipset w/ 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The camera will be a 13MP main shooter and an 8MP front camera. Its 2610mAh battery will support Quick Charge 2.0. It’s expected to go on sale in  July or August under the moniker of Blackberry Hamburg.

Next up is Argon which will have a 5.5-inch Quad HD display, Snapdragon 820, 4GB RAM, 32GB of storage, 3000mAh battery w/ Quick Charge 2.0, fingerprint scanner, and the latest USB Type-C port. The camera is at 21MP for the rear and 8MP up front. This flagship-specced Blackberry is expected to arrive by October.

blackberry-mercury

Blackberry codenamed “Mercury”

Lastly, there’s the Mercury but it’s slated for a Q1 2017 release. It will feature the iconic Blackberry physical keyboard, and not in slideout form like w/ the Priv. It will sport a 4.5-inch Full HD display with a 3:2 aspect ratio similar to the Blackberry Passport. Processing is handled by a Snapdragon 625 chipset with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The camera department will have an 18MP rear and 8MP front shooters. All are juiced up by a 3400mAh battery.

As you can notice, it will be a gradual release while bumping up the specs and form. We just hope Blackberry will make their new devices cheaper than the Priv’s launching price because that’s way too high.

Source / Via

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BlackBerry Virtual Expert app now available for Priv

Priv users can now do their own diagnostic of their new Android-powered smartphone with the BlackBerry Virtual Expert app. The app has already been available on BlackBerry World for older BlackBerry devices, but since they are now jumping to Android’s ecosystem, they have moved it to the Google Play Store.

bb-expert-app

The app is pretty straightforward. It is designed to quickly assess what is causing the problem with your Priv. It can test 18 hardware components including the camera, keyboard, speakers, mic, and especially the slider.

If you own a BlackBerry Priv smartphone, you may download the app here. And if you’re planning on purchasing one, read our review to help you out.

Via

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Top 5 Features of BlackBerry PRIV

BlackBerry Philippines has just introduced the PRIV and before it becomes available in the local market next week, let’s take a look at some of the top features of this Android-loaded, keyboard-touting smartphone.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. We just wanted to give you guys a rundown on the top features of the phone that we think are its main selling points for anyone looking for such capabilities. Keep in mind that the features below are all BlackBerry’s claims and we still have yet to prove how well they work in real life situations during our full review.

With that, let’s get started!

BlackBerry Hub

Previously a BlackBerry 10 exclusive, the BlackBerry Hub lets you view all your communications in one glance. This includes SMS, emails, social media, calendar, or call logs. With this feature alone, it will minimize the time spent on opening different apps just to check for new notifications.

blackberry-priv-hub

Users can also arrange and organize all their files inside the Hub. Since the entries come from different apps, you can create new folders and, for example, segregate your work entries from your friends list. You can also mute an entry and schedule it when to unmute: whether by time, place (home or work), or whenever you’re connected to a certain Wi-Fi connection. These are just some of the things that you can do using the BlackBerry Hub.

Touch-enabled physical keyboard

You probably know by now that PRIV allows for two kinds of typing: on-screen and a sliding physical keyboard. Although it’s nice that there’s this option, it doesn’t end there. This physical keyboard also acts as a touch-sensitive trackpad so you could swipe on its keys to scroll the screen up and down, flicking predictive text onto the screen, and using it as a cursor for making selections.

blackberry-priv-keyboard

This makes it possible to control and navigate through the device while the keyboard is out.

Schneider-Kreuznach rear camera

blackberry-priv-camera2

The company also took imaging seriously for the PRIV. It’s been equipped with an 18-megapixel Schneider-Kreuznach rear camera that integrates technologies commonly seen in DSLR cameras.

blackberry-priv-camera

What the PRIV aims to provide is professional-grade photos by being equipped with settings and features like control for exposure, Phase Detection Auto Focus, Optical Image Stabilization, and dual-tone flashes.

Display

Sporting a 5.4-inch display, the screen itself is a looker with the edges curving outward on both sides.  It is also reinforced with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 which protects it from unwanted scratches and even against impacts.

blackberry-priv-hub2

Resolution-wise, it’s packed with 2560 x 1440 that results to an eye-watering 540ppi. Together with its OLED panel, the display as a whole aims to not only make the PRIV solely for business use but also for entertainment.

DTEK by BlackBerry

With all the cyber hacking happening  these days, it pays to have extra security on the device that you use the most — your smartphone. The company claims that all data stored inside the phone is protected and encrypted by default using a combination of software and hardware.

blackberry-priv-dtek

As a way to monitor your device, the PRIV has a proprietary DTEK software that shows what apps are accessing the microphone, camera, location, and personal information. In one glance, it displays the overall security rating of the handset as well as all its securty features.

That rounds up our short list and stay tuned as we work on the full review of the device. In the meantime, check out our first impressions here.

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