BlackBerry and TCL might be working to launch a new smartphone codenamed QUALCOMM BBF100-1. The said device recently appeared on GeekBench, and is believed to be the BlackBerry KEYone successor. It got really good numbers on GeekBench.
BlackBerry KEYone successor – what to expect
The BlackBerry Motion carried the model number BBD-100-X while the KEYone carried BBB100-X, where X is a letter used depending on the region. This alleged BlackBerry KEYone successor powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 CPU with 6GB RAM appears to be in the testing phase. The Snapdragon 660 packs Adreno 512 GPU as well as an X12 LTE modem supporting maximum download speeds of up to 600 Mbps and upload speed of up to 150 Mbps. The benchmark listing shows the alleged BlackBerry KEYone successor to be running on Android 8.0 Oreo.
Any other information on the specifications of the phone is scant, but speculations are that the BlackBerry KEYone successor would have a screen resolution of 1620×1080 and an aspect ratio of 3:2. Further, the smartphone is expected to come with BlackBerry’s signature physical QWERTY keypad.
As of now, there is nothing on the release date of the handset, but since KEYone was launched in February, TCL could launch the successor around that time next year. The BlackBerry KEYone was an impressive device, so hopes are high for the upcoming smartphone as well.
Success with hardware efforts
BlackBerry looks content with the performance of the KEYone as multiple variants of the phone have been launched across the world including the Silver Edition, Space Black and Black Edition. The Black Edition of KEYone doubles the internal storage from 32GB to 64GB along with expandable memory capability via a microSD. Further, the Black Edition comes with 4GB RAM instead of the regular 3GB. The Black Edition also has a dedicated hardware button on the side, which is more productive compared to the Note 8 Bixby button, notes TechCrunch.
Separately, the BlackBerry Motion, which launched only recently, is also said to be based on the KEYone. The handset is BlackBerry’s first water and dust resistant smartphone. The company stated that for the Motion, a lot is derived from the KEYone in terms of productivity, security, reliability and privacy features.
When asked why a customer would prefer Motion over KEYone, executives at BlackBerry Mobile told MobileSyrup that someone looking for high performance beyond specifications along with the reliability and consistent security updates would go for the Motion as it would be value for money.
Outsources patent licensing
Besides hardware, BlackBerry has also been working on its patent strategy. A couple of weeks back, the company outsourced the patent licensing efforts to the U.S.-based Marconi group. The Canadian firm, however, noted that it would retain the ownership of around 40,000 patents related to networking infrastructure, automotive subsystems, span operating systems, wireless communications and security related patents.
Talking about the deal, Todd Coupland, an analyst at CIBC World Markets said, “They’re basically saying ‘I don’t want to build this internal team up at BlackBerry, I want to outsource it.’ ” The deal would help the Canadian firm to focus on their core business, the analyst said, according to Reuters.
