The Blackberry KeyOne finally debuted at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and it comes with a full-on physical keyboard, a reminiscent of its QWERTY predecessor. Originally unveiled in January at CES 2017 as the Blackberry Mercury, current owner of the BlackBerry brand Tcl Communications took the MWC stage to confirm its official name, specs, release date and the price. A recent interview with the company’s CEO, however, confirms that more phones are to come this year.
TCL’s Nicolas Zibell confirmed over the weekend the company is planning to release a total of three smartphones.
Unlike the BlackBerry KeyOne, the other two could sport an all-touchscreen feature as a spiritual successor to the DTEK 50 and DTEK 60 smartphones. However, the company might drop the DTEK branding soon.
The BlackBerry revival
The unveiling of the KeyOne is the company’s effort in reviving the BlackBerry smartphone brand, and it looks like 2017 will see numerous comeback attempts. Motorola, under new owners, is also attempting to break into the mobile phone industry this year along with Nokia, now under the management of a Finnish start up.
TCL is hoping that a more solid portfolio is to materialize this year, to counteract the negative feedback it received from 2015’s BlackBerry Priv, priced at $700.
The BlackBerry KeyOne is the company’s way of “insisting” the signature physical keyboard, without committing the same blunder as with the Priv.
Palm phones by TCL may be underway
Given the Chinese electronics company bought the rights to use the Palm name from Palm, Inc. in 2015, Zibell hinted that TCL is working on something and that enthusiasts should “stay tuned.” The company has been mum about the acquisition, but it’s likely that the expected new Palm smartphone will run on Android.
To reiterate, the company only has rights to use the Palm name. Its mobile operating system, WebOS, went to LG, who’s making use of it on its line of smartwatches and smart TVs. Things may take time for Palm, though, as Zibell has said that 2017 will be the year of the BlackBerry revival.
