BlackBerry is an easy target at the moment, thanks to its plunging market share and failed sale, but things could start to look up if it comes out with some desirable hardware people want to buy. The latest rumor from China seems to indicate it may, but when you examine the report closely, you realize it’s not quite such good news after all.
Now, we’d say treat all this as pure speculation and rumor, but the worrying part is, it still sounds plausible. According to the CTech.com website, BlackBerry has two phones in the works, a big-screen flagship phone which should replace the Z10, and another QWERTY phone too. Because it seems that horse still lives.
The big-screen phone is being referred to as the Z50, which is at least logical, as it will potentially follow the Z10 and the Z30. Apparently, the screen will measure 5.2-inches and have a 1080p resolution, while a quad-core processor should be beating away inside. Sounds like a cutting edge phone, right? Yes, it does, but sadly the rumored release date is summer 2014, when it won’t look quite as technically impressive.
A few months prior to the BlackBerry Z50’s supposed arrival, we may see the BlackBerry Q10’s successor, codename the BlackBerry Q30. Little is known about the phone, and it’s the model number which gives away the presence of the physical keyboard.
BlackBerry’s new CEO, John Chen, sent out an open letter last week, saying it’s a time of, “Significant change” at the firm, but promised it wasn’t, “Dwelling on the past,” and is, “Looking towards the future.” It was all very positive, but we’re not sure launching phones which are six months behind the competition, sounds all that different to Heins’ approach to the problem.
We’ll see, perhaps BlackBerry will deliver sooner, or have something more inspiring to show us at the time. If, of course, it’s still in the smartphone business come late 2014.
