Even though BlackBerry seemed to stray away from what made them popular, the company is now back to its roots and they’re gearing up for the release of the Q20, a device which resembles the classic old BlackBerries more than anything the company has put out in the last few years. It’s no surprise that the device’s alternate name is the “BlackBerry Classic”, and it will be available in about three weeks, starting December 17.
One of the special features of the new BlackBerry Q20 is the physical keyboard. It’s a return to the original design style of the company’s devices, one that was abandoned in favor of an all-touchscreen design with the release of the Z10. The Q20 not only brings back the main QWERTY keyboard, but also the row of shortcut keys above it.
In addition, a new video released recently showed off special shortcuts available through the physical keyboard. Several keys will have special long-press functions, such as Q for silencing the phone, and K for locking it. The keyboard will apparently no longer double as a touchpad, however, as the device will have its own dedicated one right above it, similar to classic BlackBerry 7 phones. The extra keyboard navigation in the Passport was praised by critics, although if the BlackBerry Q20 has a trackpad, it makes sense that the company wouldn’t want to waste resources on making the keyboard touch-sensitive. In addition, the return of the shortcut keys means should make for an even easier navigation around the phone’s menus, further minimizing the need for additional swiping around the screen with the help of a touch-sensitive keyboard.
It’s no secret that BlackBerry have fallen out of favor in recent years, their position in the market stolen by Apple and other companies that played an aggressive game in the smartphone market. The company has been returning to prominence recently, however, and they seem to have made several successful decisions about their designs, such as the square screen featured in the Passport.
It’s entirely possible that BlackBerry could return to being a big name on the smartphone market, but it will take a while. At this point, it’s also not just a matter of having a good product, but also being able to market it well enough. The company has been suffering somewhat in this regard, as their ads have sometimes been the subject of criticism, but on the other hand, they have the benefit of strong word-of-mouth potential. If there is a new BlackBerry phone and it’s truly successful, people won’t need ads to find out about it – everyone will be discussing it all over the Internet.