It was a rather interesting launch for the Blackberry Classic, formerly known as the Q20. In a disappointing turn-out of events, Blackberry recently posted a drop in its revenue in the third quarter financial results, from a whopping $1.2 billion to a meager $793 million. It has also caused a 10% decrease in the share price. However, during the pre-order stage, the hype, which surrounded this device, caused a major sellout for the Blackberry Classic. This happened right before the official launch of the device.
What is impressive and equally surprising is that the company managed this even without leaking the original hardware specifications of this device. As a result, people had to resort to rumors and speculations.
In other news, AT&T and Blackberry are getting along quite great these days. The carrier has recently announced that it will again release the Blackberry Passport. The same thing happened back in September. However, till now, the Passport was not included in AT&T’s roster. However, it will land soon, and when this happens the device will be launched in a redesigned manner.
As seen in the international models, the square corners of the device have now been removed. As requested by AT&T, the rounded corners are now in. Blackberry has complied with this request, and the Passport range is currently in new development. It explains why the AT&T release is taking so long. The redesigning of the Passport will also make it more affordable in nature. Last year, the device was being sold at $249 while now it is available at $199.99.
On the other hand, the company is hoping that the sales of their Blackberry Classic smartphone will around the company’s fate for their fourth quarter sale. It has now been confirmed that the device is powered by a Dual-Core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor. The disappointing fact is that the device retains the same specifications as the earlier Blackberry Q10. It has the same 720×720 pixel resolution display along with the 2GB RAM. However, the quality of the screen has been considerably improved over its predecessor. The screen size has been bumped up to 3.5 inches from the earlier 3.1.
The only major difference, which needs to be noted is that the Classic’s return to its roots. With the revisited traditional design, Blackberry has also included the tool belt along with the trackpad. The Blackberry OS 10 USER interface is much more friendly and intuitive. The answer and end call buttons along with the menu and back buttons are back as well.
Currently, the device is available for purchase at $49.99 with a full two-year contract. It is also available at $419 with a long-term agreement as well.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Blackberry Q20!