Blackberry has paid tribute to its classic QWERTY keyboard with a new smartphone unveiled at Mobile World Congress today.
The Canadian device maker revealed the Q20 for fans of the traditional keyboard, signalling a return to the form factor that helped underpin its success in the handset market.
CEO John Chen told the audience: "Today, we’re delighted to announce the new BlackBerry Q20 smartphone, which is designed to give you the distinct experience that every BlackBerry QWERTY loyalist and high-productivity business customer absolutely loves.
"With the BlackBerry Q20 smartphone, you’ll get the familiar hard buttons and trackpad that you want, along with the best email service, the best keyboard experience and the best battery life possible."
The Q20 smartphone will feature the familiar ‘Menu’, ‘Back’, ‘Send’ and ‘End’ buttons and the integrated trackpad is aimed at enablingthe fast, efficient navigation and one-handed use that were responsible for the company’s best years.
"In my first 90 days on the job, I consistently heard from our ardent BlackBerry customers that the hard buttons and trackpad are an essential part of the BlackBerry QWERTY experience, that made their BlackBerry smartphone their go-to productivity tool," said Chen.
"I want these customers to know that we heard them, and this new smartphone will be for them," said Chen.
The Q20 runs on the latest version of BlackBerry 10 and is due to be released some time in the second half of 2014.
BlackBerry has yet to release any images of the smartphone.
Picture courtesy of langleyo
