BlackBerry will launch a new Android smartphone with a classic physical keyboard at CES this week. The device has been teased on Twitter by Steve Cistulli, president of TCL Communication in North America, ahead of its official unveiling.
Cistulli’s tweet suggests the new handset will be named BlackBerry Press, but it has previously be known as the BlackBerry Mercury. It was initially believed to be the last BlackBerry designed in-house, but it turns out it may well be another handset created by TCL.
TCL, which is also responsible for Alcatel smartphones, acquired the global rights to the BlackBerry name late last year after BlackBerry announced it would no longer be designing and manufacturing its own smartphones. It has already given us the DTEK50 and DTEK60 handsets.
imPRESSively designed. distinctly different. #BlackBerryMobile#CES2017pic.twitter.com/MGvvGXOtvi
— Steve Cistulli (@SteveCistulli) January 3, 2017
As expected, the BlackBerry Press will be powered by Android, and it will have a physical keyboard that sits beneath its display like classic BlackBerry devices. It is also believed to be packing a Snapdragon 821 processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage.
You may notice the handset’s spacebar looks a little odd in the video teaser above. According to a previous leak, that’s because the spacebar will also house a fingerprint scanner.
It’s not year clear when the BlackBerry Press will be available, or how much it will cost. We’ll have to wait until it’s officially announced at CES for the juicy details.
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