BlackBerry will release up to four handsets this year including a new flagship phone due for launch toward the end of the year.
BlackBerry chief executive Thorsten Heins confirmed to CNET that the company would launch a midtier device later this year, and another flagship smartphone that he was “really excited about, but I can’t really share it.”
While not completely sure whether it would launch by the end of the year, the new flagship was planned for the Christmas holidays, with three to four BlackBerry 10 devices planned in total for the fiscal year, CNET said.
No details have been given as yet about the new flagship except that it took BlackBerry 10 to “another level” in terms of the user experience, Heins said; whether that means some additional BB10 capabilities or not remains to be seen.
One-two punch
The company launched its new operating system, BlackBerry, on January 10 this year, debuting two devices; the current flagship the Z10 with touch screen keyboard and the lower specced Q10, with BlackBerry’s traditional QWERTY keyboard.
CNET reported that BlackBerry was looking to expand its product portfolio with three tiers of smartphones, each with QWERTY and touch-screen options which Heins called his “one-two punch” strategy.
The devices would have the 4.2 inch display of the Z10 or the 3.1 inch display of the Q10, Heins said, as well as the same resolution and dimension for consistency of app development in the future, CNET reported.
Called it
The new flagship news confirms a report from a BlackBerry exec at the Z10 launch that there would a higher-end device launching this year with better specs than the Z10, Omio reported.
The exec also reportedly said no entry-level devices would be release this year, Omio said.