The BlackBerry Classic smartphone will begin shipping in the United States in the middle of next month, the Canadian manufacturer confirmed on Thursday.
The Q20 Classic smartphone, widely thought of as the true successor to the company’s wildly popular Bold handsets of yesteryear, can be pre-ordered now for $449, which is around £285.
As well as the iconic physical qwerty keyboard, designed for optimal speed and accuracy no less, the Classic will apparently boast a square 3.5-inch 720 x 720 touchscreen, although BlackBerry is yet to firm up specs.
Running on BlackBerry 10 and featuring the trademark Trackpad and Classic navigation buttons, the device has been designed with the company’s most loyal fans in mind.
“The highly anticipated device is a familiar form factor with a QWERTY keyboard, navigation keys, a trackpad and the upgraded power and performance of BlackBerry 10. We’ve incorporated these familiar features because you asked for them,” the company wrote on its official blog.
BlackBerry says the device, which was originally announced way back in February 2014 at MWC, is being made available in limited qualities so is advising interested parties to get in their first.
The handset will be properly launched at an event in New York on December 17, so we wouldn’t be surprised if this is the mid-December shipping date promised by the company. So far the BlackBerry Classic is only available to pre-order across the pond, but perhaps we’ll hear more about UK availability at the official launch.
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Via: Gigaom