The BlackBerry Q10 could soon have a 'phablet' sized sibling
BlackBerry has suggested it has not ruled out launching its own ‘phablet’ handset, telling us the company is “playing close attention” to the emerging market.
Sounding far from sold on the smartphone turn tablet hybrid sector, BlackBerry has suggested that it is monitoring the phablet market, failing to rule out the possibility of launching its own oversized smartphone device.
“It is a question about what is normal or what is socially acceptable,” Todd Wood, BlackBerry’s Senior Vice President of design told TrustedReviews when questioned on whether a BlackBerry phablet is in the works. He added: “All I can say is we will see. We pay close attention to this sort of thing.”
Discussing the phablet sector and the rise in 6-inch smartphones and above, Wood suggested that although some might scoff at the possibility of a BlackBerry phablet, views on the sector are changing so quickly, it could soon become an expectation. He stated: “The trend at the moment is towards larger phones, but it gets to a point where it looks funny and where it’s maybe too big but I think that perception can change.”
Highlighting his point, he added: “We’ve talked a lot about other areas where we have seen this. Very large tennis rackets or very large golf clubs, at first when you see them it ‘oh gosh, what is that?’ but it then soon becomes very normal and what is normal is when something adds benefit.” He reservedly added: “But it still has to fit into your lives.”
Earlier this week, rumours of a 5-inch BlackBerry Z10 follow-on emerged, with the handset tipped to make a jump from the Z10’s current 4.2-inch form factor to line up as a more direct Samsung Galaxy S4 rival.
Although far from confirmed, such reports would seem fitting with current trends, with even Apple having bowed to consumer demands and increased the form factor of its leading smartphones in the iPhone 5.
