Before iPhone, before Android, there was a company called Blackberry. Just like the iPhone is a luxury symbol now, the Blackberry was THE business symbol. Anyone who had a Blackberry signified he/she meant business.
But when the iPhone released in 2007, Blackberry didn’t budge, thinking it cannot be overthrown. But alas! It was wrong. Blackberry is currently on the bottom rungs of the smartphone market. It went from top dog to the underdog.
At MWC 2014, Blackberry announced a couple new phones, including the much rumoured ‘Jakarta’ phone, officially known as the Blackberry Z3.
Blackberry has said it is currently focusing on the business market rather than the consumer market where they have to compete with bigwigs like Apple and Samsung. Blackberry didn’t provide much details about the devices, not even the specifications.
Blackberry will launch two new services, geared towards the Corporate sector : A secure version of BBM and BES 12 ( Blackberry Enterprise Server ) which will be released for all devices, even those running OS 10 and below.
Blackberry also announced the Classic aka the Q20 which will have the signature Blackberry keyboard and will come sometime later this year. Other details haven’t yet been revealed but Blackberry has hinted at the return of the Blackberry Toolbelt : A trackpad along with the other function keys.
The Z3 was also announced, with Blackberry revealing only that it will release in Indonesia in April for “under $200” as a result of a collaboration with FoxConn. It will have a 5 inch display and will ship with Blackberry 10.2.1. According to Blackberry , it has “a long lasting battery”.
Blackberry is currently a sinking ship and it has to act fast if it wants to remain relvant.
UPDATE : We have done an MWC 2014 roundup where we have rounded up all of MWC 2014’s news in one place for your convenience. Do check it out!
One thought on “Blackberry announces new phones at MWC 2014 ( Jakarta Phone)”