BlackBerry Mercury Release Date, News: Upcoming QWERTY Phone To Launch in MWC 2017
BlackBerry has recently made it official: the BB Mercury – which features the comeback of a physical QWERTY keyboard on a smartphone – will make an appearance during the Mobile World Congress on Feb. 25 in Barcelona, Spain.
MWC is an annual event known as one of the largest exhibitions in the world where renowned electronics and technology companies converge and showcase up-and-coming technology products.
Last Jan. 24, BlackBerry made the announcement through their official Twitter page. The company, which is known for pioneering a smartphone line with the signature physical QWERTY keyboard, posted an image containing a sneak peek of the design of the BB Mercury.
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The BB Mercury was first announced earlier this month. Reports have confirmed that it will run on Android software and will have a touchscreen display where owners can swipe to flip through different windows just like in BB Priv and Passport.
What's new with the upcoming BB Mercury is the fingerprint scanner tucked in the spacebar, which is naturally located right at the bottom center of the device.
As of now, the only confirmed details available about the upcoming device are all about the hardware design. The BB Mercury will also sport a USB Type-C port but it will still have the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack.
Back in November 2016, BB chief executive officer John Chen stated that they will be focusing more on software licensing rather than producing their own smartphones. And just recently, it has been confirmed that the Chinese company TCL has acquired the license to manufacture smartphones based on BB software.
Chen also shut down earlier claims that the DTEK60 was BB's last in-house smartphone. In an interview with Bloomberg, Chen said, "There will be another one coming. Maybe we'll call that the last in-house phone." He added, "We have one keyboard phone I promised people."
While BB is yet to announce the specifications of the BB Mercury, rumors have it that it will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 that can run up to 2-gigahertz paired with a 3 GB random access memory. The device is also expected to come with an internal memory of 32 GB, an 18-megapixel rear camera, 8 MP for selfies, and a 3,400-milliampere hour battery pack.
It is expected to go on sale shortly after its launch on Feb. 25. However, mobile enthusiasts still need to await BB's confirmation on the matter of the BB Mercury's release date.
