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BlackBerry announces US launch of BlackBerry Motion (Update: Now up for pre-order)
Original post: 2017 was an interesting year for BlackBerry. After all, not only did the company’s partnership with TCL result in the well-received KEYone, but it also resulted in the all-touchscreen Motion.
Now that we’re in 2018, BlackBerry thought to revisit both phones while also looking toward the future, even if that look was an extremely small teaser.
Let’s start with what we know: the KEYone Bronze Edition. Save for the classy bronze accent on the borders, the phone is exactly the same as the KEYone Black Edition before it. In other words, we’re looking at the same 4.5-inch 1620 x 1080 resolution display, 12 MP rear camera, Snapdragon 625, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage.
As with any other KEYone, the KEYone Bronze Edition is equipped with that iconic BlackBerry keyboard, which is either good or bad, depending on your tastes. The company made great strides in modernizing it, though — the touch-sensitive metallic frets between the rows of keys let you scroll up and down, while pressing and holding any key can open an app or shortcut.
BlackBerry didn’t stop there, as the company also announced that the Motion, which does away with the keyboard, will be available in the US. The phone, originally announced last October, was previously available in Canada, India and a few other regions.
As a quick recap, the Motion retains the KEYone Bronze Edition’s Snapdragon 625, 4 GB of RAM, and 12 MP rear camera, but opts for a larger 4,000 mAh battery, IP67 dust and water resistance, and a larger 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution display.
More exciting, however, is what BlackBerry has planned for 2018, plans that were not shared with anyone today. The company was expectedly coy regarding these plans, though it did say we will see at least two new smartphones this year.
Per BlackBerry senior vice president and general manager of mobility solutions Alex Thurber:
With new BlackBerry smartphones from TCL Communication now available in over 50 countries around the world, we have a solid foundation to continue building upon our portfolio in the new year.This means customers can expect to see at least two new BlackBerry smartphones from us later this year.
BlackBerry also confirmed it will roll out Android 8.0 Oreo to supported devices, though the company did not give an exact timeframe for when that will happen.
BlackBerry did say that the KEYone Bronze Edition will be available during the first quarter in “select markets” across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, while the Motion will make its way to the US for $450 unlocked through Amazon and Best Buy.