Blackberry Launch New Touch-Screen Phone

Blackberry has used the Mobile World Congress to launch a new touch-screen phone without physical keys. Though the new Blackberry Leap is not the companyโ€™s first keyboard-free phone, the news has come as a surprise to many following its chief executiveโ€™s announcement last year that it was to focus on โ€œkeyboard-centricโ€ products.

The company has recently faced falling sales, shipping 7.9 million devices last year, a significant fall from the 51.1 million handsets it sold in 2011. Blackberry used the launch to talk about the Leapโ€™s various security features. The phone will come with an 8MP camera, a 5 inch 720p display, 16GB of storage, a micro-SD slot and pre-installed anti-malware protection. It is being seen as a mid-range device.

Blackberry is using the handset to target โ€œcareer-buildingโ€ young professionals as well as security-conscious businesses. Some experts are saying that the phone will face a great deal of competition due to the number of mid-range phones that have recently been launched by the likes of Microsoft, Sony, LG and Motorola. Some claim that Blackberry is struggling to differentiate itself from its rivals. Blackberry also teased a new curved phone that does feature a keyboard, but did not announce the name of the device or give detailed information about the device.

Blackberry boss John Chen recently said that software developers should be forced to cater for its devices.

Tagged:
About the Author

News content on AppleMagazine.com is produced by our editorial team and complements more in-depth editorials which youโ€™ll find as part of our weekly publication. AppleMagazine.com provides a comprehensive daily reading experience, offering a wide view of the consumer technology landscape to ensure you're always in the know. Check back every weekday for more.

Editorial Team | Masthead โ€“ AppleMagazine Digital Publication