Earlier today we saw the first press renders of upcoming BlackBerry smartphone running Android 7.0 Nougat. TCL, the company managing hardware elements of BlackBerry handsets has now made the smartphone official, not exactly.
At an event held at CES 2017, TCL showcased a prototype of its upcoming Android powered smartphone with physical QWERTY keyboard, without actually revealing any details of the device, including its name. The device in question is still referred as Mercury, even by TCL.
According to TCL, the so-called Mercury runs on slightly forked version of Android Nougat with security and business focused software provided by Blackberry, similar to ones found on the DTEK50 and the DTEK60.
The device also comes with on-screen navigation buttons, along with traditional BlackBerry physical keyboard. As reported, the keyboard has a fingerprint scanner embedded in the space bar and it also doubles as a touchpad, allowing users to swipe through menus on the phone.
Talking of physical appeal, the upcoming Mercury is made of metal and rubber. On the left sits a customizable action key, which can perform various user-defined tasks. On the right, we have SIM slot tray below that are the volume rockers followed by the power key. On the bottom there's two speaker grills with USB Type-C port in-between them. And finally on the top is the 3.5mm headphone jack.
BlackBerry and TCL have announced that they will revealing the specs, pricing, availability, along with the name of the device next month at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017.
Images by Android Central
At an event held at CES 2017, TCL showcased a prototype of its upcoming Android powered smartphone with physical QWERTY keyboard, without actually revealing any details of the device, including its name. The device in question is still referred as Mercury, even by TCL.
According to TCL, the so-called Mercury runs on slightly forked version of Android Nougat with security and business focused software provided by Blackberry, similar to ones found on the DTEK50 and the DTEK60.
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| BlackBerry Mercury - Download |
The device also comes with on-screen navigation buttons, along with traditional BlackBerry physical keyboard. As reported, the keyboard has a fingerprint scanner embedded in the space bar and it also doubles as a touchpad, allowing users to swipe through menus on the phone.
Talking of physical appeal, the upcoming Mercury is made of metal and rubber. On the left sits a customizable action key, which can perform various user-defined tasks. On the right, we have SIM slot tray below that are the volume rockers followed by the power key. On the bottom there's two speaker grills with USB Type-C port in-between them. And finally on the top is the 3.5mm headphone jack.
BlackBerry and TCL have announced that they will revealing the specs, pricing, availability, along with the name of the device next month at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017.
 |
| BlackBerry Mercury - Download |
To be updated...