It's been two month since BlackBerry launched one of its last smartphones before exiting the device market, the DTEK60. However, the Canadian company promised fans to launch one more QWERTY smartphone before calling it quits.
The next BlackBerry-branded smartphone won't released and sold by the Canadian company though. Chinese handset maker TCL announced it has signed a licensing agreement with BlackBerry for the release of all BlackBerry-branded smartphones across the globe.
In fact, TCL will be the only company to design, manufacture and sell BlackBerry-branded smartphones in the coming years. The collaboration between TCL and BlackBerry has rather recent history, but at least the companies have worked together before.
The DTEK50 and DTEK60 smartphones have been completely designed by the Chinese company, so it kind of made sense for BlackBerry to allow TCL to continue to launch smartphones for a certain fee.
The next QWERTY smartphone that TCL and BlackBerry plans to launch in the coming months will be the first after the agreement.
The device has already been confirmed by TCL's general manager a few days ago, who also revealed the fact that the phone will be unveiled at CES 2017 trade fair in early January.
BlackBerry BBN100-1 listing
The name of the phone is unknown, but an unannounced BlackBerry device that goes by the codename BBC100-1 has been recently spotted at POSTEL, an Indonesian e-Certification database.
No additional details on the phone's specs have been unveiled at the regulator's site, but we're likely to find out more in the next couple of weeks.
The upcoming QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone will be powered by Google's Android operating system, but other than that we know nothing about the device.
Here is hoping that TCL will sell the BlackBerry-branded QWERTY smartphone worldwide, not just in those countries where the Canadian company's brand is still a strength to be reckon.
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