BlackBerry launches Classic with trackpad

WATERLOO, CANADA: BlackBerry Limited has launched the BlackBerry Classic, a smartphone built to meet the needs of productive people.

The BlackBerry Classic’s QWERTY keyboard lets communicate quickly and clearly using one hand with a trackpad and classic navigation keys.

The BlackBerry Classic offers a form factor optimized for power communicators with a 3.5-inch touch screen display, 294 dpi HD resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for greater durability. It also offers a large battery capacity and state-of-the-art battery optimization software, with up to 22 hours of battery power.

The device is built with durable materials mixed with top-of-the-line technology. This includes a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of device storage and is expandable by up to 128 GB, and a 2MP front- and 8MP rear-facing camera with enhanced optics and upgraded imaging sensors.

The BlackBerry Classic comes preloaded with the BlackBerry 10.3.1 operating system, that incorporates updated icons and an instant action bar so that each user’s most commonly accessed functions are in the center of their screen. With this new operating system, users gain access to new features.

BlackBerry Assistant determines how to respond to you based on how you interact with it – if you type, it responds silently, if you speak, it speaks back and if you activate over Bluetooth, it speaks back with additional context because it assumes you might not have access to the screen.

BlackBerry Classic is built on BlackBerry’s secure operating system, with built-in protection against viruses, tampering and data leaks. The BlackBerry Classic is private by default, protecting users with encrypted email, web browsing and BBM.

According to reports the device is priced at $449. It is now available through local carriers around the world and online through Blackberry and Amazon.