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BlackBerry Aurora is now official; CEO John Chen videos congratulatory message

By Alan Friedman @wolfcallsputs

Mar 09, 2017, 9:08 AM

The BlackBerry Aurora is now official

BlackBerry officially unveiled the BlackBerry Aurora this morning, introducing a touch only handset that is going to be made and sold in Indonesia. It is the first 'Berry to be produced under a licensing deal that BlackBerry signed with BB Merah Putih last September. The Aurora features a 5.5-inch display sporting a 720 x 1280 (HD) resolution. Powering the device is the Snapdragon 425 chipset carrying a quad-core CPU, and the Adreno 308 GPU.

Surprisingly, the Aurora comes with 4GB of RAM inside, along with 32GB of native storage. A 13MP camera adorns the back of the phone, while an 8MP front-facing camera snaps selfies and handles video chats. Keeping the lights on is a 3000mAh battery, and Android 7.0 is pre-installed. The Aurora is the first BlackBerry to ship with Dual SIM capabilities.

The phone has been available for pre-orders since the beginning of the month, and reservations for the phone will be accepted up to March 12th. The BlackBerry Aurora is priced at the equivalent of $260 USD.

"We are very excited and enthusiastic about the opportunity to launch the BlackBerry Aurora in Indonesia. The BlackBerry Aurora is not only the first BlackBerry-branded device to ever be produced in Indonesia, but it is the first BlackBerry device in the world to be equipped with dual-SIM functionality. This new device is designed specifically to fulfill the needs of Indonesian customers with full entertainment features packaged in a premium device that also delivers the productivity, privacy and security that the BlackBerry brand delivers."-Stanly Widjaja, Vice President, BB Merah Putih

BlackBerry CEO John Chen couldn't be in Indonesia for the announcement, so he sent a video message congratulating his Indonesian partners on the unveiling of the Aurora. You can watch Chen's message by clicking on the video below.