Home
News
You are here

Here's Johnny! With a hot phone beside him, BlackBerry CEO Chen is working his magic

Updated: Aug 10, 2017, 2:49 AM

46comments

In the midst of the first sustained comeback that BlackBerry has enjoyed since partnering up with manufacturers like TCL, company CEO John Chen jetted off to Indonesia to participate in the Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia meetings. Among the topics that Chen discussed during a television interview were possible acquisitions for BlackBerry, something that even the most dyed-in-the-wool Berry fan couldn't have imagined being open for discussion so soon after the launch of the BlackBerry KEYone.

In Indonesia, BlackBerry's manufacturing partner is BB Merah Putih and the latest handset to be unveiled there is the low-to-mid range BlackBerry Aurora. This handset carries a 5.5-inch display with a 720 x 1280 HD resolution, and the Snapdragon 425 chipset under the hood. In most other markets, the highly regarded BlackBerry KEYone flagship is BlackBerry's Alpha Beast. And with a new trailer released for IFA (if you can call a fairly static and boring image a trailer), it seems that BlackBerry will entertain the notion of releasing worldwide the KEYone in black with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of native storage. You can't own too many licenses in the mobile arena, and this version of the KEYone is made by Optiemus Infracom, thanks to a license the latter has with TCL.

The KEYone has been lifted by more than just that fabulous QWERTY keyboard. After all, the amazing battery life on the handset has also propelled growth. There has been talk about a possible sequel model called the KEYtwo. We could see such a phone contain an IP67 or 68 certification rating, 4GB of RAM and perhaps a stronger screen adhesive.

If you watch the interview with Chen, you'll hear him talk at length about how vibrant the mobile sector is. And you can see through the executive's mannerisms that this is a man who has figured things out as he helps BlackBerry differentiate itself from the other players in the handset industry. BlackBerry is certainly not all the way back, but the company is relevant once again and it has a hot phone; if you're John Chen, you can't ask for much more than that.

source: Bloomberg via CrackBerry

View Full Bio

Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

Loading Comments...

Up Next:

Here's Johnny! With a hot phone beside him, BlackBerry CEO Chen is working his magic

Recommended Stories

Popular stories

Latest News