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With Classic, BlackBerry hopes to rewind the years to when QWERTY was king

With Classic, BlackBerry hopes to rewind the years to when QWERTY was king

By NDTV Correspondent | Updated: 21 April 2014 17:32 IST

BlackBerry announced Q20, new QWERTY handset alongside Z3 touchscreen smartphone at the sidelines of MWC. The Canadian handset maker had revealed at the time that the smartphone will be available before end of this year, but did not give an exact release date.

Now, in an interview with USA Today, company's CEO John Chen has confirmed that BlackBerry Q20 will be launched this November as BlackBerry Classic. Chen added that the BlackBerry 10 touch-cum-QWERTY smartphone is inspired by the popular Bold range of smartphone. Other features detailed by Chen include fast Internet, Web browsing and multimedia capability. As of now, there is no word on specifications of the BlackBerry Classic, but we do know that the phone boasts the return of the command keys that include 'Menu,' 'Back,' 'Send' and 'End' buttons, along with a trackpad.

"We're going to return the familiar user experience in the handsets business," Chen told USA Today. "There's a new product called the BlackBerry Classic that's coming out. It's an updated and enhanced version of one of our most popular and successful products called the Bold. It will include a keyboard and a good touch-screen, very fast Internet, Web-browsing capability and multimedia capability. But also it will be very productive and very secure. So, all the familiar things that people love, with some new technology updated. That will come out in November along with the server that helps companies manage devices."

There is also no word on the pricing of the BlackBerry Classic, while the Canadian company had earlier revealed that the BlackBerry Z3 would be priced below $200.

BlackBerry had also detailed four smartphone categories for its revival strategy that included - affordable, classic, high-end and prestige.

Earlier, BlackBerry's chief executive John Chen indicated that the company has plans to introduce multiple QWERTY phones in next 18 months. "The focus is going to be very keyboard centric," Chen had said.

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