BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is releasing a new slider phone to get back in the race, and as per the rumors the next smartphone from the company would be the one with a sliding keyboard. A report from N4BB expects that by early Q2 of 2015, the smartphone would be released.
Info on BlackBerry slider
Last month, a patent application of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) was revealed stating an “ornamental design for a unique concealable keyboard” hinting at a slider phone device. Another patent numbered ##8,830,667 described the design as a “storable keyboard having a pivoting cover.”
According to a recent report from N4BB, the new BB10 devices to be released by BlackBerry would come with a concealed keyboards, and are named as ‘Visa’ and ‘Victoria’. As per N4BB, the autonomous slider would be equipped with a keyboard that can be auto-ejected via OS signals.
Previously, ‘Milan’ later named as ‘M-Series’ was supposed to be the BB10 slider device from BlackBerry, but for some reasons the project was scrapped. The main reason cited for the project failing was that the slider mechanism was not thinner than the Torch 9800 model released by the company in 2010, according to the tech site.
When is it coming?
Regarding the date of release, there is not much information available, but it is expected that the slider model would be unveiled in March 2015 at the Mobile world Congress (MWC). BerryReview.com believe that the company might release the slider model sooner, which could be “Early Q2 2015.”
A report from N4BB further said that there is no evidence or signs that indicate that we can possibly have a slider phone device from BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) as the internal documents suggest that there won’t be any other new device(s) in the first half of 2015.apart from Rio. So, any new device, beside Rio, will not be available until after Q2 2015, suggest current internal roadmap.
Also, BlackBerry CEO, John Chen hinted previously that the company will unveil a unique concept device at the Mobile World Congress in March 2015. It’s pretty sure that the CEO is talking about the Rio, but who knows we may see a slider device in place at the MWC.
