Blackberry Leap Unveiled with 5-inch 720p Display

BARCELONA – Blackberry Leap Unveiled with 5-inch 720p Display, Though BlackBerry does not plan on getting rid of its signature keyboard-equipped smartphones anytime soon, it has taken a leap of faith with its latest handset, the BlackBerry Leap. Aimed at the “young career builder,” the Leap is a full-touchscreen device that will be available globally for $279 (which converts to around £180 or AU$350). It will launch first in Europe in April.

More from MWC 2015:

• BlackBerry outs touchscreen Leap, teases slider BlackBerry


• Tablets finally turn up at Mobile World Congress 2015 (pictures)


• Valve and HTC dive into VR with HTC Vive, coming this year

 

Blackberry Leap Unveiled with 5-inch 720p Display

The 4G LTE phone will run the latest BlackBerry 10.3.1 OS on a 5-inch HD display. The touchscreen has a 1,280×720-pixel resolution with a 293ppi density, so it won’t have the sharpest resolution compared to other flagships. But during our brief time with it, the panel was bright, responsive and sensitive to the touch. And of course, though it won’t have a physical QWERTY keyboard, you’ll be able to peck out messages and emails with a digital on-screen keyboard.

When we got to check it out up close, we noticed that the Leap felt thick, but it had solid build quality. It feels dense, and its rear backing had a patterned rubber texture that lent it a polished and elegant aesthetic.

or your camera needs, the phone has an 8-megapixel rear snapper that can shoot up to 1080p HD video. Inside is a Qualcomm MSM 8960 1.5GHz processor with 2GB of RAM. It packs 16GB of storage for firmware and for your movies and music, apps and snaps. However, if you find yourself needing more space, it does include a microSD card slot on its left edge. BlackBerry also promises 25 hours of heavy use from the beefy 2,800mAh battery.

The company, which is known for its software security, will outfit the Leap with encryption services, built-in malware protection, and options to backup and wipe the handset. Other software features include BlackBerry’s cross-platform tool Blend, and BlackBerry Assistant.

 

The handset will be available in grey and white, and at $279 unlocked, it’s a relatively affordable option for budget-conscious people. In addition to the Leap, the company also teased a dual-screen smartphone with a sliding keyboard nicknamed by CEO John Chen as “the Slider.”

The Leap, which comes in white and gray, will cost less than half of what the latest smartphones from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. go for. It’ll be sold via European carriers in April, Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Tuesday. The company said it’s planning three more devices this year, including one with a sliding keyboard.

Chief Executive Officer John Chen took over in late 2013, at a time when BlackBerry’s share of the global smartphone market had fallen to less than 1 percent. He brought back the iconic physical keyboard and oversaw the 2014 release of two new phones, the Passport and the Classic, higher-priced devices that went on sale at AT&T Inc. in the U.S. last month.

The Leap is aimed at boosting BlackBerry’s market share among younger professionals used to touch screens, Chen said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Barcelona. The BlackBerry Passport “is doing pretty good,” he said.

BlackBerry shares fell 0.8 percent to $10.97 at the close in New York, snapping a five-day streak of gains. Earlier in the day, the stock rose as much as 3.6 percent.

BlackBerry is also boosting investment in encryption and privacy features of its software to push its security and messaging programs to all devices, including iPhones, iPads and Android and Windows gadgets.

Beyond BlackBerry

“We’re going to make sure our software technology addresses everybody’s phones and everybody’s endpoint,” Chen said at the Barcelona event. Chen aims to get BlackBerry programs on connected cars, non-BlackBerry phones and wearable devices to boost the company’s transition from a slumping phonemaker to a more profitable software company.

Still, hardware revenue for the quarter through Nov. 29 dropped 24 percent to $361 million from a year earlier.

Chen has struggled to offset declining phone sales by increasing the company’s focus on software including its BBM messaging system and so-called virtual SIM technology that allows multiple phone numbers on a single device.

“Our financial game plan continues, making more money and generating more cash,” Chen said. “We are very hopeful about our future. We think we will be able to stabilize our revenue and position ourselves for growth.”

Chen, a former SAP SE executive, detailed plans on Sunday to build more software products for non-BlackBerry devices and to integrate the company’s services with products offered by Google Inc. and Samsung.

 

Source:

Related Articles: How Samsung won me back with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge

Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 3 Entry Level Android with LTE

 For Technology News & Reviews please visit www.technographics.org.

Blackberry Leap Unveiled with 5-inch 720p Display