BlackBerry was once considered to be the Cadillac of smartphones and largely credited with bringing about the smartphone revolution. But more recently have found themselves much in the same boat as Microsoft, in an ocean of Android devices. Although it took some time, this ocean of Android did eventually see BlackBerry migrate over to the Android OS.
Last year with a new CEO at the helm, John Chen, BlackBerry finally launched their first Android device, the BlackBerry PRIV. It was the first time that BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard was matched up with an Android smartphone. When asked about future Android devices, BlackBerry and Chen eluded to the fact that their future depended on how well the PRIV model sold. The device received an excellent response from critics and users, and the company reported sales of over 600,000 BlackBerry PRIVs in the Q4 FY 2016, even though the company reported an overall loss of $238 million. However, the PRIV was a high-priced device, especially for countries such as India, and BlackBerry announced they would launch two more smartphones in 2016.
According to the latest online rumors, the two new devices are codenamed, the BlackBerry Hamburg and the BlackBerry Rome, which falls in line with recent previous rumors confirming the same codenames. There was one blurry real image leaked and some renders – you can view them all below in our gallery. The BlackBerry Rome looks similar to the leaked renders last year of the BlackBerry Vienna – a speaker across the bottom, below a physical keyboard, much like the BlackBerry PRIV. Other than using a curved OLED display, no other details are known. The leaked render of the BlackBerry Hamburg shows the latest BlackBerry logo above the screen, a large speaker at the bottom of the display, and no exposed physical keyboard. Of course, it could be a slider with a hidden keyboard or possibly no keyboard at all…like their once infamous BlackBerry Storm and Storm 2. The leaked real image clearly shows the power button on the left and the volume controls on the right. It is expected to be a mid-range device with pricing about $400. According to the source, it will be launching in the second quarter of 2016.
