Blackberry Goes 'Classic' With Trackpad, Physical Keyboard
By Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Blackberry has gone from ruling the smartphone universe to the bottom of the heap. But at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company's CEO says don't count them out yet.
The halcyon days before Apple cored the Canadian company's marketshare and Android put more physical keyboards out to pasture likely are forever behind them.
But Blackberry has maintained a small but fiercely loyal user base, many of whom can't imagine typing on a virtual screen.
CEO John Chen says the Q20, called 'Classic', is for them, and for those who complained when the company did away with a fingertip track pad and actual function buttons for starting and ending calls and navigating back. Those are returning. No release date yet.
Blackberry also stressing its strength in securing business communications offering free upgrades to its newest backend system and free services to those who have left for iPhone and others.
