Publications
Partners
Cape Town - BlackBerry announced on Tuesday that its reboot of the company's signature smartphone is available in South Africa.
The BlackBerry Classic is a re-invention of the company's previous generation smartphones which were popular with users before the arrival of Apple's iPhone and Android-powered devices.
The Classic runs the BlackBerry 10 operating system and the Canadian smartphone maker boasts that it has a "50% longer battery life" than the Bold 9900.
Like the Bold, the Classic features a touch screen as well as a keyboard in a departure from popular Android touch enabled smartphones.
However, the keyboard-touch screen combination has seen some positive reviews for the BlackBerry Passport device.
Messaging tools
The Classic also has a speedy 1.5GHz quad core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of on-board memory. Unlike iPhones, the memory can be expanded with a micro-SD card.
The signature features on the BlackBerry 10 platform are also the security and messaging tools. The Classic retains high security settings with "encrypted email, web browsing and BBM", says the company.
BlackBerry Hub is also on the Classic and allows the management of multiple communications apps, including missed calls, SMSes and calendar appointments in one area of the device.
BlackBerry has also worked to build interoperability with some Android applications into the operating system as well expanding the app ecosystem.
The Classic features both apps from BlackBerry World as well as the Amazon App Store.
Prices were not announced because mobile operators will determine pricing structure, but the device is expected to be priced competitively to compete in the mid-market segment.
- Follow Duncan on Twitter
